Response by Sam Cox to "Chrono-Theory I" by Hector Chavez (Mexico)

Hector is to be congratulated for a most intriguing brief discussion of time.

Hectors first major point is that traditional logic and the logic of mathematics are at opposite ends of the universe- if traditional logic indeed has a scientific place in the universe at all! I see an analogy between the teaching of the concept of force in Physics, and teaching logic. Both are worthwhile to study to conceptualize relationships of a simpler nature, but when we encounter the complexity of a universe with 10⁸⁰ atoms, and the complexity of life itself, the concepts of "logic" and "force" have the working power of a pea shooter against an Elephant!

My Philosophy professor in college, Dr. Bannon, stressed that all logical and philosophical systems can be "driven into the ground" if taken far enough, and the older I get, the less I question his wisdom in saying that.

I love the last sentence of Hectors first paragraph! "It is with Quantum Physics, itself impervious to common sense, that mathematics is best used", yet the counterintuitive has a profound logic all its own. As I teach probability theory, it is wonderful to watch the joy and surprise on the students faces as they begin to see order, definition and even the prospect of certainty emerge from disorder and randomness! In fact, Mathematics is such a powerful tool in describing the universe, it can and has been, many times used to predict unknown phenomena which are later found to exist.

I think it would be appropriate to mention the obvious. Mathematics can also be used to defend ideas not congruent with observed reality. This is a normal part of the investigative process, but the obtuse use of math can sometimes be humorous, or not so funny too. Some time ago, I was reading calculations on a web site which showed that E is not equal to mc squared, among other things.

E=mc² is a proportion which has been tested in the laboratory, on the battlefield and out here near me in the western Pacific at Eniwetok to many, many significant figures. We don't believe E=mc² because the formula has any inate mathematical value, or is particularly logical. We believe the proportion because it is an accurate reflection of experimentally verified reality! Another gentleman, also on the net, as of this writing is offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who can show that SR and GR are logical. Considering the fact that SR, GR and for that matter the real world are as counterintuitive as they are, I would venture that his $50,000 are pretty safe! Every frame of reference in the 7-D Einsteinian Hyperspherical Universe has its very own- and very real, reality. To use an illustration from our spherical Earth, we don't dress in heavy clothing at the equator, nor run around naked at the South Pole either. Each frame of reference on this planet has its own environmental conditions, social conditions- and logical system. Special Relativity and General Relativity serve as a logical system good anywhere in the universe. As a result, and very predictably, relativity seems counterinruitive to EVERYBODY!

As the reader can see, I am a relativist, in so far as reality in the universe is concerned anyway. I know of no solid evidence for the existence of Tachyons, or particles which move at greater than the speed of light. I do not deny the possibility of their existence. Its just that Tachyons and the possible actual role they might play in the sum total of reality are conjectural, and until we get solid evidence, we need to remember that.

The definition of time I use for any relative speed of objects in our universe below the speed of light is : "The perception and measurement of motion and change". Hector works consistently within that definition, and he has some interesting insights.

"Time must be considered from a geometric standpoint" ..right on! That's GR all the way. "If an object doesn't move or change, then apparently time doesn't pass in it" ...come to think of it, from a cosmic perspective that's a pretty good description of the whole Einsteinian Hyperspherical Universe. "Time is necessary for change to occur." The Einsteinian converse of that (and for once, the converse of a true statement is seen to have some truth of its own!) is "Change is necessary for time to occur." Usually, converse statements are positively deadly ...A Dog is an animal; all animals are Dogs ...no,no,no.

Hector carefully develops the relationship between time/space and matter/energy. If he hasn't studied GR, he has a grand intuitive sense. Listen to this: "The present is also a complex concept. Where does the present begin and end? ..(if you are in a head-on collision at 100 Kilometers per hour, pretty quickly!) "It isn't the past and it isn't the (future). Instead, IT IS THE INFINITELY THIN BORDER (microscopic singularity) BETWEEN THE TWO! I've heard many definitions of the present ...most professionals talk in terms of three or four definitions! Hectors definition of the absolute present, will I think, stand up pretty well in an Einsteinian Hyperspherical Universe as long as we stay at any given frame of reference. Time and the simultaneous are different everywhere in the universe; each frame of reference is king, and has its own time. "The present has no depth, it isn't even a nanosecond in length. The "present" is a name given to the transition between the past and the future." (from a frame of reference in a universe where motion and change can be perceived).

In relativity it is common to speak of "frames" of reference. Does time come in frames too, like a movie? So far there is no evidence for time frames- right down to the throat of reality at 10^-43 second. Many scientists now consider time just another indivisible linear, and spatial dimension.

For the reader who is interested in dimesional study, I would like to point out something from the previous paragraph. Yes a thin but very energetic film of microscopic singularity separates past and future- the past and future which are separated by 60 billion years or so (yet accessible by light instantly). However the plane which separates OUR past and present in the here and now is at a 90 Degree angle from the other one. Time, like space and energy can exist in other dimensional configurations. Also Hector needs to remember that the concept of instantaeous geometric time can be "fattened up" a bit! Since photons have equal instantaneous access to both "hemispheres" of the 7-D EHU, we can experimentally do funny things with time at the quantum level.

"The Anthropic Principle demands that time move only in one direction"- forward to the future, but WHERE IS THE FUTURE, relative to our frame of reference? "Forward to the future" can bring time- and everything else right back to us, like a child's train layout under the holiday tree configured in the shape of an "8". The flow of time, space and energy in a GR reality is CIRCULAR, or periodic. Like all logical systems, the Anthropic Principle can "get into trouble" in a counterintuitive, Einsteinian reality. Yes time always moves forward, but how would time be "observed" to "move" as it passes along that "thin border (of singularity) between the two, in SEEMINGLY opposite directions?

Perceived time, like space and energy can be deceptive. In the previous paragraph, I spoke of time as proceeding in a figure 8, but that is NOT our frame of reference with regard to time, any more than space or energy. In four dimensions we observe time flow as a straight line from the past into the future. Actually the "straight" line is a curved Geodesic on the 7-D hypersphere. On the other side of the universe, even though the arrow of time remains the same, it passes us in that same "straight" line from the future into the past...in a process similar to cars passing in opposite directions on a two lane road. Since the two hemispheres are superimposed in their energy and space coordinates, we need the film of singularity at the submicroscopic antipode of the universe for engineering reasons; to keep the two "hemispheres" of the universe from destroying each other. With a time separation of 60 billion years or so between our antiversal and universal "selves", we need not fear an explosion! This enormous time separation was created by the enormous energy of the "Big Crunch" and the momentum of energy space and time in General Relativity.

I disagree that we must change the direction of time to engage in time travel. If we must, I doubt time travel is possible. Time travel is easiest from an engineering standpoint, moving from the present at one frame of reference to the present in the frame of reference with the same coordinates in energy and space, but a different time coordinate, much like one could jump from a flatcar on one train to a flatcar on another train moving in opposite directions, by running in the appropriate direction to match speeds briefly and making the jump. What we not so fondly refer to as "death" may in reality be this kind of time travel!

"If the direction of time moves from the future to the past, then we must die before being (truly) born". You said it Hector! Look at the previous paragraph and study it carefully. Human intuition has picked up this inherent reality of the Einsteinian Hyperspherical Universe from 4 dimensional projections we are exposed to every day and put the "knowledge" into practice for hundreds of thousands of years by burying people with artifacts to equip them for their new life beyond the grave. The brilliant Pharisee Nicodemus said this to Jesus in John Chapter 3 of the Christian Bible (read Vs. 1-18 if you have ...the time?) "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mothers womb the second time and be born?" Maybe we should let the scientific and mathematical achievements of the 20th century begin to answer that ancient question!

Negative "velocities" of time are of course, interesting speculation, but many scientists regard time as just another linear dimension.

I've already stated frankly that travel into the past and out of the future, is a natural part of life, including human life, in a 7-Dimensional, Einsteinian Hyperspherical Universe. What I haven't said yet is also VERY important. What we DO as we travel to the past is COMPULSORY, and dictated by the world-lines of what we did and how we acted on this less restrictive side ("hemisphere") of the hyperspherical Universe. We are not permitted to tamper with the past and change the future- even if we wish we could! We are held in a "vise" as it were. On the other side ("hemisphere") of the cosmos, in a universe of complexity, certainty and completeness, we REST, but because we have a living body, I would be willing to venture we are conscious!