Hello Mark,
I enjoyed your paper and the Smolin references!
I'm not sure I agree with the need for the block universe, as Moving Dimensions Theory liberates us from the block universe and unfreezes time, while providing a deeper foundation for relativity and quantum mechanics; while weaving change into the fundamental fabric of spacetime for the first time in the history of relativity, and providing a deeper *physical* model for time and all its arrows and assymetries acrosss all realms. MDT's simple postulate is that the fourth dimension is exapnding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c; and time. entropy, quantum mechanics' nonlocality and entanglement, and relativity can all be seen to emerge from this deeper postualte and its simple equation: dx4/dt=ic. All relativity is derived form this simple postualte in my paper. And too, MDT Accounts for the gravitational slowing of light and time, as shown in the attached paper, which also shows that MDT's postualte sets both c--the velcoity of light, and h--Planck's constant, while showing that there is no need to quantize gravity. All quantum behavior arises because of the wave nature of the fourth dimensions' expansion--an exapnsion which distributes locality, manifesting Huygens' principle, Feynman's many-paths, and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
You write, "This pregeometric formalism is motivated by, and inextricably linked to, our Relational Blockworld (RBW) interpretation of quantum mechanics and paints a picture of "spacetimematter" more integrated than that of general relativity (and, a fortiori, quantum physics)."
Does not a blockworld approach freeze time? So how does one explain that time flows--that it time anything but frozen--if one adopts a blockworld view?
Rather than seeking an answer to the *physical* nature of time in mathematical formalisms and tautologies, MDT seeks the mergent nature of time in a new, deeper *physical* model and a new, hitherto unsung universal invariant--the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at c.
Again, I enjoyed your Smolin references, and a great book that everyone should read is Lee Smolin's THE TROUBLE WITH PHYSICS: THE RISE OF STRING THEORY, THE FALL OF SCIENCE, AND WHAT COMES NEXT.
And everyone should pay attention to Lee's section on time, for he supposes, as MDT shows, that the *physical* nature of time holds the keys to deeper physical unification:
Here are some quotes from Lee's book, and some responses, showing how MDT holds the key to a deeper physical unification of quantum mechanics, relativity, entropy, and time and all its arrows and assymetries.
http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/238
Lee writes, "Thus all the theories that triumphed had consequences for experiment that were simple to work out and could be tested within a few years. This does not mean that the theories could solved exactly--most theories never are. But it does mean that physical insight lead immediately to a prediction of a new physical effect." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
MDT presents a new, deeper, hitherto unsung physical invariance from where all of relativity arises. It also explains physical phenomena such as entanglement and action-at-a-distance as never before, with the very sme postualte and euqation that account for relativity, and which from relativity can be derived. And thus it also unifies relativity and QM with a simple *physical* model, which also accounts for time and all its arrows and assymetries across all realms. MDT shows that quantum mechanical, relativistic, and entropic phenomena derive from the same underlying physical reality--a fourth dimension that is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at c, distributing locality and fathering time.
Lee writes in TTWP, "Whatever else one says about string theory, loop quantum gravity, and other approaches, they have not delivered on that front. The standard excuse has been that experiments on this scale are impossible to perform-but, as we've seen, this is not the case. So there must be another reason. I believe there is something basic we are all missing, some wrong assumption we are all making. If this is so, then we need to isolate the wrong assumption and replace it with a new idea." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
The wrong assumption originates from the confusion of time with the fourth dimension. Time is not the fourth dimension, but it is an emergent phenomenon that arises from a fourth dimension that is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions. Time inherits certain properties of the fourth dimension, but the over-extending of the dimensionality of time has lead to troubling and ridiculous situations such as Godel's block universe, wherein time is frozen; and wherein the past, present, and future already and always, exist.
The fourth dimension expands at the rate of c in units of the Planck length. Thus macroscopic objects rarely ever enter into the fourth expanding dimension deeper than the Planck length. A photon is matter that surfs the expanding fourth dimension, jumping from crest to crest of all the tiny expansions of the fourth dimension which manifest themselves as expanding spheres of locality in the three spatial dimensions. Thus a photon appears as a nonlocal, spherically-symmetric expanding wavefront of probability in the three spatial dimensions. Furthermore, a photon does not age as it stays in the exact same place in the fourth expanding dimension, causing its nonlocal, expanding probability wave to translate with a velocity of c in the three spatial dimensions. The expansion of this nonlocal, spherically-symmetric probability distribution that describes the photon's motion is a most fundamental clue that practically screams at us that the fourth dimension is expanidng relative to the the three spatial dimensions, as a photon remains stationary in the fourth dimension, and thus a photon's spherically-symmetric expandidng wavefront defines a locality in the fourth dimension, no matter how large it gets. Ergo nonlocality and entanglement, as well a steh fact that a photon does not age. Please see attachment #2.
Lee Smolin continues in TTWP, "What could that wrong assumption be? My guess is that it involves two things: the foundations of quantum mechanics and the nature of time. We have already discussed the first; I find it hopeful that new ideas about quantum mechanics have been proposed recently, motivated by studies of quantum gravity. But I strongly suspect that the key is time. More and more, I have the feeling that quantum theory and general relativity are both deeply wrong about the nature of time. It is not enough to combine them. There is a deeper problem, perhaps going back to the origin of physics." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
MDT takes us back to the origin of relativity--back to Einstein's 1912 Manuscript where Einstein does not state that time is the fourth dimension, but rather x4=ict, and MDT presents us with a fundamental view of reality that conforms to all experimental evidence, while not only resolving the paradoxes of the non-locality of the EPR effect and Godel's block universe, but unifying the resolution within a simple physical postulate. Before Einstein's relativity, space and time (as well as matter and energy) were considered to be disparate entities. Einstein's relativity united them, and suddenly time was mistakenly seen as the fourth dimension, rather than as an emergent property of a fourth dimension expanding relative to three spatial dimensions. Then, when Einstein correctly saw that all moving objects are shortened when energy is added--when they are rotated out of the three spatial dimensions and into a fourth dimension--just as a far-away ruler appears shortened as it is rotated, Einstein had the genius to call upon a the four-dimensional formulation of space-time.
However, this lead to confusion; as Einstein did not see that macroscopic object's-rest masses-never enter the fourth dimension deeper than the Planck length. Hence the past and future do not yet exist, but only the present. Nor did Einstein realize that the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions-a simple postulate with far-reaching consequences. Legend has it that Einstein eventually came up with relativity because he so often contemplated what it would be like to catch up with light--a pursuit which began in his childhood. I often wonder, had Einstein known that light actually propagates as a spherically-symmetric probabilistic wavefront at the rate of c--had he actually known quantum mechanics--would he have seen that the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions, or dx4/dt=ic?
What's really funny to me is not that people try to refute MDT, but that they try to refute the timeless, ageless photon, free will, quantum entanglement, nonlocality, entropy, time and all its arrows and assymetries, simple math, elegance, relativity, and novel physical theories that come with a postulate and equation.
MDT: The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt = ic
Both Einstein and Minkowski wrote x4 = ict, but they never saw that this naturally implied dx4/dt = ic.
And Einstein's Relativity may be derived from dx4/dt= ic, which represents a more fundamental invariance of this universe--the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at c. Einstein introduced relativity as a principle--as a law of nature not deduced from anything else, and well, I guess I was dumb enough to ask, 'why relativity?' And I found the answer in a more fundamental invariance--the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions, or dx4/dt = ic.
And not only can all of relativity be derived from this, but suddenly we are liberated from the block universe and time and progress in theoretical physics are unfrozen. And change is seen in a most fundamental equation that weaves change into the very fabric of space-time, where it needs to be, as change pervades every realm of physics and all acts of *physical* measurement. And suddenly we have a *physical* model for entropy, time and its arrows and assymetries in all realms, free will, and quantum mechanics' nonlocality, entanglement, and wave-particle duality. The fourth expanding dimension distributes locality, fathering time. MDT accounts for the constant speed of light c--both its independence of the source and its independence of the velocity of the observer, while establishing c as the fastest, slowest, and only velocity for all entities and objects moving through space-time, as well as the maximum velocity that anything is measured to move. And suddenly we see a *physical* basis for the dualities--for space/time, wave/matter, and energy/mass or E=mc^2. Energy and mass are the same thing--it's just that energy is mass caught upon the fourth expanding dimension, and thus it surfs along at "c."
Dr. Lee Smolin continues in TTWP, "Around the beginning of the seventeenth century, Descartes and Galileo made a wonderful discovery: You could draw a graph, with one axis being space and the other being time. A motion through space then becomes a curve on the graph. In this way, time is represented as if it were another dimension of space. Motion is frozen, and a whole history of constant motion and change is presented to us as something static and unchanging. If I had to guess (and guessing is what I do for a living), this is the scene of the crime". -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
MDT unfreezes time, liberating us all with free will--the free will to move beyond ST & LQG, which are not inextricably locked into the fixed future of the block universe as Brian Green et al might have you suppose. Neither the future nor the past exists. Motion is inherent in the underlying four-dimensional space-time geometry, as the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
Finally a postualte and equation step forth to weave change into the fundamental fabric of space-time!
Einstein noted that all objects are moving through space-time at the velocity c. This never changes. An object stationary in the three spatial dimensions is translating through the fourth dimension at the rate of c. An object stationary in the fourth dimension--a photon--is translating through the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c. Hence it is obvious that the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
Lee Smolin writes in TTWP, "We have to find a way to unfreeze time-to represent time without turning it into space. I have to idea how to do this. I can't conceive of a mathematics that doesn't represent a world as if it were frozen it eternity. It's terribly hard to represent time, and that's why there's a good chance this representation is the missing piece." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
MDT unfreezes time, as well as progress in theoretical physics, and liberates us from the block universe!
There actually is no problem with the representation of time in physical theories, but only within the interpretations and extrapolations of modern theorists. Time, as it is defined, works perfectly in quantum mechanics and relativity, as it does in Newtonian mechanics and classical electrodynamics. Hence our cars and computers work perfectly well each and every day.
However, when the notion of time is warped and extrapolated to suit the fantasies of prominent physicists who ignore logic, reason, and experiment, in order to create multiverses/40 dimensions/parallel universes/wormholes and time machines, it only goes to show that time is not the fourth dimension, but an emergent property of a universe wherein a fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
Lee Smolin continues in TTWP, "One thing is clear: I can't get anywhere thinking about this problem within the confines of string theory. Since string theory is limited to the description of strings and branes moving in fixed background spacetime geometries, it offers nothing for someone who wants to break new ground thinking about the nature of time or of quantum theory. Background-independent approaches offer a better starting point, because they have already transcended the classical pictures of space and time. And they are simple to define and easy to play with." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
Indeed String Theory has banned asking the questions that MDT addresses, such as "What is the nature of the physical framework underlying the observed phenomena of relativity and quantum mechanics?" String theory has bred an entire generation of physicists who believe that politics, hype, and name-calling are to be preferred over logic, reason, and truth to advance physics. String Theory, though funded with hundreds of millions, yet lacks the simple truth and beauty of this postulate and equation--"the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions. dx4/dt =ic." It is almost as if simple postulates and equations representing simple physical truths have been banned from physics, along with physics.
Dr. Smolin continues in TTWP, "I won't say any more about this, because I want to move on to a different question. Suppose an intellectually ambitious young person with an original and impatient mind wants to think deeply about the five great questions. Given our failure to solve any of them, I can't imagine why such a person would want to be limited to working in any of the current research programs. Clearly, if string theory or loop quantum gravity by themselves were the answer, we would know it by now. They may be starting points, they may be parts of the answer, they may contain necessary lessons. But the right theory must contain new elements, which our ambitious young person is perhaps uniquely qualified to search for." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
Everyone should read George Orwell's Animal Farm.
Perhaps the excessive funding of theories never backed by experiment, nor logic, simplicity, elegance, and reason for that matter, has resulted in institutions that now oppose the advancement of physics. Remember how in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 the firemen existed to light fires and burn books, and not to save them? Well, is it any wonder that Esinetin's 1912 Manuscript is never assigned by the current regime, nor any of the other foundational papers? Imagine a school that assigned the foundational papers in every class! Why not learn relativity from Einstein's 1912 Manuscript? Perhaps then we'll see that he never said that time is the fourth dimension, but rather that x4 = ict.
Smolin is to be commended for firing a warning shot across the bow of all young physicists--letting them know that they, if they are to be true physicists, are essentially on their own. For the advancement of science has ever been the domain of the individual, as has the creation of all lasting art, philosophy, literature, and culture. Make no mistake-the individual truth seeker is not alone in the context of the greats-they stand upon the shoulders of giants-but they are often alone in the context of their contemporaries. String Theory, by deconstructing great physicists and science, and then instituting regimes independent of humility before reality, has tried to invert this, placing politics over philosophy and money over meaning, and that is why they are destined to fail. For as Shakespeare said, "foul deeds will rise, though all the earth overwhelm them, to men's eyes."
Smolin continues in TTWP, "What has my generation has bequeathed to these young scientists? Ideas and techniques they may or may not want to use, together with a cautionary tale of partial success in several directions, resulting in a general failure to finish the job Einstein started a hundred years ago. The worst thing we could do would be to hold them back by insisting that they work on our ideas. So the question for the last part of the book is a question I ask myself every morning: Are we doing all we can to support and encourage young scientists--and, by the virtue of this, ourselves--to transcend what we have done these last thirty years and find the true theory that solves the five greatest problems in physics?" -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
Well, I guess the jury is still out on all this. But Max Planck warns us about the centralization of funding and power, as well as the micromanaging of curiosity:
"New scientific ideas never spring from a communal body, however organized, but rather from the head of an individually inspired researcher who struggles with his problems in lonely thought and unites all his thought on one single point which is his whole world for the moment." --Max Planck
"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." --Max Planck
"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds." --Einstein (e.g. Boltzman, Bruno, Galileo, Socrates, Dante, Jesus)
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." --Einstein. And the big questions which have driven science have always been asked by an individual.
"Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity." --Einstein. It is interesting to point out that neither ST nor LQG really have equations, nor meaningful postulates, for that matter. Contrast this to MDT: dx4/dt=ic: the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge." --Einstein. Yes--the truth does set us free, from the block universe and frozen time and progress in theoretical physics.
Thanks for the paper Mark! I enjoyed the Smolin references/views, and I hope MDT might help you take it further!
Best,
Dr. E (The Real McCoy)Attachment #1: 1_9_MOVING_DIMENSIONS_THEORY_EXAMINES_THE_GRAVITATIONAL_REDSHIFT_SLOWING_OF_CLOCKS.pdfAttachment #2: 1_Photons_Remain_Stationary_in_the_Fourth_Expanding_Dimension1.pdf
