Related papers: The time travel paradox
The nature of the change in perspective that accompanies the proposal of a unified physical theory deriving from the single dimension of time is elaborated. On expressing a temporal interval in a multi-dimensional form, via a direct…
Preparing general relativity for quantization in the Hamiltonian approach leads to the `problem of time,' rendering the world fundamentally timeless. One proposed solution is the `thermal time hypothesis,' which defines time in terms of…
It is rarely emphasized in modern physics textbooks that our definitions of space and time have to reflect their complete interdependence. Our intuitive methods of always picturing one-dimensional space as a sum of unit-length rods and of…
In quantum gravity there is no notion of absolute time. Like all other quantities in the theory, the notion of time has to be introduced "relationally", by studying the behavior of some physical quantities in terms of others chosen as a…
After pointing out the historical avatar at the origin of a would be twin or clock paradox, we argue that, at least on a local scale, the (re-qualified) paradox is but a necessary consequence of the sole principle of causality.
A new type of singularity theorem, based on spatial averages of physical quantities, is presented and discussed. Alternatively, the results inform us of when a spacetime can be singularity-free. This theorem provides a decisive…
In the history of cosmology physical paradoxes played important role for development of contemporary world models. Within the modern standard cosmological model there are both observational and conceptual cosmological paradoxes which…
The Hamiltonian defines the dynamical properties of the universe. Evidence from particle physics shows that there is a different version of the Hamiltonian for each direction of time. As there is no physical basis for the universe to be…
Bell's theorem proves only that hidden variables evolving in true physical time can't exist; still the theorem's meaning is usually interpreted intolerably wide. The concept of hidden time (and, in general, hidden space-time) is introduced.…
Two people may claim both to be naturalists, but have divergent conceptions of basic elements of the natural world which lead them to mean different things when they talk about laws of nature, or states, or the role of mathematics in…
Realism about general relativity (GR) seems to imply realism about spacetime curvature. The existence of the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity (TEGR) calls this into question, for (a) TEGR is set in a torsionful but flat…
We live in a 3+1 space-time that is intended as a description of the universe with three space dimensions and one time dimension. Space-time dimensionality seems so natural that it is rarely criticized. Experiments and the highly successful…
We put forward a multi-time theory, in frame of which the cosmic acceleration is a natural phenomenon without cosmological constant or anything like that. The main point of this theory is that each of the gravity interaction and…
In General Relativity and gauge field theory, one often encounters a claim, which may be called the boundary problem, according to which "boundaries break diffeomorphism and gauge symmetries". We argue that this statement has the same…
In an apparently unexplored region of relativistic spacetime, a simple thought experiment demonstrates that conjoined Lorentz transformations predict a proper clock at rest will run backwards and that prediction violates the logical…
I present a discussion of some issues in the ontology of spacetime. After a characterisation of the controversies among relationists, substantivalists, eternalists, and presentists, I offer a new argument for rejecting presentism, the…
According to the general theory of relativity, time can flow at different rates depending on the configuration of massive objects, affecting the temporal order of events. Recent research has shown that, combined with quantum theory, this…
Current theoretical physics suggests the flow of time is an illusion: the entire universe just is, with no special meaning attached to the present time. This paper points out that this view, in essence represented by usual space-time…
In the History of Ideas, a succession of philosophical and scientific achievements, concerning the concept of space and its dimensionality, were essential to contribute, after a long period, to the theoretical possibility of thinking…
Time variation of fundamental constants would not be surprising in the framework of theories involving extra dimensions. The variation of any one constant is likely to be correlated with variations of others in a pattern that is diagnostic…