|
| Credit: Agsandrew/Shutterstock |
A new theory claims that time does not move forward, but rather, everything
in time is ever-present.
According to the theory, if we were to ‘look down’ upon the universe, we
would see time spread out in all directions, just as we see space at the
moment.
The
intriguing theory
was put forward by Dr Bradford Skow, an associated professor of philosophy
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In his new book,
Objective Becoming, he examines some of the theories that have been postulated to explain
time.
‘When you ask people, “Tell me about the passage of time,” they usually make
a metaphor,’ he said.
THE ARROW OF TIME
In 1927 British astronomer Arthur Eddington first devised the ‘one-way
direction’ or ‘asymmetry ‘ of time.
He said that by studying the organisation of matter, it was possible to make
a 4D map of the universe.
The so-called ‘arrow of time’ supposedly points to a move spread out and
‘random’ future, toward which everything is moving.
This is also known as entropy, which tends to increase with time.
Entropy, a consequence of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, will increase as
energy dissipates and matter and energy disperse.
This means that entropy will always increase in the universe.
Some say this may lead to a ‘heat death’ future where everything is spread
so thinly that nothing can exist any more – a scenario famously postulated
in Isaac Asimov’s short story The Last Question.
However, owing to the law of gravity, some think such a future is not a
possibility.
And Dr Skow thinks the 'arrow of time' theory itself is not necessarily
correct.
‘They say time flows like a river, or we move through time like a ship
sailing through the sea.’
Another theory states that the present is a ‘spotlight’ that moves from the
past to the future, with us being located in the spotlight as it moves
forward.
Dr Skow, however, said he ‘wouldn’t want to believe in that unless I saw
good arguments for it.’
Rather, he favours a theory known as the ‘block universe’, which states that
the past, present and future already exist.
Dr Skow said that he does not think events sail past us and vanish forever -
instead, they exist in different parts of space-time.
‘The block universe theory says you’re spread out in time, something like
the way you’re spread out in space,' Dr Skow said.
‘We’re not located at a single time.’
Instead he says we are in a 'temporarily scattered' condition.
He asserts that our passage through space-time is not like a spotlight - and
the experiences you had yesterday, last week, or even years ago are all
real.
But he says time travel between the different times is not possible, as we
are now in a different part of space-time.
His theory follows another postulated by scientists back in December.
They proposed that at the moment of the Big Bang, a 'mirror universe' to our
own was created that moves in the opposite direction through time - and
intelligent beings in each one would perceive the other to be moving
backwards through time.
The radical theory was proposed by Dr Julian Barbour of College Farm in the
UK, Dr Tim Koslowski of the University of New Brunswick in Canada and Dr
Flavio Mercati of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, also in
Canada.
Their research attempts to answer questions that remain about the ‘arrow of
time’ - which is the concept that time is ‘symmetric’ and everything moves
forwards.
They say that at the time of the Big Bang not one but two universes formed –
both moving equally in each direction through time, but opposite to each
other.
This universe would not be exactly the same as ours, though; it would have
evolved and changed in its own way, completely separate to our own.
However, it would be subject to the same laws of physics, so it would likely
have planets, stars and galaxies just like in our version of the cosmos.
And Dr Barbour told MailOnline the theory could open up a new way to think
about the Big Bang.
‘At the moment when people talk about the Big Bang, they more or less throw
their hands up in despair and say they can’t say what happened,' he said.
‘Now our work is beginning to suggest we can actually say more than people
thought.’
Which theory of time proves to be correct, though - Dr Skow's block
universe, the mirror universe or perhaps another - remains to be seen.
Source: Link
Tags:
Physics