Why is time always thought about in a linear concept?

Question

Time if it exists at all should be thought of in a harmonic concept. events or effect could be happening and overlaping other events or effects at the same time and in different relative motion. If the Universe is like a balloon space is expanding wraping around but on the other side the inside another Parallel Universe exists. Black holes could be moving matter to this other side causing white holes unseen from our side. But what of the air that fills the balloon? How would it effect time?

Answer 1

Spacetime is a four dimensional matrix in which events are embedded. It's the "four-space" distance, the integrated length of the spacetime separation of two events, that has real meaning.

Someone measuring a time separation alone, between Event A and Event B, might disagree with someone else's measurement of the time separation. If these two observers of those two events are moving with respect to each other, they could measure different time gaps between them. In fact, if neither of the events is the cause of the other, the two observers could see them occur in reverse order.

Likewise, someone measuring only the spatial distance between two events might disagree with someone else who also measures only the space in between them. The reason is that the two observers might have different amounts of Lorentz-Fitzgerald length contraction along the line of separation, due to their different states of motion.

To get the invariant separation, you have to measure both space and time together, which result is the spacetime interval. All paths through spacetime connecting the same two events are of equal length.

I think that there might be "other" universes, but I'm not sure that I'd describe them as "parallel." This use of the word "parallel" seems to have come from science fiction. Universes are created as statistical anomalies from random quantum fluctuations of vacuum energy.

The balloon comparison is usually employed to explain the red shift and the nature of our universe's expansion. A lot of people get confused and think that if our universe is expanding that there must exist, somewhere in space, a "center of the universe" that we could point to, once we knew where it was.

But that's a misconception. The center of the universe is a moment in time, not a position in space. The balloon you mentioned is filled with the universe's past.

It could be that the same quantum process that creates universes also destroys them. Black holes do eventually evaporate - it just takes a great deal of time. How much time?

The Hawking luminosity is found from
L = 4 pi R^2 s T^4
Where...
pi = 3.14159265358979...
R = the Schwarzschild radius
s = the Stefan-Boltzmann constant
s = 5.6704E-8 W m^-2 K^-4
T = the blackbody temperature pertaining to the quantum mechanical evaporation of the black hole.

R = 2 GM/c^2
Where...
G = the gravitational constant
G = 6.6742E-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2
c = the speed of light
c = 2.99792458E+8 m/s
M = the black hole's mass

The blackbody temperature is found from
T = h c / (8 pi^2 k R)
Where...
h = Planck's constant
h = 6.6260693E-34 J s
k = the Boltzmann constant
k = 1.3806505E-23 J/K

The Stefan-Boltzmann constant is defined in terms of other constants:
s = 8 pi^5 k^4 / (60 h^3 c^2)

If you substitute into the luminosity equation the expressions for (s) and (T), and then do all the simplification, you find that the luminosity is given by

L = h c^2 / (7680 pi^2 R^2)

Differentiating the luminosity by the radius gives

dL/dR = -h c^2 / (3840 pi^2 R^3)

The derivative of the Schwarzschild radius with respect to the black hole's mass is
dR/dM = 2 G/c^2

By the chain rule, then
dL/dM = -h c^6 / (15360 pi^2 G^2 M^3)

So, on the one hand, the differential, dL, is equal to

dL = -h c^6 dM / (15360 pi^2 G^2 M^3)

However, luminosity is power, which is energy divided by time. Energy, in turn, is mass times the speed of light squared. So, on the other hand, the differential, dL, is also equal to

dL = dE/dt = c^2 dM/dt

Two things that are equal to the same thing (dL) are equal to each other.

-h c^6 dM / (15360 pi^2 G^2 M^3) = c^2 dM/dt

Where dt is the black hole evaporation time.

dt = - M^3 15360 pi^2 G^2 / (h c^4)

dt = (1.261684E-16 s kg^-3) M^3

I got rid of the minus sign at the end. It only signifies that the mass decreases as time goes forward.

Consider a star having 3 times the sun's mass. That's about as small as stellar black holes can initially be.

M = 5.97E+30 kg

The evaporation time will be 2.68E+76 seconds, or 8.51E+68 years. That's 6.21E+58 times longer than the present estimated lifetime of the universe.

And that's for a relatively SMALL black hole, having only three sun's worth of mass. The universe has maybe 1E+22 suns worth of mass (that's a rough guess), so it would last 3.7E+64 times longer than the minimal stellar black hole would, or about 3E+133 years.

Answer 2

In physics, time is defined so that motion looks simple.

To the extent that General Relativity is true, then all small pieces of spacetime are locally flat. In an inertial frame in that flat space, objects with no forces acting on them will move linearly. That's what defines time on a local scale. All of those pieces of spacetime are then stitched together by General Relativity into the larger-scale, curved, spacetime manifold. The equations generally forbid "closed timelike curves", in other words, trajectories where the same spacetime event can be visited more than once. (That is, no time machines, no harmonic time.) With wormholes, or with the global topology of the Universe, it is possible to make closed timelike curves. If these actually cannot happen in Nature, then this requires rules beyond those of General Relativity.

As far as we know, General Relativity is correct on scales larger than the quantum. Therefore, time is locally linear.

Answer 3

Good question,,

We put time into linear terms because that is the way we perceive it, however Einstein proved that it slows as you approach the speed of light.

I like your idea of "white holes" if I understand you correctly,, you imagine the energy left from the matter being ripped apart by a black hole streaming into a parallel universe. So why couldn't white holes exists in our universe we just have not identified them as "white holes" yet?

Wonderful things to ponder,,The universe is a vast mysterious place and we only comprehend a tiny fraction of it. The next 100 years will be fantastic, I hope we are around to see them.

Answer 4

First of all time doesn't exist. So there should be no linear or non linear time. As one of the answerer's said,there could be no going back in times or forward also. That's simply because if we took a close study on how human kind perceived time, and how did tryed to capture it and keep it track on instruments, we realize that all the solar motion, solar watches, Stone henge like made arrangements blocks, and all the modern watches (with needles or LCDs) are tide up by only one thing --MOTION (of the sun, or Earth's with respect to the sun, of the shadows of objects illuminated by the Sun and the needles or numbers on the modern watches).


The thing is that even if Einstein said that time is defined,the things aren't sitting in that way actually. My idea is that the time is actually on every each of us, deep down in the atoms moving with the same speed (regarding on the same substance and same room conditions) so you cannot go beck in time in this way or another or overlapping times.

Dfriend :)

Answer 5

the historic Hebrews would have suggested that in a experience previous and destiny are saved, because the destiny is the unfolding of the previous, making all of them area of an finished. the historic Greeks, who've maximum influenced us, adhere more effective to the linear view of progression. The Hindu's believe the international ends each and every 6,000 years, rests for a a million,000 and then begins the cycle all throughout back--diabolical philosophy that one, to my ideas, continuously trapped on the wheel of karma. i imagine, now that we are right down to non-public critiques, that aspect began with the starting up of the universe, that there is a level previous which we received't go in our wondering about the starting up of issues; and that aspect, contained in the experience of a temporal rhythm of existence, will continually go on. At this aspect time is warped by technique of entropy, yet i imagine a time will come even as time will be warped by technique of not something, and the pass will be suitable. The musings of one who holds to the Biblical view of creation contained in the e book of Genesis, and the Biblical view of the best time in Revelation. whats up Ho, Maggie !

Answer 6

Deep question. But I think I follow your logic. I especially like the "white hole" theory of other parallel universes. I think we think of time in a line because while what you suggest is true, it is too hard for most folks to comprehend.

Answer 7

I could be too hard for people to comprehend. Time is thought of as linear because you can only go one way through time, forward. You can never go backwards in time.

Answer 8

Very few humans can think in any way other than linear.

Answer 9

don't believe everything ...the human race is still young. time has been described by ....basically children !