THEORY OF TIME

2.a) Classic time concepts

2.a.1. The subjective perception of time

Time concept is a very philosophical one since it is perceived differently by each person according to the activity that is taking place and even the state of mind. It reminds me of the basic dichotomy of perception-reality of philosophy that contributes so many discussions, many of which, in my opinion, are completely useless because they place themselves outside of natural logic or indicate a dead end in of themselves.

Moreover, time concept is very much joined to life itself - it is hard to imagine life without the existence of time. Where would we find the origin of life in such a case?

This concept of time could be defined as that which is understood by little children when they are so little that the world is “their world” and they orient time, which is why they think that when they sleep the world is immobile while it waits for them to wake, and that everything should be the same as when they went to bed.

It is obvious that the subjective perception of physical time radically changes. When we are sleeping it is practically inexistent, only when we dream are we at all conscious of the passage of time, but normally we have no idea of how much time we have been in a particular dream.

When we are awake, we also have a very variable perception of time. When we are really occupied it seems that time flies by; on the contrary, when we feel bored it feels as if time slows down.

Another similar effect in relation to the speed of time is produced by the state of mind. It also seems that times goes by quickly if we are really happy, meanwhile, if we have a strong desire for an event in the near future to take place, it seems as if time stops, as if it were trying to go against us.

In short, any activity, whether physical, mental or emotional, significantly affects the subjective perception of time, without us having the means to accurately measure its small variations.

2.a.2. Absolute time concept as an objective concept

All children go through a phase when they develop the objective time concept in order to understand why many events have occurred and they were not aware of them. They simply have been asleep.

In a more general sense, in order to avoid the subjectivity of the perception of time and to be able to communicate and recognize temporal aspects, an abstract concept has been created in which one tries to measure and determine time by means that are independent from the observer: the clock.

The main characteristic of this concept is being an absolute time. It does not depend on any external or internal variable to the individual. It is an abstract concept, perhaps it does not actually exist, but as a concept it is absolute and real like life itself.

For that reason, throughout history, humanity has been developing increasingly accurate mechanisms to measure objective time, ending up with impressive results in the reduction of the margins of error: the atomic clock.

The current definition of a second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between the two mega-thin levels of the ground state of the isotope 133 of the cesium atom, in specific state and conditions. And the definition of a meter is the distance that light travels in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458th of a second.

Consequently, the meter definition is derived from the second definition. If the duration of a second changes, the length of a meter must change to maintain the constant speed of the light as it is explained in the following section.

However, an exact measurement is not possible since all mechanisms will be inevitably conditioned by their own nature, including the atomic clocks. The only perfect clock would be an invisible and abstract clock.

2.b) Modern time concepts

2.b.1. The definition of relativistic time

Modern Physics with Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity provides a completely different time concept, being similar to neither objective nor subjective classic concepts of time.

There is only to know that gravity and speed affect the definition of a second by changing the palpitations of the Cesium atom to realize that the relativistic time is immersed in the very same current definition of its unit, which dates back to 1967.

Time is relative due to the Special Theory of Relativity of 1905 and, subsequently, by the General Relativity of 1916. However, the latter affects time by establishing an equivalence of gravity and acceleration, therefore, with the supposed temporal effects of motion in the Special Theory of Relativity

In order to summarize this section and to finish with the concept of relativistic time, I want to point out that, as it will be explained later on, the relative time that is detected, even in the atomic clocks, is due to a measurement error, corresponding to an error in the very same definition of a second that is perfectly adapted to the prevailing theory in 1967, but not to the concept of the overwhelming majority of the human population.

In other words, the cesian (from the cesium atom, not Julius Caesar) definition of a second of 1967 produces non-absolute time because the cesium is affected by changes in gravity and speed. In this definition, if one were to pay attention to the conditions of gravity and speed in relation to the gravitational field where we find the atomic clock, then the Theory of Relativity would no longer be formally correct. Easy! Isn’t it?

The new concept is fundamentally derived, like the whole Theory of Relativity, from the application of the mathematical formulas in the explanation that was developed about the failure of the anticipated goal of the Michelson-Morley experiment, specifically, from the Lorentz equations.

Mathematically, Special Relativity prolongs time and contracts space while General Relativity, moreover, bends both by affecting the axes of the dimensions.

A more detailed analysis of the Michelson-Morley experiment and the Lorentz equations, given their importance, can be found in the online book of Physics Experiments sustaining the Theory of Global Equivalence.

In this experiment, according to its hypothetical premises, light travels uneven spaces in the same time period. Because of the accepted axiom of the maximum and constant speed of light, the only alternative that remains is to make time relative.

This confirmation is called the postulate of the Special Theory of Relativity; I suppose that it is so that, beforehand, it can conceal its unmistakable concept of being an axiom. Indeed, its second proposition says: “The speed of light in open space has the same value for all of the observers, regardless of its state of movement.”

All of this means a contradiction in terms in which there exists the idea of “at the same time” and multiple “times” depending on the speed (space/time) of the observer. I would say that each observer uses a different measurement of time, but it may be that I do not understand this theory very well.

Of course, with space the exact same thing happens as with time, given that mathematically it is also necessary to alter it in order to be able to maintain the axiom of the constant speed.

If there are any doubts about the previous, they should be resolved in the nick of time if one carefully reads the definition of a meter.

It is just as well that it only has two postulates and that at least something is constant!

Now then, there were other elements used by Einstein in order to establish the Special Theory of Relativity.

Among them, the following can be mentioned:

• The Maxwell equations of electromagnetism that provide a more accurate calculation of the speed of light and pointed to a maximum speed of light.
  
  
• The Lorentz equations that added certain mathematical complexity and declared that the speed of light was always the same.
  
  
• The relative mass together with the mass-energy transformation of the famous equation E = mc² which are real effects.
  
  
• Interesting references to the subjectivity of time, such as the case of the lovers.
  
  
• Artificial examples about impossible situations, such as the twin paradox, a mirror clock in a spacecraft and limits to simultaneousness by perception such as the case of the train wagon.

Jumping ahead a little of the present confusion, we can say that the time and speed of a small ball or particle no longer depend on the point of reference as long as the measurements are carried out but rather on the speed of the point of observation. That is, a ball can travel with different temporal speed simultaneously and all of them so calmly!

In short, a fair number of bizarre things can occur, and they occur as a result of the excessive philosophical and mathematical influence in relativistic physics.

From an objective point of view, as far as I know not even one object has yet to travel in time nor suddenly appear or disappear due to having a distinct temporal speed.

A significant weakness of relativistic physics is that it does not explain what mechanisms affect the atomic clocks in a spacecraft that result in them becoming desynchronized in relation to their brothers on Earth and, of course, it does not recognize that it is dealing with a measurement error.

What is certain is that the change in the measurement of relativistic time coincides with the mathematical predictions, but that does not take away the fact that according to Modern Physics the clocks are altered by the art of magic.

Interesting! A measurement error that coincides with the theory. Or, actually, a theory that coincides with reality because it has been designed ad hoc - skipping common sense and adjusting philosophy in order to be able to be blessed by the scientific method.