Posted on 04/28/2017 1:16:00 PM PDT by Red Badger
UBC math and physics instructor, Ben Tippett. Credit: UBC Okanagan
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After some serious number crunching, a UBC researcher has come up with a mathematical model for a viable time machine.
Ben Tippett, a mathematics and physics instructor at UBC's Okanagan campus, recently published a study about the feasibility of time travel. Tippett, whose field of expertise is Einstein's theory of general relativity, studies black holes and science fiction when he's not teaching. Using math and physics, he has created a formula that describes a method for time travel.
"People think of time travel as something as fiction," says Tippett. "And we tend to think it's not possible because we don't actually do it. But, mathematically, it is possible."
Ever since HG Wells published his book Time Machine in 1885, people have been curious about time travel—and scientists have worked to solve or disprove the theory, he says. In 1915 Albert Einstein announced his theory of general relativity, stating that gravitational fields are caused by distortions in the fabric of space and time. More than 100 years later, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration—an international team of physics institutes and research groups—announced the detection of gravitational waves generated by colliding black holes billions of lightyears away, confirming Einstein's theory.
The division of space into three dimensions, with time in a separate dimension by itself, is incorrect, says Tippett. The four dimensions should be imagined simultaneously, where different directions are connected, as a space-time continuum. Using Einstein's theory, Tippett says that the curvature of space-time accounts for the curved orbits of the planets.
In "flat"—or uncurved—space-time, planets and stars would move in straight lines. In the vicinity of a massive star, space-time geometry becomes curved and the straight trajectories of nearby planets will follow the curvature and bend around star.
"The time direction of the space-time surface also shows curvature. There is evidence showing the closer to a black hole we get, time moves slower," says Tippett. "My model of a time machine uses the curved space-time—to bend time into a circle for the passengers, not in a straight line. That circle takes us back in time."
While it is possible to describe this type of time travel using a mathematical equation, Tippett doubts that anyone will ever build a machine to make it work.
"HG Wells popularized the term 'time machine' and he left people with the thought that an explorer would need a 'machine or special box' to actually accomplish time travel," Tippett says. "While is it mathematically feasible, it is not yet possible to build a space-time machine because we need materials—which we call exotic matter—to bend space-time in these impossible ways, but they have yet to be discovered."
For his research, Tippett created a mathematical model of a Traversable Acausal Retrograde Domain in Space-time (TARDIS). He describes it as a bubble of space-time geometry which carries its contents backward and forwards through space and time as it tours a large circular path. The bubble moves through space-time at speeds greater than the speed of light at times, allowing it to move backward in time.
"Studying space-time is both fascinating and problematic. And it's also a fun way to use math and physics," says Tippett. "Experts in my field have been exploring the possibility of mathematical time machines since 1949. And my research presents a new method for doing it."
Tippett's research was recently published in the IOPscience journal Classical and Quantum Gravity.
Explore further: How Einstein could help unlock the mysteries of space travel
More information: Benjamin K Tippett et al. Traversable acausal retrograde domains in spacetime, Classical and Quantum Gravity (2017). DOI: 10.1088/1361-6382/aa6549
Perhaps the first, and the most prescient, science fiction tale about the internet is, IMHO, “A Logic Named Joe”, by Murray Leinster in 1946
http://www.uky.edu/~jclark/mas201/Joe.pdf
Meanwhile, in reality land....
ΔT ∝ E
Ask a decent question and get that sort of response. Get lost sonny. You loud mouth young’n noobies are really something.
Don’t let the arrogant noobie kiddies get to ya Reily! I think the Viking Kittehs might be zeroing in on this one.
Fiction. You know, the same kind of “science” used to sell gorebal warming - fed to the suckers who are born every minute.
That sort of fiction.
Settle down you loud mouthed young’n noob. You arrogant conceited kids are a joke. Go back to the DUmp junior.
>>Best TV time travel show!
That pretty much sum up the extent of your knowledge on the subject?
Warp speed Mizz Sulu!
Get lost junior. You noobie loud mouthed kiddies are beyond hope. Take your arrogant crap back to the DUmp sonny.
What in God’s name is wrong with you? How old are you noob?
Consider the strategic value of inflicting this sort of pseudo-scientifically detached reality on a generation, or few...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248159.php
“Most of the published paper is about picking holes in it. so, if anything, the paper says time machines are less possible than ever.”
What does this mean?
“Broadly speaking, psychosis means a loss of contact with reality; it is a symptom of a number of mental illnesses rather than a medical condition in its own right.”
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248159.php
How’s that vintage TeeVee edumacation working for folks aboard the American Enterprise, strategically speaking, these days... sparky?
You really think I meant anything substantial by/about my Star Trek fun post other than grins!?!!! Good Lord but are you an idiot!!!! Get lost noobie. Go back to the DUmp. I understand dumb asses like you are welcome there. How old are you sonny?
>>Best TV time travel show!
—Bobby.223
Lmaosmh.
What in the hell is wrong with you kid? My Star Trek post was a gag! Get it yet noob!? Good God!! How damn stupid are you? Now, dry up sonny. Crawl back up the stairs, kiss mommy and mommy’s girlfriend goodnight, and then turn off your computer. You need a good night’s sleep....your Sunday morning paper route awaits. You idiot freakin’ kids are really something.
>>My Star Trek post was a gag!
Learn that from Mizz Sulu did ya?
Please enlighten the class with, in your own words, a summary of the nature ascribed to time by Special Relativity.
What do you use for a brain noob? Anything?
Come on, if time travel was possible, you’d think someone would come back and predict that Donald Trump would mesmerize a crowd of 20,000 with a dramatic reading of “The Snake.”
Idiot
That you are noobie. No question about it.
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