Posted on 08/30/2006 1:01:48 AM PDT by snarks_when_bored
...gniP
!snorom ,yaw gnorw eht gniog er'uoY
(in a quantum sense)
We always seek but do not always find...
Sean M. Carroll & Jennifer Chen, Spontaneous Inflation and the Origin of the Arrow of Time (PDF)Abstract:We suggest that spontaneous eternal inflation can provide a natural explanation for the thermodynamic arrow of time, and discuss the underlying assumptions and consequences of this view. In the absence of inflation, we argue that systems coupled to gravity usually evolve asymptotically to the vacuum, which is the only natural state in a thermodynamic sense. In the presence of a small positive vacuum energy and an appropriate inflaton field, the de Sitter vacuum is unstable to the spontaneous onset of inflation at a higher energy scale. Starting from de Sitter, inflation can increase the total entropy of the universe without bound, creating universes similar to ours in the process. An important consequence of this picture is that inflation occurs asymptotically both forwards and backwards in time, implying a universe that is (statistically) time-symmetric on ultra-large scales.
Sean M. Carroll & Jennifer Chen, Does Inflation Provide Natural Initial Conditions for the Universe? (PDF)Abstract:If our universe underwent inflation, its entropy during the inflationary phase was substantially lower than it is today. Because a low-entropy state is less likely to be chosen randomly than a high-entropy one, inflation is unlikely to arise through randomly-chosen initial conditions. To resolve this puzzle, we examine the notion of a natural state for the universe, and argue that it is a nearly-empty spacetime. If empty space has a small vacuum energy, however, inflation can begin spontaneously in this background. This scenario explains why a universe like ours is likely to have begun via a period of inflation, and also provides an origin for the cosmological arrow of time.
bump
I can hardly understand this stuff, but I have this theory about time: All of our theories about it are completely wrong.
I'm reminded of St. Augustine's famous remark: "What is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not."
"time is just natures way of keeping everything from happening all at once"
Naw, it's just me. I've read about time, and it always seems to be about to fall into place, and then I step back and it just seems completely theoretical and based on a certain mindset. I think time is all about assumptions. But then, i can't understand even the assumptions.
Time: It's what keeps everything from happening at once!
Mark
Another classic...
Time is unidirectional..
I would also posit that time is actually a constant..
It is only in a relativistic sense that time is "perceived" as moving faster or slower..
I think we will find that the speed of light itself is not the constant we believe it to be..
It can be surpassed..
What the consequences may be in doing so, I do not know..
I will bet, however, that time travel is not one of them..
We may eventually be able to traverse vast distances very quickly, but it won't affect time itself..
Just my two cents worth..
Time is just a means to measure something's existence. In other words, it's arbitrary. Gravity is the force that needs to be understood to move to a higher plane.
'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana' ping
Somehow reminds me of
" . . . time, times and half a time . . . "
Let's hear it for the Chambers Brothers!
Oh, yeah, baby!
Time is unidirectional..I would also posit that time is actually a constant..
It is only in a relativistic sense that time is "perceived" as moving faster or slower..
Should we understand you to mean that you deny that photons experience no lapse of time?
I think we will find that the speed of light itself is not the constant we believe it to be..
It can be surpassed..
The constancy of the speed of light in a vacuum is a cornerstone of special relativity, an experimentally well-tested theory that we've found no cause to emend just yet. You may recall, though, that light has been slowed to a stop in recent laboratory experiments. Only tachyonic stuff could exceed the speed of light in a vacuum, and we've seen no evidence of such stuff so far.
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