Time (2008)
Robert Howard Kroepel
Copyright © 2008
Table of Contents
Time
The Essence of
Time--The Time-Interval
The Arrow of Time
Simultaneity
Is Time Causal?/A Source
of Causality?
Charles Proteus Steinmetz:
The Fundamental Law of Physics
The Law of Inertia
and Its Corollaries
Time
Time (A) is the temporal principle by which a duration called a
time-interval (TI), which can be and most often is modeled after a
periodic cycle, a recurring motion, can be chosen for a unit of
temporal measurement which can be used for the measurement of the
durations between the occurrences of events, the durations of single
events, and the durations of objects and the generation of the rate of
ticking, timepoints and timeline of a clock, and (B) the temporal
process which is the physical manifestation of the temporal principle
in a clock or watch whose rate of ticking, set of timepoints, and
timeline, is generated by its time-interval, whose timepoints can be
used to determine if or not events are simultaneous, when simultaneity
is defined as two or more events occurring at the same timepoint (a
definition which fits the modern definition of simultaneity found in
the Oxford Dictionary of Physics), and whose timeline generates the
arrow of time, the direction of temporal measurement, wherein
measurement means “counting” and ‘counting’ means starting from an
origin, such as the current NOW, at which we have a combination of both
a timepoint and a configuration of the universal matter/energy (m/e),
and time as a measurement process, the temporal measurement process,
obviously requires the mathematical principle of addition as in
timecounts which are accumulations of additional combinations of
timepoints + universal m/e configurations into the future which will
exist in contrast to subtracting as in timecounts of previous
combinations of timepoints + universal m/e configurations into the past
which while once existed do not exist now and will never exist in the
future.
Time is thus (A) an abstract principle, a general principle of time,
which is the temporal principle, and (B)
an actual process, the specific process of time, a physical
manifestation of the temporal principle in a timepiece such as a clock
or a watch, which is the temporal process.
Thus, if you drop your watch, and it breaks, although that specific
physical manifestation of the temporal principle no longer measures
time as designed, time as the abstract temporal principle is not
destroyed.
The temporal principle, the abstract aspect of time, the general
principle of time, is an objective
reality that has been, is now and always will be independent of
observers b/c it has been, is now, and always will be available to all
individuals who needed to, need to, or will need to measure the
durations between events and the durations of events as well as
objects, and to determine
the simultaneity of events. I.e., when individuals become aware of
their need to measure the durations between events and the durations of
events and objects and to determine the simultaneity of events then
they will
become aware of the temporal principle and will subsequently find a way
to physically manifest the temporal principle in a timepiece such as a
clock or watch of some kind.
The temporal process, the specific process of time, the physical
manifestation of the temporal
principle in a timepiece such as a clock or watch, is in fact, by its
nature of being a physical manifestation, a physical reality.
The motions of objects change, and the temporal process can be used to
determine the rate at which the motions of objects change.
Objects can endure, and the temporal process can be used to measure the
durations of objects.
Events generally have shorter durations than relevant objects; both the
durations of events and the durations between events can be measured by
the temporal process.
NOTE: A duration of an object can be labeled an event, but that label
would require all objects be labeled to be events, a requirement that
would obfuscate the definition of an event.
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The Essence of
Time—The Time-Interval
The essence of time is the time-interval (TI), which is the
unit of
temporal measurement.
A TI could be variable or invariable.
The variable time-interval
(VTI) is manifest in a variable
time-interval clock (VTIC), whose rate of ticking, set of
timepoints,
and timeline change inversely with increases and decreases in the
clock’s mass-energy caused by forces which cause accelerations and
decelerations and therefore changes of the clock’s inertial state and
its reference frame.
When a VTIC is accelerated, its mass-energy increases and its
time-interval increases, its rate of ticking slows down, and the
durations between timepoints on its timeline increase.
The invariable time-interval
(ITI) is manifest in an invariable
time-interval clock (ITIC), whose rate of ticking, set of
timepoints,
and timeline do not change inversely with increases and decreases in
the clock’s mass-energy caused by forces which cause accelerations and
decelerations and therefore changes of the clock’s inertial state and
its reference frame because the ITI is adjusted to compensate for
changes of the clock’s mass-energy.
We thus find two time-intervals, the VTI and the ITI, and two clocks,
the VTIC and the ITIC.
VTIs and VTICs measure local time
(LT) in single unique reference
frames, and they generate timepoints which can be used to determine the
simultaneity of events with a single reference frame. A VTIC is
therefore a local time clock
(LTC).
Restated: When time is measured by variable time-intervals, i.e.,
time-intervals which are not adjusted to compensate for changes in
their durations caused by changes in their host clocks’ inertial
mass-energies caused by forces which caused accelerations or
decelerations of their host clocks, the time measured is local time,
the time which is unique to each reference frame/body of reference.
VTICs are designed to be VTICs because their TIs become VTIs because
they are not adjusted to compensate for the changes of their
host-clocks’ mass-energies caused by forces which cause accelerations
and decelerations.
ITIs and ITICs measure absolute time
(AT) or universal time (UT)
in
multiple different reference frames, and they generate timepoints which
can be used to determine the simultaneity of events in multiple
different reference frames. An ITIC is therefore an absolute time clock
(ATC) or a universal time clock
(UTC).
Restated: When time is measured by invariable time-intervals, i.e.,
time-intervals which are adjusted to compensate for changes in their
durations caused by changes in their host clocks’ inertial
mass-energies caused by forces which caused accelerations or
decelerations of their host clocks, e.g., time-intervals in clocks
which, by being adjusted to compensate for accelerations and
decelerations, are “independent of the state of motion of [their
bodies] of reference” (Einstein’s requirement/specification, in
Relativity, p. for clocks which are capable of measuring
universal/absolute time), e.g., the satellite atomic clocks in the US
GPS nav system, the time measured is universal/absolute time.
Albert Einstein, Relativity, Chapter IX:
“Now before the advent of the theory of relativity it had always
tacitly been assumed in physics that the statement of time had an
absolute significance, i.e. that it is independent of the state of
motion of the body of reference.” [p. 27]
Albert Einstein, The Meaning of
Relativity:
If we are given the Cartesian co-ordinates xv, and the time, t, of an
event relatively to one inertial system, K, how can we calculate the
co-ordinates x’v, and the time, t’, of the same event relatively to an
inertial system K’ which moves with uniform translation [is not
rotating] relatively to K? In the pre-relativity physics this problem
was solved by making ... two hypotheses
1. Time is absolute; the time of an event. t’, relatively to K’ is the
same as the time [t] relatively to K. If instantaneous signals could be
sent to a distance, and if no one knew that the state of motion of a
clock had no influence on its rate, then this assumption could be
physically validated. For then clocks, similar to each other, and
regulated alike, could be distributed over systems K and K’, at rest
relatively to them, and their indications would be independent of the
state of motion of the systems; the time of an event would then
be given by the clock in its immediate neighborhood.
2. Length is absolute; if an interval at rest relatively to K, has a
length s, then it has the same length s, relatively to a system K’
which is in motion relatively to K. [p. 25.]
We note that in the above Einstein has given us the specifications
required for an absolute space-interval/ASI, or universal
space-interval/USI, which can be used for measuring absolute space/AS,
or universal space/US, and he has also given us the specifications
required for an absolute time-interval/ATI, or universal
time-interval/UTI, which is an invariable time-interval/ITI, which can
be used to measure absolute time/AT via an absolute time clock/ATC,
which is an ITIC, or universal time/UT to be measured via a universal
time clock/UTC, which also is an ITIC.
Thus, the concept of absolute time, or universal time, the time
measured by ATIs in ATCs, UTIs in UTCs, or ITIs in ITICs, did not
appear to be a reality for Einstein and other physicists because they
could not find examples of physical manifestations of the temporal
principle of absolute time.
ITICs are designed to be ITICs because their TIs are adjusted to become
ITIs because they are adjusted to compensate for the changes of their
host-clocks’ mass-energies caused by forces which cause accelerations
and decelerations.
ITICS are of two basic designs: (1) The master clock<->slave
clock ITIC configuration wherein a master clock sends radio
signals to
adjust the TI of a slave clock and thereby cause the TI to become an
ITI and the slave clock to become an ITIC; this master
clock<->slave clock configuration remains an ITIC configuration
so long as the master clock remains stable and the master
clock<->slave clock relationship also remains stable: these types
of ITICs are found in the US GPS navigation system; (2) The
motion-sensing self-adjusting
ITIC configuration wherein accelerometers
(and decelerometers) sense changes of the motion of a clock and send
information to an onboard computer which then makes adjustments to the
clock’s TI to cause it to become an ITI and the clock to become an
ITIC; these types of ITICs are likely to be found in inertial guidance
systems in aircraft, spacecraft, surface ships, and submarines.
A timecount is the counting of
time-intervals.
The type of time-interval, VTI v ITI, to be used as the unit of
temporal measurement for a timecount has to be arbitrarily chosen.
The arbitrary choice of the type of time-interval, VTI v ITI, will
determine the type of timepiece, or clock or watch, VTIC v ITIC, to be
used for the temporal process.
A timecount has to begin at an arbitrarily chosen origin.
When an ITI is chosen for the unit of measurement of time, the ITI in
ITICs generates a Continuum of Universal Time—the continuum of the time
measured by invariable time-intervals.
There are two general possibilities for a Continuum of Universal Time.
The Bi-Directional Continuum of
Universal Time: Past Infinity <- ... <- T-2 <- T-1
<- T0 (Origin) -> T+1 -> T+2 -> ... -> Infinity Future,
The Uni-Directional Continuum of
Universal Time: T0 (Origin) -> T1 -> T2 -> ... -> Tn
(Infinity Future)
where
T = Timepoint
T0 = Origin
n = Last the last number, n, of a series.
Infinite/Infinity = (Physics) Having no spatial, temporal or physical
limitations
Finite/Finity = (Physics) Having spatial, temporal and/or physical
limitations
We note that a continuum is regarded to be a non-divisible whole.
American Heritage Dictionary
continuum
1. A continuous extent, succession, or whole, no part of which can be
distinguished from neighboring parts except by arbitrary division.
2. Mathematics
2.1. A set having the same number of points as all the real numbers in
an interval.
2.2. The set of all real numbers.
The American Heritage¨ Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet
continuum
noun
a continuous nonspatial whole or extent or succession in which no part
or portion is distinct or distinguishable from adjacent parts
WordNet¨ 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Thus, although the Bi-Directional Continuum of Universal Time appears
to be divisible into two parts from the T0 (Origin) the fact is that it
is nevertheless a continuous whole.
Return to Table of Contents
The Arrow of Time
The Arrow of Time: Past —
Present/NOW — Future —>
The arrow of time is the flow of timecounting/temporal measurement.
The Bi-Directional Continuum of Universal Time enables us (A) to regard
time as extending infinitely into the past (there will be an infinite
number of timepoints extending into the past) and extending infinitely
into the future (there will be an infinite number of timepoints
extending into the future) and (B) to regard time as having a direction
which generates the arrow of time from the past through the present
into the future when the timecount moves from the infinite past
through
the present NOW into the infinite future.
The Uni-Directional Continuum of Universal Time enables us (A) to
regard time as extending from an arbitrarily chosen T0 (Origin) into
the future and (B) to regard time as having a direction which generates
the arrow of time from the T0 (Origin) into the infinite future.
Note that although there appear to be two Universal Continuums of Time,
the fact remains that by human choice the direction of temporal
measurement, or timecount, of the durations between events or the
durations of events, the arrow of time, is from past timepoints through
the current timepoint (the current NOW) into future timepoints, and,
therefore, by human choice, the direction of temporal measurement is
uni-directional.
The physical fact is that the direction of time is also
uni-directional, i.e., the physical arrow of time is from the past
through the present into the future, b/c physical phenomena, esp.
physical events, occur from the past through the present into the
future, and the temporal measurement thereof can only concur with the
direction of the occurrences of physical events, e.g., events can only
be recorded at new timepoints on the universal timeline, the Continuum
of Universal Time.
Theoretically, b/c the direction of time is uni-directional, from the
past through the present into the future, if a reversal of the inertial
states of the people, objects and events comprised of the universal m/e
were to occur for reasons which are currently unknown and in reality
are physically impossible, this reversal would NOT cause a change in
the direction of the universal timecount, i.e., the direction of the
universal timecount would continue to be uni-directional, and the
reversal would occur at a timepoint in the future—at a future
timepoint, and the positions of the people, objects and events
comprised of the universal m/e resulting from the reversal would be
recorded at future timepoints and not at past timepoints.
As each timepoint on a timeline occurs, there is a corresponding and
coincidental configuration of the universal matter/energy (m/e). Within
the universal m/e configuration objects will endure and/or change
position/motions/inertial states, resulting in a change of the
universal m/e configuration from timepoint to timepoint.
Note that there is one-and-only-one universal m/e configuration; its
relationship to a timepoint is coincidental b/c the universal m/e
configuration at a specific timepoint only occurs during that
timepoint, i.e., there is no accumulation of sets of timepoints +
universal m/e configurations. Records, such as photographs, audio
recordings, videotapes, etc., may exist to show what was the universal
m/e configuration at a specific timepoint, but we note that those
records exist in the present timepoint and therefore do not represent a
previous real/actual timepoint + universal m/e configuration
combination.
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Simultaneity
When simultaneity is defined as two or more events occurring at
the same timepoint, then the timepoints of a clock generated by a
specific time-interval can be used to determine the simultaneity of
events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simultaneity
Simultaneity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simultaneity is the property of two events happening at the same time
in at least one reference frame.
The Oxford Dictionary of Physics
Alan Isaacs, ed.
Oxford University Press, Fourth Edition, 2000
simultaneity The condition in
which two or more events occur at the same instant.
Local simultaneity/LSim is the determination of the occurrences of two
or
more events in a single reference rame/upon s single body of reference
at the same local timepoint generated by identical local time
clocks/LTCs—identical VTICs.
Absolute simultaneity/ASim or universal simultaneity/USim is the
determination of the
occurrences of two or more events in different reference frames at the
same universal timepoint generated by identical absolute or universal
time clocks/ATCs or UTCs—identical ITICs.
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Is Time Causal/A
Source of Causality?
Causality =
People/objects/events comprised of matter/energy causing (A) changes of
inertial states of pre-existing people/objects/events or (B) new
people/objects/events from pre-existing matter/energy.
Object = Atomic/molecular
organization/pattern which creates what can be identified as a unity
(or an entity) and which retains its identity longer than a relevant
event.
Examples: A woman named Jane, a ball, a man named Dick.
Event = Relationships
between/among people/objects, esp. a causal relationship.
Example: Jane throws the ball to Dick: Jane is the cause of the event
wherein the ball travels through the air to Dick.
A cause is a condition; an effect is a consequence.
Causal Sequence: 1.
Cause(s)/Condition(s) -> 2. Effect(s)/Consequence(s).
The true/absolute causal sequence
can be observed by the use of ITICs to measure the timepoints at which
the causes/conditions were present and the effects/consequences
occurred.
By the Continuum of Universal Time, which is the Continuum of Time
generated and measured by identical ITICs which generate identical
timepoints for all observers regardless of their reference frames or
bodies of reference, and the concept and principle of absolute
simultaneity, which is the determination of the simultaneity of
different events in different reference frames/upon different bodies of
reference, a set of causes/conditions will occur at one universal
timepoint and a relevant effect/consequence will occur at a later
universal timepoint.
Where time is the measurement of the occurrences of events or the
measurement of the durations of objects or events, then time is not
causal—time does not cause events to occur nor objects to endure.
Therefore, time is not causal.
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Charles Proteus
Steinmetz: The Fundamental Law of Physics
Charles Proteus Steinmetz.
Four Lectures on Relativity and Space.
Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014 1967
pp. 49–50.
The fundamental law of physics is the law of inertia. “A body keeps the
same state as long as there is no cause to change its state.” That is,
it remains at rest or continues the same kind of motionÑthat is,
motion with the same velocity in the same directionÑuntil some
cause changes it, and such cause we call a ‘force.’ “ [Quotes in the
original, but not attributed to anyone.]
This is really not merely a law of physics, but it is the fundamental
law of logic. It is the law of cause and effect: “Any effect must have
a cause, and without cause there can be no effect.” This is axiomatic
and is the fundamental conception of all knowledge, because all
knowledge consists in finding the cause of some effect or the effect of
some cause, and therefore must presuppose that every effect has some
cause, and inversely. [Quotes in the original but not attributed to
anyone.]
Return to Table of Contents
The Law of
Inertia and Its Corollaries
The Law of Inertia: An object having an inertial state of being at rest
or in motion retains its inertial state and thereby remains at rest or
in motion until acted upon by a force.
The Corollaries of the Law of Inertia:
1. A force is a form of matter/energy which is a push or pull which can
cause accelerations and decelerations which cause changes of inertial
states of objects.
2. Only a force can cause a change of the inertial state of an object
comprised of matter and/or energy.
3. The observation of a change of inertial state implies its cause to
be a force of some kind.
If a change of the inertial state of an object within a volume is
observed, or if changes of the inertial states of objects within a
volume are observed (for quantities of objects at QM scalar levels),
then a force is implied to be the cause and is therefore present, and a
force is comprised of a form of matter/energy.
The Law of Inertia and The Corollaries of the Law of Inertia show the
precise nature of causality, inre forces being causes that cause
effects.
In logical arguments, Ps are the conditions/causes which must be
present to cause a Q/consequence/effect.
The relationship between Ps & Qs can be summarized and therefore
described by If P, Then Q logical arguments wherein P -> Q, or 1. P
-> 2. Q, and the physical connection between P and Q is physically
necessary (inertial changesÑQsÑhave not happened/do not
happen/will not happen without forcesÑPs, therefore Ps cause Qs)
as well as logically sound.
The temporal process is a measurement process and as a measurement it
is not a causal process; the temporal measurement of the occurrences
and/or durations of events does not cause those events to occur/not
occur.
The determination of the simultaneity of events does not cause the
events to be simultaneous/not simultaneous.
Imagine a combination of a universal timepoint + the universal m/e
configuration (at that timepoint) as a specific combination which is
recordable by a 3D hologram which is capable of recording the specific
spacepoints occupied by objects (disregard relativity for this thought
experiment) in which at the specific timepoint all objects occupy
specific spacepoints; at the next specific timepoint, another 3D
hologram would record the spacepoints which the objects occupied,
therefore, obviously, the 3D holograms would reveal which objects
changed spacepoints and therefore occupied new spacepoints and which
objects retained spacepoints and therefore endured at those
spacepoints, and, thus, the 3D holograms would be recordings/histories
of both change and duration.
Thus, when each timepoint is linked to a universal m/e configuration,
the arrow of time is accumulative, additive, a timecounting into the
future, the future in which new timepoints will coincide with new
configurations of the universal m/e, and never subtractive, a
timecounting into the past, except for
records/recordings/histories/timelines of past/previous combinations of
timepoints + universal m/e configurations.
Thus, by its essence, the operational definition of time gives us (A)
the measurement of the durations between and of events, (B) the
durations of objects at specific spacepoints, (C) the determination of
the simultaneity of events, and (D) the arrow of time and its
direction, which is from the past through the present into the future.
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——————————————
RQ/Rhetorical Question: Inre time, what do people want to know?
RA/Rhetorical Answer: Inre time, people want to know if events occurred
before, during, or after other events. The observation of before,
during, or after is the gross or simple description of when the events
occurred relative to the other events. When people want to know what is
the measurement of the occurrence of an event, they want to know by how
much of a unit of measurement of time, a time-interval, an event
occurred before or after another event, or if an event fits the same
units of measurement of another event, the same timepoints, in which
case the two events, fitting the units of measurement, the same
timepoints, are occurring together, are simultaneous, then the
measurement of time-intervals of events is the specific description, or
specification, of when events occurred relative to other events.
Do we use a space-interval/length as a unit of measurement of space? Do
we use a ruler to measure lengths, widths and heights? Is not that
ruler a length used to measure lengths?
Do we use a time-interval/duration as as unit of measurement of time.
Do we use a clock to measure time? Does a clock have a time-interval
which generates its rate of ticking, its set of timepoints and its
timeline? Is not a clock using a time-interval to measure
time-intervals between events or in the durations of events?
Summary: Yes, we use space-intervals/lengths to measure space via
rulers, and, similarly, we use time-intervals/durations to measure time
via clocks.
Some physical phenomena change their identities or positions in space,
and the changes of physical phenomena can be measured by time the
temporal process.
Some physical phenomena endure by retaining their identities or/and
positions in space, and the endurance of physical phenomena can be
measured by the temporal process.
Note that inre temporal measurement, where events occur and endure less
in time than objects, objects endure more in time than events, and
time-intervals can be used to measure the durations between events and
the durations of events and the durations of objects.
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