Kristopher Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24497/ Today, Ellis and Rothman introduce a significant new type of block universe. They say the character of the block changes dramatically when quantum mechanics is thrown into the mix. All of a sudden, the past and the future take on entirely different characteristics. The future is dominated by the weird laws of quantum mechanics in which objects can exist in two places at the same time and particles can be so deeply linked that they share the same existence. By contrast, the past is dominated by the unflinching certainty of classical mechanics. What's interesting is that the transition between these states takes place largely in the present. It's almost as if the past crystallizes out of the future, in the instant we call the present. Ellis and Rothman call this model the "crystallizing block universe" and go on to explore some of its properties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Kor Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future Pssh, we all know the Universe is actually made of an 8-sided TimeCube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future I'm not sure how much of that theory was just metaphor. Are they implying that things that happen in material crystallization could then happen in temporal crystallization? What about imperfections like vacancies or edge dislocations? What would that look like? Yeah, I guess I'm pushing their metaphor a little too far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Main Man Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future Sounds like it to me. They're likening the passage from future to past as like that of the crystallization of a substance. First a gas: free-floating, lacking definition (on a macro level at least), but condense it down, and it becomes a liquid, which is still fluid. Freeze that liquid, and it ceases to move - a solid - a crystal in many cases. Now picture the future - full of possibilities. Condense it down to what actually happens - the present. What you have left is what happened - the facts - the past. Does that help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Bushido Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future Well that fits in quite nicely with my currently-held ideas about time travel. Thanks, Kristopher! I'm going to go be jaunty for a bit now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future I'm not sure how much of that theory was just metaphor. Are they implying that things that happen in material crystallization could then happen in temporal crystallization? What about imperfections like vacancies or edge dislocations? What would that look like? Yeah, I guess I'm pushing their metaphor a little too far. No, you are exploring exciting and interesting possibilities inherent in the model. Vacancies would be either areas of time stasis, or time-space areas in the past which change. For instance, the chapter in your history book about the battle of Waterloo might keep re-writing itself before your eyes. In a Dr. Who episode (the Pirate Planet), the villain had a room that was shifted one second into the future. Since the space without and within the room were out of time synch, it was the equivalent of an impassible barrier. Edge dislocations would be time gates, of course. Presumably these flaws would exist both in the "present" and in the past. Naturally something like a light-year long time gate would be patrolled by militant alien civilizations with notions about "finders-keepers". If you want a Star Hero campaign with time travel, such a model has great possiblities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future If anybody is interested in the "block universe" described in the link, a fun-to-read explaination is in Rudy Rucker's THE FOURTH DIMENSION. Go here http://books.google.com/books?id=8J0djs-FK_8C&dq=rudy+rucker&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=WAzms4wqjb&sig=VgHCjwFsXd8jBx9YJMTdQXikbJs&hl=en&ei=susjS4bUFIjilAfzjeD9CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CDgQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=&f=false and go to the chapter "Spacetime Diary" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future Now bring superstring theory into it. The future is a wooly mass, chaotic and unstructured. The present is being spun and dynamically woven. The past is tapestry, infinite and complexly interwoven but fixed and unchanging. Now take another look at the Fates, AKA the Norns. They've been trying to tell you something for several thousand years. Lucius Alexander The palindromedary quotes Lucius: Mythology is as real as physics, and its consequences as ineluctable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StGrimblefig Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future This doesn't seem to fit into the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum theory (as far as I understand it, anyway). Of course, making analogous models of things about which we cannot currently perform proper experiments is easy and fun. But they cannot all be correct, can they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted December 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future "Many worlds" is, IMO, bunk. I don't care what the abstract math says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future If you believe in an afterlife, many-worlds interpretation becomes.... problematic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
薔薇語 Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Re: New Model of the Universe Says Past Crystallizes out of the Future So, I'm not a rocket scientist or brain surgeon so I have some 'normal guy' questions. If the Past is crystallized and unchanging, then it would seem to suggest that one can not manipulate the past at all. I.e., no time travel adventures in the past. If the future is truly undefined, then does going to the future end up putting you in a flux until the present reaches you and then you progress from there? I.e., going to the future is possible but you wind up in a metaphorical purgatory until time catches up. Maybe this metaphor is just causing me issues. La Rose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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