The Definition of Time
Time is defined as the duration of motion measured by a clock, ticking at the rate of one second per second. This duration is a scalar quantity, similar to those used to define properties of matter, such as mass, length, or temperature.
However, it's time to explain “time itself” as universal motion. I want to know if time is physical or non-physical, and whether we can travel through time, shrink or stretch it, or if it remains invariant. Moreover, what is the definition of one second of time?
How Did Time Start
What do we know about time? We often say time began in the universe with the Big Bang. However, there must have been a phase transition of energy when photons transformed into electrons.
A constant in the universe is the speed of light in a vacuum, and the frequency of light times the wavelength is always equal to the speed of light. Is time related to the light that entered the universe?
Time and Photons
Light is made of individual quanta called photons, which move at the speed of light. Photons and time exist together in the motion of light, and if the speed of light is invariant, then time itself must be invariant (unchanging).
Where Did Time Come From?
Universal time is based on the motion that started the universe about 13.8 billion years ago. During the Big Bang, high-frequency photon radiation transformed into electrons, which share the speed of light and the motion of the universe.
Electrons have an energy field that moves at the speed of light because when a force acts on electrons, they emit light.
Electrons create all photon radiation. I find this knowledge to be mind-blowing! Without electrons, light wouldn't exist.
Initially, light created electrons, and now electrons create light, moving at the constant speed of c, approximately 3 × 10^8 meters per second. We can deduce that there is a relationship with electrons, photons, and light. Electrons always produce photons having the perfect speed of light, so electrons govern not only the speed of light but also the motion of time.
Measuring Time with Vibrations
A clock ticks at the rate of one second per second, and displays numbers, but the numbers tell us nothing about time itself. Scientists use atomic clocks to measure quantum fluctuations and very short durations of motion. Atomic clocks count the frequency of an atom to display the time, but to be accurate, the clock must remain at a standard temperature, pressure, and gravity.
Time is a concept related to the motion of energy. Matter has electrons, and their frequency governs the rate of vibration, which can change when a force is applied to them. Light emitted from electrons has various frequencies, but the speed of light remains constant and invariant.
If a clock is subjected to an external force, such as acceleration or a change in gravity, the frequency of its atoms will change the rate of the clock’s ticking, but not the rate of time itself.
Quantum frequencies and oscillations occur in extremely short durations of time, and atomic clocks count the number of oscillations. However, the atomic clock is only accurate if the atoms of the clock stay at a constant frequency.
Time is related to the constant speed of light in the vacuum of space. However, clocks will display inaccurate time if they are not kept at standard pressure, gravity, and temperature.
Atomic Clock Accuracy
A man with a watch knows the time. A man with two watches is never sure…
A Cesium 133 atomic clock is accurate to one second in 300 million years if the clock is not moving and is at standard temperature and atmospheric pressure (gravity).
The duration of one second is when a Cesium 133 atom has counted 9,192,631,770 oscillations of light.
However, if a cesium-133 clock is moving and accelerating, the atom will vibrate at a slower rate and show less elapsed time. If the clock is orbiting Earth, it experiences less gravity, and the atom's frequency will increase, causing the clock to tick faster.
Thus, it seems that time is moving faster or slower, but it’s only the clock that changes and not time itself. The frequency of atomic clocks and their atoms are altered slightly by gravity, magnetic fields, electrical fields, motion, mechanical force, temperature, and other phenomena. For this reason, they must correct atomic clocks in the GPS satellites daily to maintain accuracy relative to Earth-based clocks.
Time Dilation on Clocks
GPS uses atomic clocks to keep track of time, but a clock that contains protons and electrons is affected by the environment in which it operates. The GPS consists of at least 24 satellites orbiting the Earth, and time dilation adjustments are performed to compensate for the time difference between clocks on Earth.
According to Relativity, orbital acceleration causes the satellite's time to slow down by 7 microseconds per day, and the smaller gravitational force in space causes it to go faster by 45 microseconds per day. Therefore, the satellite's clock is adjusted daily to run 38 microseconds slower for each satellite.
The satellites carry highly stable atomic clocks that are synchronized with one another and with the reference clocks at the ground control stations. Any drift of the clocks aboard the satellites from the reference time maintained on the ground stations is corrected regularly.
When a satellite's orbit is being adjusted, it is marked as unhealthy, so receivers do not use it. After the maneuver, engineers track the new orbit from the ground, upload the new ephemeris, and mark the satellite healthy again.
The Operations Control Segment (OCS) currently serves as the primary control segment. It provides the operational capability that supports GPS users and ensures the GPS remains operational and performs within specification. Clock synchronization maintains the accuracy of GPS time signals to within ±10 ns, which is second only to the atomic clocks on which they are based.
What causes Time Dilation
Physical matter in a stronger gravitational field will slow down its molecular frequency and also be affected by any physical force. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, objects traveling close to the speed of light experience the following changes. Matter becomes foreshortened in the direction of travel; it gains kinetic energy, and at the speed of light, time will stop.
Since photons have no mass, they can travel at the speed of light. However, a particle such as a proton has mass, so it can’t travel at the speed of light. This means that any particle that has quarks and gluons has a speed limit less than the speed of light.
This mind experiment demonstrates that time dilation is false time, relativity is incorrect, and time is absolute. Einstein said that relativistic motion produces time dilation, but is time dilation actual time or an illusion of time?
Drawing of a spaceship and three clocks simultaneously orbiting the Earth. (Not to scale)
In this diagram, visualize the motion of a spaceship with a clock orbiting Earth and attached to Earth's center by a solid cable. Another clock is connected to the cable, approximately halfway between the spaceship and Earth, and an identical clock is located on Earth. This thought experiment illustrates the paradox of time dilation by employing three identical clocks.
The spaceship travels at almost the speed of light in a synchronous orbit around Earth. The two clocks in space experience the force of acceleration, the absence of gravity, and the cold, vacuum-like environment of space. The spaceship and the clocks rotate with the Earth for one day, so the duration of time on the two clocks should be the same as the duration of a day on Earth, namely 24 hours or 86,400 seconds.
However, when we examine the clocks, the times displayed on them are different. The Earth clock’s duration is 24 hours, the spaceship clock shows about 12 hours elapsed, and the middle clock shows about 18 hours (estimated amounts). However, all clocks should have the same elapsed time because it took 24 hours for Earth to rotate. The time display on the clocks in space is known as gravitational time dilation.
However, the reality is that it took 24 hours for each clock because the same cable connected them to the Earth. Einstein developed mathematical equations to demonstrate that time is relative to the frame of reference. However, this diagram shows that time dilation isn't actual time; it happens if a clock is affected by gravity.
The gravitational time dilation on the two clocks in space is an illusion of time due to forces altering the quantum motion of atoms in the clock's operating atomic structure. Time itself is absolute and is not relative to motion.
Thus, Einstein’s time dilation only affects the clock’s display of time and not time itself. Even on Earth, clocks experience some time dilation because we are moving through space on a revolving planet with a gravitational field. The following physical evidence explains time dilation without using Einstein's Relativity…
Quantum Gravity Creates Time Dilation
Matter contains protons and neutrons, which contain gluons and quarks. The strong nuclear force binds quarks and gluons together to make matter. Gluons also have an attractive force that holds matter together, and that attractive force is the source of quantum gravity.
The mass of atoms is 99% due to the binding force of gluons. Because quarks are attracted to other quarks, the additive force of gravity grows larger with more mass.
When molecules experience stronger gravity, the quark-gluon force encounters an extra force. That means the strong nuclear force must work harder to bind matter together.
For instance, inside a star, the strong force of gravity breaks matter into a plasma of quarks and gluons. Inside Black holes, gravity would also change matter into a plasma.
The extra energy is equivalent to more mass, and it slows down the molecular frequency of matter, resulting in clocks ticking more slowly. The reverse is true if a clock is in a weaker gravity field. The quark/gluon force has less work to do, so molecular frequency speeds up and the atomic clock ticks faster compared to a reference clock under standard conditions. However, time itself and the speed of light remain unchanged.
Universal laws maintain that the speed of light is invariant, and therefore, time, which governs the speed of light, must be invariant. The frequency and wavelength of photons always maintain the speed of light.
In quantum reactions, the force of quantum gravity converts energy into mass, but Time itself is never altered…
Can Quantum Gravity Change Time
Time is invariant, and quantum gravity affects the gluon force in quantum reactions; therefore, Einstein’s theory of spacetime requires a significant update.
The springs in this drawing represent the gluon's attractive force.
However, Einstein was unaware of quarks, gluons, and the strong nuclear force. If he did, he wouldn't have theorized that gravity distorts space; he would have said that gravity is a force of attraction between quarks. Einstein would have said that time dilation in general relativity is the result of the quark/gluon reactions.
He would have realized that time is absolute and that clocks give a false reading due to changes in quantum gravity. The simple truth is that time is not a dimension, and space cannot be stretched or distorted. The arrow of time moves forward with the motion of the universe, but it should be called the arrow of motion.
Quantum gravity affects the frequency of atoms in an atomic clock, but not the passage of time itself.
Nonphysical Time
Time is a nonphysical aspect of the nonphysical realm that started the Big Bang. The universe began with the motion of light, and that motion is in all matter as its frequency.
A force can alter matter, but time itself must be invariant for the laws of physics to work. Time, then, is a concept related to motion in a physical world.
The energy in light comes from its frequency, which governs the movement of physical things. The nonphysical aspect of universal time cannot be manipulated or changed by physical means. Therefore, time is constant and invariant at all times, but clocks are not.
Without motion, physical things can't exist, and motion is one thing that must exist before anything is possible. The universe didn't come from nothing. Realize that motion must exist for light to move into the universe.
The nonphysical quality of time comes from a realm outside the universe. Since energy exists outside of the universe, the motion of energy and light is the universal motion we call time. Within this logic lies the truth that other dimensions exist and that the universe began from that realm.
Time is Invariant
The purpose of this article is to show that time is constant and invariant. The profound implications are that time travel isn't possible and that the theory of relativity is built on assumptions. Forget about time travel, but what about Einstein’s theory of relativity?
Scientists have demonstrated that Einstein’s concept of time dilation is observed in GPS clocks. However, the Time dilation errors are fixed by daily synchronising satellite time with Earth-based time.
According to the theory of relativity, the faster an object moves, the slower time moves for that object. Why does that happen if time is a nonphysical thing? Clocks are physical objects that can change, but time is nonphysical.
Quantum gravity explains why time dilation exists, and it's the basis for my theory that time is invariant.
Einstein’s Theory of Gravity
Einstein’s general relativity attempts to demonstrate that the force of gravity is equivalent to acceleration. One of the happiest moments of Einstein’s intuition was when he realized that if you fall in a field of gravity, you don't feel gravity.
In fact, you are weightless with no sensation of weight. This thought led Einstein to equate gravity to acceleration because they seem to be the same force.
Einstein mentioned in his thought experiment that if a rocket ship were accelerating at the same force as the gravity on Earth, then the person inside the ship would experience gravity exactly as they would on Earth.
Einstein concluded that gravity is equivalent to acceleration, and he subsequently described gravity as a form of motion in spacetime. But gravity and acceleration are not the same. They can have the same amount of force and the same effect on mass, but the force acting upon that mass is not the same.
For example, if you fall for one second, you fall about 9.8 meters. This is a gravitational force of 9.8 Newtons for one second. In the rocket ship, the acceleration of the engine is equivalent to a force of 9.8 meters per second squared, which mimics the force of gravity.
They are not the same force! On Earth, it's gravity, and on the rocket ship, it’s the engine’s power. Only the amount of force is equal, but the type of force is different.
A description of the effect can be illustrated as a curved surface, where objects move according to the shape of a two-dimensional rubber surface.
This diagram of spacetime illustrates how gravity affects the movement of objects, but it ignores the force of gravity.
Einstein concluded that gravity isn’t a force. However, I claim that a description of objects moving in space is merely a description of motion, not the force of gravity.
Gravity moves objects towards each other in a geometrical fashion. Gravity is a force, and not a description of motion.
Energy of Motion
At CERN, the Large Hadron Collider experiments have demonstrated that accelerating a proton to nearly the speed of light requires immense energy. The proton’s top speed was 99.999991% of the speed of light, but at the same time, the energy to move the proton increased exponentially. It shows the equivalence of energy and mass, E=mc^2.
The speed of light, measured in meters per second, relies on the concept of time.
According to special relativity, an atomic clock shows that its rate of time slows down when traveling at high speeds. My theory of quantum gravity predicts the same result. However, time should be invariant, so something is happening to slow down clocks.
How does Time Slow Down
Atomic clocks rely on the accurate frequency of atoms. Thus, they are inaccurate if they are moving because of the gravitational and physical effects caused by motion. According to quantum gravity theory, more energy results in more mass, not increased speed. As a result, the frequency of molecules slows down due to the quarks and gluons.
The color charge and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) of quarks and gluons inside matter slow down their vibrations when experiencing any extra energy. This is a physical transformation of energy into matter. The frequency of atomic clocks changes if they experience additional gravity.
When a particle moves at a relativistic speed, it slows down its rate of vibration, and even mechanical clocks would run slower; however, universal time remains the same. Gravity and speed don’t affect photons in a light clock, so a photon clock always ticks at the universal rate of time.
If you increase the temperature of a particle, it will vibrate faster, and if you remove heat, its frequency slows down, but time itself always remains unchanged.
The speed of light is invariant and remains the same regardless of gravity or the frequency of photons, and likewise, the universal speed of time is absolute, or the speed of light wouldn't remain invariant. Read that again…
Einstein postulated that the laws of physics remain constant throughout the universe and that the speed of light is invariant. So, how can the speed of light and the laws of physics remain unchanged if time is relative? Time can not change; a clock’s ticking changes…
We have been fooled into thinking a clock’s display of time is identical to time itself. We have been fooled into thinking that we can use the speed of light and the velocity of objects in the same equations. We are fooled into thinking that the Lorentz transformation applies to the speed of light and time. I suggest that light can't be compared to the speed of physical particles. Light possesses the quantum energy of universal motion, which moves in tandem with the universe's expansion. This motion is “universal time” and is invariant. Time isn't relative; otherwise, the laws of physics and the speed of light are relative.
About the Author.
The LovinThings.com newsletter is by Erik Lovin. He has a BSc degree in chemistry and physics. Erik is sharing his knowledge about life and science with his followers because we are on the same spaceship, for the same ride. To get a better understanding of time and gravity, read my books, Einstein Misled By Time and Einstein Distorted By Gravity. Let’s help each other to understand the universe as we grow and evolve together. Namaste.