Observation of Newtonian Physics in our physical world or Quantum Physics with sub atomic particles depends largely upon our conceptual understanding of time. Yet time is not a tangible energy that can be quantified such as light or heat. The earliest concepts of time arose from the rising and the setting of the sun, which later evolved into noticing the sun’s path across the sky would change. This later led to Galileo’s observation of planetary movement. What has changed in the hundreds of years which have passed since then? Smart phones now divide the orbit of the Earth around the sun into weeks and days for us, while dividing the rotation of the Earth into minutes. Our understanding of velocity is based on how much distance is traveled in a measurement of time such as miles per hour. Coming full circle, we then measure how fast the Earth travels around the sun, from a concept of time based upon the Earth traveling around the sun. This does not answer the question of what is time.
Perhaps it would be better to inquire about time with a mayfly and a redwood tree. Just imagine if it were possible to ask in the last moment of their lives, “How long have you lived?” Keep in mind neither use a calendar or a timepiece. Perhaps the mayfly would say, “Well I have seen and met THOUSANDS of mayflies one on one, evaded hundreds of birds of prey, skimmed the surfaces of many bodies of water, and watched a blazing ball of fire travel across the sky! I have lived HUNDREDS of years!” When asking the exact same question of the redwood tree, the response may be, “I got taller. That must have taken all day!” In this whimsical hypothetical thought experiment which could put a smile on any child’s face, we can see one truth about time. Time is the concept we use to measure the effect of energy on mass in the world around us. Time gives us understanding of entropy in the Newtonian or classical world or reality around us, as well as with ourselves.
Now it is time to cross over into the world of Quantum Physics which deals with sub atomic particles and is commonly understood to be a world of uncertainty rather than certainty. How long does a sub atomic particle exist if energy can not be destroyed or created? What are sub atomic particles when Einstein’s most famous theory explained matter and energy to be the same thing in different forms? In our classical reality we observe change on a daily and yearly basis and energy can change. Now let’s look back at the individual particle, or can we? Scientific observation of sub atomic particles have revealed without fail that these particles do not exist in a specific state or location. With the difficulty of this fact defying conventional understanding, scientists devised a formula to describe the probability of states and locations that a particle can exist in. This formula is called a wave form. Yet when a sub atomic particle is observed by scientists, it always assumes a specific state and location at random in a manner which has defied understanding since the work of Einstein. Why a particle wave form would collapse into a measurable state and location at the point of human observation remains a mystery, though a well proven phenomenon.
Concerning observation, motion is registered with the human eye and the mind at a rate of 30 frames per second or more which is basically the same rate as video. Higher rates of video are used to slow down action too fast for the human eye, such as the flapping of a hummingbird’s wings. The human ability to register motion, as well as change, appears to occur one frame at a time through a series of images. In this reality we are constrained to a linear perspective of time. We can no longer see a plane that has crossed the sky passing our horizon a few moments earlier. That does not mean the plane never existed in that position and time, it is simply no longer visible from our perspective of reality. When a person has died, people who are still alive no longer see them walking and talking where they have been before. From where you are stilling in your home or workplace, you cannot see past images of yourself performing activities which you know that you have done. Seeing reality that way, without the filter of time, could case madness.
So let’s do another hypothetical thought experiment where we imagine a person we know well, and for a long time. This person could be a friend, a spouse or a co-worker. Imagine that person is in the room with you, but take away the filter of time. That person is no longer only sitting in a chair in front of you. Now he or she is sitting and standing, talking and not talking, asleep and awake, and potentially playing cards and doing dishes if those things have been or will be done in that room. How old is this person today? In your thought experiment without the filter of time, imagine seeing him or her at every age the person has been or will be on future visits to that room. Now how could you possibly describe the position of that person in the room as well as his or her state? You would have to use the very same wave form used in Quantum Physics to describe the probability of every state and every position that person could have in that room. Time perception could be the most glaring distinction between the realities of the world of Quantum Physics and our classical world of Newtonian physics. This would potentially mean that observing a particle in the quantum world would not cause the particle’s wave form to collapse simply from the act of observation. Our time filtered power of observing reality would limit the observation to the “snapshot” of its current state and position, or a series of snapshots if that particle is in motion. Time filtration may be a necessary evil of perception as neither our Newtonian reality nor our minds could support the alternative of seeing all things in terms of wave form probability. Yet it is not impossible for all of the linear change of entropy and motion we see in our reality to have equivalence in the wave form probabilities of the quantum world. Perhaps recognizing truth in that will be the first step in making rational sense of the quirky uncertainties of the quantum world, and understanding the true nature of time in our own.
Some years ago there were two physicists sitting in a British pub enjoying a beer together. In that environment and at that moment arose a discussion about a long standing problem with String Theory, and how such cosmic strings of energy are anchored in that reality. The idea of D-Branes was created right then and there, then brought back to the labs to be tested out. The mathematics were created for the idea, and this filled several huge gaps of String Theory in a way previously unimagined.
Here we are today using the Internet as a meeting place instead of that pub, where we can share ideas. I invite you to go back to your places of research and explore further. You will find D-Branes, wave forms, and quantum uncertainty. You will find the mystery of quantum observation which has perplexed the greatest of minds like Einstein. Discovery is born from observing the world around us and imagining what we can not see from here. All I will say in conclusion is this: It is the honor of great people like Albert Einstein to carry the torch of discovery. It is the privilege of lesser men like myself to light the flame.
(This essay was composed based on concepts and information learned in the writings of Professor Leonard Suskind, Professor Stephen Hawking, several Internet articles and scientific magazines dealing with Theoretical Physics, and more.)
