"It is only in the world of objects that we have time and space and selves."
– T.S. Elliot
The First Epochs of Life Occured in the Infintismal Fractions of a Second
In the beginning, life started as a singularity. Matter, energy, space, and time were condensed into an infinitely small point. In ten to the negative tredecillions (10^-43) of the first second, the Plank epoch, the earliest known period of time, four fundamental forces—gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear—unified, with temperatures so high, it defies our current understanding of physics.
In the Epoch of Grand Unification, between the first ten to the negative tredecidillions and ten to the negative one undecillions (10^-36) second of life, the universe started to cool; it underwent a phase transition that led to the separation of gravity from the grand unified force of fundamentality.
After the first ten to the negative one undecillions (10^-36) seconds of life, a period known as the Inflationary Epoch rapidly expanded the universe. This cosmic inflation increased the universe’s size exponentially by a factor of at least one hundred septillion (10^26) times in a tiny fraction of a second. This helps to explain why the current universe appears flat, homogeneous, and isotropic (the same in all directions).
Between the first ten to the negative one undecillions and ten to the negative
one trillionths (10^-12) second of life, strong forces separated from electroweak forces (the unification of the weak nuclear force and electromagnetism), signifying the Electroweak Epoch. As the universe continues to cool, it sets the stage for the breaking of the electroweak symmetry.
In the first seconds of life, as the universe expands and cools, particle formation begins. Quarks and leptons, the basic building blocks of matter, come into existence. Eventually, quarks combine to form protons and neutrons.
In the first minutes of the universe, nucleosynthesis begins. Temperatures fall to a point where protons and neutrons can combine to form the universe's first nuclei, the two most abundant elements: hydrogen and helium, the particles that make up stars.
It took around 380,000 years for the universe to cool enough for electrons to combine with nuclei to form neutral atoms. This led to the release of photons that we now detect as the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.
The epochs described by the Big Bang Theory encapsulate a transition from a state that defies the current understanding of physics to a universe governed by the laws of physics as known today.
What is a second, a minute, a year, in the beginning if the state of existence defied the laws of physics used to define the universe today?
Reconciling the Beginning with an End
In the beginning, when time expanded with the potential of space, a primordial light pierced the void, ushering in the birth of the universe. This inception was not just the beginning of existence but the unfurling of a cosmic fabric woven with the threads of potentiality—each strand a possibility for life, for reality.
As the universe expanded, so too did the fabric of space and time, intertwining in the synchronicities of creation. Yet, in the vast expanse of eternity, the universe was bound not by the strain of time but by the nature of space. In the twilight of existence, life reaches its zenith—not in the echoes of the past but in the vibrant pulse of the present.
An autonomous reality necessitates the reconciliation of space, time, energy, and matter. In its ceaseless dynamism, life demands that material bodies transcend existence, embracing the potential for transformation within the continuum. The experience of reality is a symphony, each note resonating with the observer's position, each melody reflecting their actions.
Unseen motion
At the heart of creation, quarks and leptons came into being, giving rise to the atoms that form the backbone of matter. This cosmic expansion persists even when the fragments appear still. Everything, from the smallest particle to the grandest celestial body, partakes in this eternal movement.
Motion cannot be experienced if it is as uniform as standing still
The Earth rotates about 40,070 kilometers (the circumference at the equator) every 24
hours, producing a speed of about 1,670 km/hr, which decreases towards the poles (due to the decreasing circumference of the latitude circles). While the Earth is spinning, it is orbiting the sun at a rate of 940 million km over 365 days (107,226 km/hr). While the Earth is undoubtedly moving at high speed, it moves constantly, so life on the Earth’s surface can not experience the planet’s rotation or orbit.
Our perception of motion, intertwined with the very fabric of space-time, challenges the notion of a universal present. The Earth's relentless spin and its orbit around the sun—a celestial choreography producing the cycle of day and night, the rhythm of the seasons—are but fragments of a broader cosmic dance. Yet, this dance is felt not in the motion itself but in the shifting arrangement of existence it orchestrates.
The heartbeat of reality
Space-time, curved and warped by the mass and energy permeating the universe, shapes our experience of reality. Time dilates with speed, and distances contract, revealing that the universe's heartbeat is not uniform but variable, its rhythm dictated by the mass and velocity of its constituents.
Einstein's mass-energy equivalence, E=mc^2, unveils a universe where energy and mass are two faces of the same coin. As objects accelerate, nearing the cosmic speed limit set by the speed of light (SOL, c), their relativistic mass swells, demanding ever-greater energy to sustain their momentum. This principle, a cornerstone of relativity, underscores the fundamental limits imposed by the SOL on our perception of time and space.
The SOL is more fundamental than either space or time. It is the cornerstone in the relationship between space and time and has profound implications for the structure. If the SOL is invariable, space and time must be relatively flexible. If the SOL is constant for all observers, regardless of their relative motion, then space and time themselves must adjust to maintain this constancy.
Observing the present
Our understanding of "now" is irrevocably tied to the finite SOL, the cosmic speed limit that binds us to a present that is informed by the light that reaches us from the past. This limitation, fundamental to our experience of reality, underscores the relativity of simultaneity, challenging our perceptions of time and existence.
The finite SOL means that when we observe distant objects, we see them as they were in the past, not as they are "now." For instance, the light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth, so we see the Sun as it was slightly over 8 minutes ago. Similarly, when we look at stars that are light-years away, we see light that left those stars years, decades, or even centuries ago.
The SOL limits the speed at which information and causal effects can travel through the universe. This limitation means that there's a delay in our perception of events happening far away, contributing to our perception of the past, present, and future.
The SOL is the limiting factor for an object's ability to access the past, present, and future, which intersects the here and now in the course of an object’s history. The SOL constrains the fastest speed at which any cause can lead to an effect, thereby shaping our causal structure of spacetime. If an observer traveled faster than the SOL, they could observe an event's outcome before the cause, which would cause a causality paradox (causes precede their effects).
While we cannot interact with or change the past, and the future is not predetermined from our current perspective, these portions of time might still exist in a broader, four-dimensional spacetime structure. Our experience of time flowing from past to present to future results from our trajectory through spacetime.
If reality is eternal (eternalism), then time is another dimension similar to the three spatial dimensions (x, y, z), and all points in time (past, present, and future) are equally real. If all events in time are equally real, then the distinction between past, present, and future is a matter of where the observer is located within a four-dimensional spacetime continuum.
Envision a record player, its needle positioned delicately above a vinyl record. This needle embodies our individual perception, moving along the grooves of the record, which in turn represents the continuum of time—its past, its present, and its impending future. As the needle traverses the record, it brings forth music, the narrative of our lives, audible to those within its reach. This scenario illustrates not only the continuity of time but also the specificity of experience, determined by the needle's precise location on the record's surface, echoing the idea that while all of the time is ever-present, our perception of it—our "now"—is uniquely our own, dictated by where we stand in the vast expanse of the spacetime continuum.
The conservation and transformation of energy
The constant change of physical forms gives us reference points for time.
At its core, time observation is based on observing regular changes or cycles in the physical world, such as the movement of celestial bodies (day and night cycles, phases of the moon, Earth’s orbit around the sun marking years), the oscillation of pendulums in clocks, or the vibrations of atoms in atomic clocks. These regular physical changes provide the basis for defining units of time.
Without change, the concept of time would have no relevance or meaning in our lives.
Humans perceive the passage of time through changes in their environment and themselves. Aging, the growth of living organisms, the progression of seasons—these changes mark the passage of time on an existential level, giving time its personal significance and emotional weight.
In the grand scheme of the cosmos, energy, and matter, conserved through the transformative processes that define the universe, undergo a relentless cycle of creation and decay. This cycle, marked by the inexorable rise in entropy, signifies not an end but a transformation—a rebirth within the cosmic continuum.
Reconciling the end with a new beginning
In the cosmic fabric of life, where energy and matter synchronize in an endless cycle of genesis and entropy, the notion of an end becomes a new beginning. The universe, whispers of realities beyond our comprehension, challenges us to look beyond the veil of our existence and embrace the infinite possibilities that lie within the space-time continuum.
In this continuum, where the synchronization of energy and matter unfolds across space-time, we find not an end but an eternal beginning, a perpetual motion that transcends the confines of existence as we know it.
"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." — Albert Einstein.
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