Imagine it: our universe has always existed.
The Big Bang either never happened or it was simply another event in the infinite history of… itself.
On the surface it sounds counter-intuitive.
Per the duospaper:
Did time ever begin?
The question of the beginning of time must therefore be addressed within a theory of quantum gravity.
So what is quantum gravity and what does it have to do with time travel?
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Well, the answer to the second question is: everything.
But the first questions a bit more complicated.
The same would ring true for someone caught in thequantum gravityof a black hole.
However, all three persons wouldobservetime at the normal rate.
But that might be the best we can muster.
Stopping time
Lets break down time into some easy-to-chew concepts.
What if we could stop time?
What would that mean?
Well almost certainly never know.
Time, as a measurement, effects all things.
When heat is applied to a substance its molecules move faster.
And you cant measure speed without time.
Neither classical nor quantum physics appear to provide a viable scientific path towards external time management.
But time is its own dimension, right?
We cant imagine time as a line or circle with an arrow indicating passage anymore.
Were forced to view time as something inextricable from space.
In other words: space and time arent separate concepts.
They combine to make up the individual,discrete units which make up the bedrock of our universe.
This may sound counter-intuitive.
But, if you think about it, you cant hand someone an inch or a minute.
you could take a minute to go grab an inch of red fabric.
But measurements of time and space exist only to describe our observations.
The universe, arguably, makes no observations.
Yet by all accounts it exists.
So the question becomes: does time exist if it is unobserved?
The answers an unequivocal yes, if we take the timespace view of time.
One such wacky prospect is the idea of teleportation.
The big idea there usually involves wormholes that connect two points separated by distance.
But, a universe thatsalwaysexisted may not actually have points that can be bent or breached.
Its like someone tookString Theoryand said yeah, but lets do it without the strings.
Effectively, this could remove the speed limits put in place by Einsteins theory of relativity.
In this form oftimelesstravel you wouldnt teleport, youd actually traverse a measurable distance.
Check out some of our other wild and wacky physics stories here onNeural.
