R. Leib's Blog: Dream State - Posts Tagged "time-travel"
How time travel might work
There are two potential forms of time travel: circumscribed and absolute.
Circumscribed time travel occurs within a field. It is possible to use this method to travel backward or forward in time. If the field is relocated at the end of the time displacement, then the time traveler ends up where the field had been moved. The problems start with the fact that the mechanism must function flawlessly throughout the entire period of the time displacement. If the mechanism is turned off or damaged anywhere along the time line, something very Einsteinian is likely to happen to the time traveler. This also means that time travel can only be accomplished between the time the device was activated and the next time it is turned off or deactivated.
Absolute time travel is not confined to a particular field. It does not require that the mechanism be functioning throughout the transit, since it could be incorporated as a drive rather than a containment field. Unlike circumscribed time travel, travelers would not remain in the same physical location. The Earth is rotating. The Earth is orbiting the sun. The sun is moving within the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is moving, too. These are the motions we know of and can quantify. Without an inertial frame of reference, we cannot tell the rate at which we are displacing relative to an absolute location in the Universe. The Earth circles the sun at a rate of 29.78 km/sec. Traveling one hour into the past or future would displace in relative location a distance of 107,208 kilometers (66,615 miles) based solely on the Earth's orbit. Incorporating the other known motions would increase this considerably. (Our solar system orbits the galactic center at a rate of 220 km/sec.) Without having a way of determining the motion of a position relative to an absolute location in space, there is no way to tell how much of a spatial displacement there would be. It would almost certainly be astronomical.
The implications of these types of time travel are that the circumscribed form would probably never be practical and, even if it was, it would have severe hazards and limitations. The absolute form would not allow time travelers to visit the Earth in the past or future, because of the concomitant displacement in the first three dimensions. On the other hand, it might make travel to other solar systems practical. Theoretically, every bit of matter in the Universe will pass through an absolute location in space at least once in the whole of time. All of the Universe may not be available to explore with this form of time travel, since it may have its own practical limits. However it could provide a feasible means of transiting the vast distances between solar systems without dependence on exceeding the speed of light. (As an object accelerates up to the speed of light, the energy required to continue accelerating goes up geometrically until it approximates infinity.)
Circumscribed time travel occurs within a field. It is possible to use this method to travel backward or forward in time. If the field is relocated at the end of the time displacement, then the time traveler ends up where the field had been moved. The problems start with the fact that the mechanism must function flawlessly throughout the entire period of the time displacement. If the mechanism is turned off or damaged anywhere along the time line, something very Einsteinian is likely to happen to the time traveler. This also means that time travel can only be accomplished between the time the device was activated and the next time it is turned off or deactivated.
Absolute time travel is not confined to a particular field. It does not require that the mechanism be functioning throughout the transit, since it could be incorporated as a drive rather than a containment field. Unlike circumscribed time travel, travelers would not remain in the same physical location. The Earth is rotating. The Earth is orbiting the sun. The sun is moving within the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is moving, too. These are the motions we know of and can quantify. Without an inertial frame of reference, we cannot tell the rate at which we are displacing relative to an absolute location in the Universe. The Earth circles the sun at a rate of 29.78 km/sec. Traveling one hour into the past or future would displace in relative location a distance of 107,208 kilometers (66,615 miles) based solely on the Earth's orbit. Incorporating the other known motions would increase this considerably. (Our solar system orbits the galactic center at a rate of 220 km/sec.) Without having a way of determining the motion of a position relative to an absolute location in space, there is no way to tell how much of a spatial displacement there would be. It would almost certainly be astronomical.
The implications of these types of time travel are that the circumscribed form would probably never be practical and, even if it was, it would have severe hazards and limitations. The absolute form would not allow time travelers to visit the Earth in the past or future, because of the concomitant displacement in the first three dimensions. On the other hand, it might make travel to other solar systems practical. Theoretically, every bit of matter in the Universe will pass through an absolute location in space at least once in the whole of time. All of the Universe may not be available to explore with this form of time travel, since it may have its own practical limits. However it could provide a feasible means of transiting the vast distances between solar systems without dependence on exceeding the speed of light. (As an object accelerates up to the speed of light, the energy required to continue accelerating goes up geometrically until it approximates infinity.)
Dream State
This will be my thoughts on what it is like for me at each stage of being a writer. It starts with me as a complete unknown. Who knows? It may end there. In any case, hopefully it will be of interest
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