20180718

Why does the universe exist?


PSI Blog 20180718 Why does the universe exist?



The universe exists because it cannot not exist. Nonexistence is impossible. That is because nonexistence would require perfectly empty space, which is completely imaginary. Space is one of the ideal end members of the empty space-solid matter continuum. As with all idealizations, empty space and solid matter cannot exist. According to “Infinite Universe Theory,” everything in existence has both characteristics. We use those idealizations to avoid hitting walls and to go through doorways even though walls are not perfectly solid and doorways are not perfectly empty.

In other words, the universe exists because empty space is impossible. The universe produces an infinite number of things, but it cannot produce perfectly empty space. Production requires the convergence of other “things”. “Perfectly empty space” is not a thing, so the convergence of “nothing” to form more “nothing” is oxymoronic. However, when we consider “space” as matter, it fits our definition of matter as an abstraction for all things.[1] Also, according to infinity[2] , all things contain other things. That is why we have never been able to find any perfectly empty space[3]; and why perfectly solid matter is impossible.[4]

Although the infinite universe cannot be completely understood by anyone, we gradually accumulate knowledge that allows us to survive and to “make sense” of our surroundings. Again, the scientific answer to why the universe exists is simply that it is impossible for it not to exist. When folks ask: “Why is there something instead of nothing?” they are sensing “something,” but only imagining “nothing.”

Idealists inclined to ask these questions are unlikely to be satisfied by the answer provided by Infinite Universe Theory. That is because idealists tend to think in absolute terms. For them, space is empty and matter is solid. By its nature, the infinite universe always “passes the buck.” They will continue to ask the question: “But where did it all come from?” Each thing in the infinite universe is a complex formed from still other things in the universe. The nice, tidy finite universe of the Big Bang Theory appeals because everything we have observed had a beginning. To finally realize those observations do not apply to the universe as a whole is a grandiose step. It is to finally reject cosmogony[5] and to join the Last Cosmological Revolution. 




[1] Borchardt, Glenn, 2004, The Ten Assumptions of Science: Toward a new scientific worldview: Lincoln, NE, iUniverse, p. 17 [http://go.glennborchardt.com/TTAOS].

[2] The universe is infinite, both in the microcosmic and macrocosmic directions.

[3] Absolute zero (0oK) cannot be obtained and the “vacuum” of outer space contains enough matter to yield a temperature of 2.7oK.

[5] The study of the origin of the universe. Cosmogony, of course, assumes that the universe is finite and that it had an origin, with the additional implication that it will have an ending (see also “Blog 20160330 The death of heat death”).

20180711

Why acceleration requires collisions


PSI Blog 20180711 Why acceleration requires collisions


Abhi asks:

“In your newly released article ’The Physical Cause of Gravitation',[1] you wrote that the unseen particles involved in these collisions provide the acceleration that drives gravitation. But if those particles stop existing, will gravitation also stop occurring?”

[GB: Per Newton's Second Law of Motion, all causes (i.e., events, changes, etc.) involve collisions resulting in the acceleration of the collidee and deceleration of the collider. This is the guts of the philosophy of mechanism and its proposition that the universe consists of matter in motion. Indeterminists, especially regressive physicists and religious folks, do not necessarily believe this. That is why some especially naïve people still believe in ESP (Extra Sensory Perception). It is why many of today’s physicists say that Einstein’s relativity overthrew classical mechanics. It is why I say they are regressive. It is why my gravitation paper was just rejected outright by the editor of Physical Review Letters (returned in 24.46 hr without review). It does not take much training in regressive physics to reject the first sentence in that paper:

The physical cause of gravitation is simple: the collision of one thing with another.

As I pointed out in that paper, gravitation is acceleration. Every acceleration results in a deceleration—simple. The fact that the particles doing the accelerating are unseen is no big deal. Air particles cannot be seen either, but they do plenty of accelerating. Abhi, you are right that if aether particles stopped existing, there would be no more gravitation. Similarly, if air particles stopped existing, there would be no more breathing or hearing.

You also ask: “Besides, why do you assume they are “aether” particles when we do not know exactly what these particles are?” There is a lengthy history in which aether has commonly played a part.[2] Reread my paper to review Newton’s effort at hypothesizing a medium accounting for gravitation. Aether is theoretically necessary because, according to Newton’s three laws, there are no true pulls in nature. The recent LIGO experiments show that light and galactic shock waves (regressives call them gravitational waves) both travel within the aether medium at the same velocity—the speed of light. All waves require a medium. That is what Sagnac found in 1913, correctly calling it “aether.”[3]

The Michelson-Morley experiment[4] was searching for a medium in which their hypothetical particles were not assumed to collide with matter. I now use the “ether” spelling for that kind of particle, which we now know does not exist—all things are in motion, capable of colliding with other things. Aether, on the other hand, does exist, comprising the “dark matter” entrained around all matter. It is entrained because it becomes decelerated upon colliding with other matter as explained in my paper.]


[1] Borchardt, Glenn, 2018, The Physical Cause of Gravitation: viXra:1806.0165.

[2] Whittaker, E.T., 1951, A history of the theories of aether and electricity: The classical theories: New York, Harper Torchbooks, v. 1, 434 p. [http://go.glennborchardt.com/Whittaker-I].

Whittaker, E.T., 1953, A history of the theories of aether and electricity: The modern theories, 1900-1926 II: New York, Harper and Brothers, v. 2, 319 p. [I have a pdf of this. Just let me know and I can send a copy.][BTW: Jesse Witwer and I are working on a sorely needed update.]

[3] Sagnac, Georges, 1913a, The demonstration of the luminiferous aether by an interferometer in uniform rotation: Comptes Rendus, v. 157, p. 708–710.

Sagnac, Georges, 1913b, On the proof of the reality of the luminiferous aether by the experiment with a rotating interferometer: Comptes Rendus, v. 157, p. 1410–1413.

[4] Michelson, A.A., and Morley, E.W., 1887, On the relative motion of the earth and the luminiferous ether: American Journal of Science, v. 39, p. 333-345. [http://www.anti-relativity.com/MM_Paper.pdf].









20180704

Inconstancy of the speed of light


PSI Blog 20180704 Inconstancy of the speed of light

Thanks to Captain Bligh for his question about the constancy of the speed of light (SOL):

 Upon entering a new medium (such as glass or water), the speed and wavelength of light is reduced, although the frequency remains unaltered.-http://light.physics.auth.gr/enc/wavelength_en.html
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Remember they teach us that frequency and wavelength are reciprocal. Right? This is not the case according to this source. In a medium the SOL varies as does the wavelength, but not the frequency.
Am I missing something here?

[GB: You are right. I explained this in Chapter 14.2 of IUT.[1] Reciprocity is drilled into our heads just like the slogan “There is no aether.” That is why it seems such a shock when we first find out that SOL is not constant and that SOL in water is only 225,000,000 m/s instead of the 300,000,000 m/s that occurs in air. Another shock occurs when we find out that wavelengths decrease in water, but that the frequency does not. Still another is the fact that red light in air and red light in water has two different wavelengths (650 nm vs. 488 nm) but the same frequency. In other words, color is determined by frequency, not wavelength. Incidentally, that is why distant galaxies with high redshifts are not necessarily red.

Frequency is determined by the source of a wave. Thus, if I am in a motionless boat and hit the water with my paddle once every second, the frequency of those collisions will be 1/s (one per second).  Nothing can change that. I could do it in a lake filled with molasses—the frequency still would be 1/s. I could stand on dry land and do the same—the frequency still would be 1/s. In progressive physics we say that there are no constants in nature, although frequency comes closest to being the only exception. Frequency never changes because it represents an action that has occurred in the past. Once my paddle collides with the medium, I cannot “uncollide” it, in the same way you cannot undo what you did yesterday. Of course, the production of perfect frequency is impossible. For instance, I cannot hit my paddle at exactly one second intervals. Due to causality, there always will be some plus or minus variation.  Remember also, as we have seen with the Doppler Effect, that the measurement of frequency must take into account the motion of the source, the motion of the observer, and the rate at which the intervening medium conducts wave motion.

BTW: The above lesson would have greatly aided Pound and Rebka[2] in interpreting their “gravitational redshift” experiment. They mistakenly attributed their results to changes in frequency instead of changes in wavelength. Keeping SOL constant, then required them to invoke “time dilation” in their interpretation that light photons actually existed and were affected by gravitation.]




[1] Borchardt, Glenn, 2017, Infinite Universe Theory: Berkeley, California, Progressive Science Institute, 325 p. [http://go.glennborchardt.com/IUTebook].
[2] Pound, R.V., and Rebka, G.A., 1960, Apparent Weight of Photons: Physical Review Letters, v. 4, no. 7, p. 337-341. [http://go.glennborchardt.com/PR60].