A Brief Explanation of Time, Physics and Magic
An Excerpt from Prophecy, by Gregory Cholmondeley
Part of an explanation of physics by Jissica, a woman from approximately 1,000 years in the future
“You are used to thinking of time moving in one direction in one dimension. Your model dramatically simplifies the concept of cause and effect and works well in a human scale for most of your daily needs. It only breaks down at extremes, much like other physics concepts. Gravity was considered a constant force until scientists realized that it didn’t decay past a certain level and, thus, connected everything in the universe. This realization caused them to predict and observe gravity waves at a cosmic scale. Likewise, speed and distance calculations work fine at human speeds, but not at velocities approaching the speed of light where time dilation becomes significant.
“Your civilization clearly hasn’t reached the point where you begin to see dimensional anomalies. Eventually, you will begin to observe inexplicable behaviors on a subatomic level. You will develop the capability to observe the fundamental building blocks of matter and energy, and conventional physics will not be able to explain their behavior. Quantum particles will sometimes behave in unpredictable manners. They might appear to be in multiple places at once, or disappear and reappear elsewhere, or be entangled with other particles halfway across the galaxy. This will confound scientists for years until they begin to develop theories regarding multiple temporal dimensions. These primitive theories will be wrong but will lay the groundwork for Dr. Ajit’s work by creating the field of temporal physics.
“The famous mathematician and physicist, Ajit Akshayakumaar, developed and proved the Law of Temporal Balance and proposed his corollary Theory of Temporal Dominance. His Law of Temporal Balance states that every system must contain a matching number of physical and temporal dimensions. And the Theory of Temporal Dominance says that there can only be one physical/temporal pair for every viable reality.”
Jissika sighed at their blank expressions. She muttered something about how even second-graders understood this much before making a second attempt. She placed a rock on the ground and explained some background, in an annoyingly child-like tone.
“We exist in a three-dimensional physical world, consisting of up and down, right and left, forward and back.”
She moved the rock, symbolizing our world as she spoke.
“And we also live in a one-dimensional temporal world, consisting of time flowing from the past into the future. One-dimensional systems are a unique case because objects within them can either move in one direction or not at all. Imagine a busy one-lane road. Every vehicle must travel forward, in the same direction, at the same speed. Everything will come to a halt if one person stops or tries to go in reverse. Right?”
Jissika had placed a row of rocks in a line and was gently pushing them. They all, of course, moved in the same direction at the same speed.
“So, we live in a reality consisting of three physical dimensions and one temporal dimension moving at a fixed pace through time. This is called a 3-1 universe.
“However, according to Dr. Ajit’s Law of Temporal Balance, two other temporal dimensions must also exist. Therefore, if we could break out of our one-dimensional mindset, we could get around this single-lane, single-direction, temporal traffic jam. We would just need to figure out how to go right or left or up or down in time. In fact, we could even return back to an earlier time.”
Stavius excitedly interjected, “So, you’re saying that you’ve discovered time travel? You know how to send someone to the future or the past?”
Jissika laughed and said, “No, of course not. Neither mass nor energy can be transmitted from one universe or time to another. However, someone has obviously learned how to transmit information across our temporal dimension.”
Janus complained, “But Mearth has magic. How can it be the same world or even the same universe?”
Stavius said, “Because magic isn’t magic.”
Janus stared at his friend with a questioning look, and Stavius continued. “I don’t pretend to understand this, but I think that magic is simply energy combined using different information. The reason why Mearth has magic is that it has information on how to form it that Earth doesn’t.”
Jessika shouted, “Yes! Magic is only magical to you because you don’t understand how it works. Do any of you know how matter and energy are related?”
Stavius knew this one and was the first to reply, “Sure, e=mc2.”
Jissika smiled and said, “You are so cute, but I am referring to matter, while your equation relates energy to mass. Your equation is correct, but matter is more complicated than mass. You should also learn the equation s=f(ek) or matter is a function of energy and information. And, before you ask, we use ‘s’ for matter and ‘k’ for information because the variables ‘m’ and ‘i’ are already widely-used.
It was evident that none of Jissika’s students understood what she meant, so she began explaining as though they were small children.
Mass and matter are fundamentally different concepts. You can have a kilogram of water and a kilogram of lead which have the precisely same mass but are very different forms of matter. The same is valid with energy. Light, gravity, and magnetism are all forms of energy, but they behave very differently.
“Consider the dirt, cloth, and smear of blackberry jam on Saturn’s shirt. They all have mass, but what makes them different?”
Saturn wiped at the stain on his shirt and replied, “They are constructed from different combinations of molecules, of course.”
This wasn’t quite the answer Jissika wanted. She said, “Yes, yes, and molecules are constructed from different combinations of atoms, which are built from various combinations of subatomic particles. But all mass is formed from the same subatomic particles. So, what causes some of these particles to form carbon atoms while others form hydrogen?
Ops softly answered, “The difference is in how those atoms are constructed.”
Jissika shouted, “Exactly! All atoms break down into protons, neutrons, and electrons, which break down further into a fundamental soup of 42 subatomic particles. The differences between matter and mass, and between structured energy and pure energy is information! A novel would be a good metaphor. The entire story consists of nothing more than a hundred, or so, characters. Vocabulary, grammar, and plots are all information for combining those characters into a compelling tale. Thus, our novel and the universe would be pretty dull without information.”
Stavius interrupted with a chuckle. “Forty-two!? Really? As in ‘the answer to life, the universe and everything’ from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?”
Janus was the only other person laughing, and Nariana sarcastically observed, “How very odd. Forty-two is not a prime number. I thought every important number in the universe was supposed to be a prime number. How can this be?”
Jissika was not pleased with the interruption and glared at Nariana, Stavius, and Janus as she continued.
“I am not familiar with this Adams fellow, but I suspect that he was some forward-thinking physicist from your era. And, while you are correct that forty-two is not a prime number, it is the sum of two significant prime numbers: 29 and 13.
“There are 29 subatomic matter particles in the universe. These include various neutrinos, electron particles, quarks, anti-particles, and the Higgs boson. There are also 13 force particles, which include photons, gluons, and weak force carriers. Finally, there are various forms of information, which differentiate pure matter and energy into the 42 particle types and drives them to combine into the myriad of elements and forces forming our universe. Matter and energy are the building blocks of physics, and information is its rules.
“The Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy prohibits either mass or energy from escaping our 3-1 universe. However, that is not the case for information. Information can be transmitted across temporal dimensions in the form of how to combine matter and energy to create the 42 particles. It can also be in the form of a new universal rule defining how to combine particles into specific forms of matter or energy. Or, it can even be in the form of a message.”