Comment 2/17/2023:
Looking back at the “disturbance theory,” it now seems as the “theory of cyclical motion.” Motion is the basis of this universe. Space and time are dimensions of motion and not senior to it. The cyclical motion generates “fixedness.” The “fixedness” generates force in the form of inertia. The inertia appears to us as substance. The mystery is, “What is at the bottom of motion?”
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Note (3/6/16): Here inertia is confused with resistance due to inertia. My current understanding is as follows:
- Inertia is the fact that there is resistance to change.
- Force is the resistance due to inertia.
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Alone out in the space, it is hard to discern whether one is moving or not. When one is moving at a uniform speed, whether slowly, rapidly, or even at the speed of light, it feels the same as when one is at rest. This reminds us of Newton’s first law of motion.
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However, any change from uniform speed is instantly felt. It is this change from status quo that generates a reaction. The reaction is in the form of a resistance to change. We are familiar with this reaction per Newton’s Third law of motion
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This resistance is called inertia. The inertia is generated in reaction to the change from uniform speed regardless of what that speed is. Therefore, inertia is the same in all frames of reference.
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Change in speed per unit time is called acceleration. Inertia generated in reaction to acceleration is proportional to that acceleration.
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Force is required to overcome this inertia in order to change the speed of the object. This force will also be proportional to acceleration. We are familiar with this as Newton’s second law of motion.
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The proportionality constant between force and acceleration is mass. Mass, therefore, is the amount of inertia overcome per unit acceleration.
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Since inertia generated is the same for all frames of reference, mass will be independent of the frames of reference.
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The idea of mass is tied with acceleration and not with uniform speed. No mass will come into play when a particle is moving at the uniform velocity of ‘c’.*
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According to the postulate of the theory of relativity, the velocity of a particle cannot be accelerated beyond ‘c’ as that would violate the absoluteness of SPACETIME.
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Therefore, it is a reasonable conjecture that any acceleration beyond ‘c’ shall not increase the speed of the particle; instead that acceleration shall be stored as mass. The stored acceleration shall appear as gravity associated with the mass.
*Similar observation is noted in the paper THE CONCEPT OF MASS by Lev B. Okun.
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Comment 2/17/2023:
I now see free space as a gravitational substance of minimum consistency. Light is a substance of heavier consistency. Light encounters resistance as there is a force gradient due to difference in consistencies.
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NOTE: Here ‘free space’ refers to the ‘classical vacuum’ as found naturally in outer space.
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The conclusion that speed of light is constant was first postulated and later verified experimentally within a certain limit of precision.
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The speed of light is directly related to permittivity and permeability of free space.
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Permittivity of space is a constant that relates to the amount of resistance encountered when forming an electric field in a classical vacuum.
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Permeability of space is a constant that relates to the amount of resistance encountered when forming a magnetic field in a classical vacuum.
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Maxwell’s equations use the constants of permittivity and permeability in describing how electric and magnetic fields are generated and altered by each other in free space.
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The speed of light is the inverse of the square root of the product of permittivity and permeability.
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Light is an electromagnetic wave that is made up of alternating electric and magnetic fields. These electric and magnetic fields appear to be disturbance in free space.
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Thus, light appears to be a disturbance that propagates through free space, the same way that sound is a disturbance that propagates through air.
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In a disturbance, only the undulations of media propagate outward from the point of disturbance. There is no mass propagating forward.
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The speed of light depends entirely on the permittivity and permeability of free space (vacuum). This is analogous to how the speed of sound depends entirely on the characteristics of air, such as temperature, pressure, etc.
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Theory of relativity proceeds from the postulate that the speed of light is constant for all frames of references. The speed of light, therefore, acts as an absolute for the theory of relativity.
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Since the characteristics of free space determine the speed of light, free space acts as the absolute frame of reference for the theory of relativity.
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Free space seems to be defined fully only when space and time are considered together as ‘space and changes in it’. Regarded separately, space and time appear to be relative as shown by the theory of relativity.
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Free space as SPACETIME seems to represent the absoluteness underlying the physical universe.
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Reality is the direct perception of what is. Reality does not arise from agreement. What arises from agreement is deepening of assumptions.
If a number of people believe that the earth is flat, then they are simply sharing an assumption, which is not part of reality. Shared assumption leads to illusion. When pushed too far, illusions become unreality.
Physical reality is concrete. It may be extended through abstraction. For example, the basic dimensions of physical space are correctly visualized at right angles to each other. This geometrical interpretation is concrete and it limits the basic dimensions of space to three.
However, an abstract interpretation of basic dimensions is that no basic dimension has a component along another basic dimension. This is true for the physical dimensions of space. But, per this interpretation the dimensions of the space may be extended beyond three. We are free to explore additional dimensions that may be abstract, but which are consistent with the physical reality.
The concrete dimensions are perceived by our physical senses of the eye, ear, touch, smell and taste. Abstract dimensions are not perceived by the physical senses, instead they are perceived by the mind.
Abstraction is unreal when it is not consistent with physical reality. Such is the case with String Theory, which has not been shown to be consistent with physical reality. But the abstraction postulated by the theory of relativity is real to the degree it is found to be consistent with the the physical reality.
Any abstraction that is not consistent with physical reality would have the character of assumption, or unproven conjecture at best. It would become real when found to be consistent with the physical reality.
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