Category Archives: Time Travel

Close-up of an ornate clock face with Roman numerals illuminated by a warm golden light.

Is Time Travel Possible? Part 1 (video)

In Part 1, Louis Del Monte, scientist and author, explores the possibility of whether time travel is possible. Watch as Louis Del Monte uncovers three of the most popular theories science proposes for time travel: Faster Than Light, Worm Holes, and Black Holes. Although these remain popular theories, they are not practical with today’s science. In addition, Del Monte explains some of the general obstacles that scientists encounter regarding time travel, such as the “grandfather paradox.”

Feel free to brows Del Monte’s new book “Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries,” available at Amazon.com http://amzn.to/STe9fW and Barnes and Noblehttp://bit.ly/RAv4FL. Del Monte’s research delineates the energy required for time travel to the future.

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Is Time Travel Possible?

Few subjects fire up our imagination as much as time travel. H.G. Wells’ classic novel, The Time Machine, published in 1895, remains popular to this day. However, let us ask a serious scientific question: Is time travel possible?

Actually, no law of physics prohibits time travel. Indeed, numerous solutions to Einstein’s general relativity equations predict time travel is possible. Time dilation experiments (i.e. slowing down time), routinely performed with particle accelerators, lend credence that time can be scientifically manipulated.

The science community proposes three methods to travel in time. In brief, they are:

  1. Faster-than-light (FTL) time travel to the future – A clock traveling near the speed of light runs slower that a stationary clock. For example, it is an experimental fact that a clock on a jet plane flying over the airport runs slower than a clock at the airport.
  2. Using wormholes – A wormhole is a theoretical entity, in which space-time curvature connects two distant locations (or times). We infer wormholes from Einstein’s general relativity.
  3. Using black holes – Most scientists believe time travel requires enormous energy. Since a black hole already has the enormous energy we need, scientists postulate we could use it as a time machine.

None of the above time travel methods is within the grasp of today’s science. However, as we so often observe, today’s science fiction becomes tomorrow’s science fact.

In addition to the obstacles presented by the above time travel methods, some scientists have surfaced other obstacles, namely time travel paradoxes. Time travel paradoxes are thought experiments that illustrate that time travel may potentially violate causality (cause and effect). The most famous time travel paradox is the known as the “grandfather paradox.” It goes something like this: You travel back in time and meet your grandfather. When you meet him, you change events in such a way that he misses the opportunity to meet your grandmother. Thus, your grandfather never meets your grandmother, and they never marry. What happens to you? Theoretically, you will never be born.

Do time travel paradoxes make time travel impossible? Many scientists say they do not, and are able to propose numerous theories, themselves thought experiments, to resolve time travel paradoxes. Among them are Kip Thorne, an American theoretical physicist and Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology until 2009, who argues that time paradoxes are imprecise thought experiments, which can be resolved by numerous consistent solutions.

We started this post with a deceptively simple question: Is time travel possible? The majority of the scientific community believes it is possible. In fact, some well-known theoretical physicists, like Michio Kaku, believe that time travel is an engineering problem. Even time travel paradoxes do not appear to present insurmountable obstacles.

In my book, Unraveling The Universe’s Mysteries, I present an original solution to Einstein’s equations of special relativity that delineates a relationship between existence and energy. The equation, which I term the “Existence Equation Conjecture,” appears to shed light on the mystery of time dilation, and to some extent on time travel. In fact, with the equation, I am able to predict the effects of time dilation on subatomic particles accelerated near the speed of light. The equation also provides a foundation to explain the universe’s accelerated expansion, which is the subject of a previous post, “Unraveling The Universe’s Accelerated Expansion,” http://bit.ly/RqWFYD.

It may be hard, if not impossible, to believe that time travel is possible. Yet, solutions to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, time dilation experiments, and the Existence Equation Conjecture suggest that time travel is possible. Welcome to the edge of science, where physics and metaphysics blur.

Introdution to Unraveling the Universe's Mysteries Book

Introdution to Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries Book

This video welcomes visitors and introduces Louis A. Del Monte, author, physicist and the Chief Executive Officer of Del Monte and Associates, Inc. It briefly introduces Del Monte’s new book, “Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries,” available at Amazon.com http://amzn.to/STe9fW. For more information about Louis A. Del Monte visit http://louisdelmonte.com.

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The Reality of Time

Philosophers have been pondering the nature of time for at least the last 2500 years. The key question boil down to: is time real or is it a mental construct?

We often equate time with change, such as sand flowing through an hourglass. However, imagine if there were no change. Would time still exist? To address this question, let us take an example from Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries (2012), by Louis A. Del Monte (available at Amazon.com). The example will be a thought experiment. We do not currently have technology that permits us to perform this example in a lab, but performing it in our minds will illustrate the point.

Consider an atom frozen at absolute zero. All motion in the atom would stop. I am aware that this thought experiment violates the laws of thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. However, please remember it is a thought experiment to illustrate point. The purpose of this thought experiment is to allow us, conceptually, to separate existence from change. From the standpoint of the atom, there is no change. All motion has stopped. Yet, the atom continues to exist.

This raises the question: what does it mean to exist? One possible scenario is to equate existence to movement in the fourth dimension. If the atom were to move in any of the typical three-dimensional spatial coordinates, the atom would have kinetic energy associated with that movement. Similarly, one could argue that an atom moving in the fourth dimension would also have kinetic energy.

In Einstein’s special theory of relativity, the typical three-dimensional spatial coordinates are what we experience in everyday life, namely height, width, and length. The fourth dimension is also a spatial coordinate, but is equal to ict, where i = , c is the speed of light in empty space, and t is time, representing the numerical order of physical events measured with clocks.

If we want to express movement in the fourth dimension, we would need to use the mathematical discipline of calculus. If we want to calculate the kinetic energy associated with that movement, we would use the relativistic equation for kinetic energy. These calculations have been performed and are documented in aforementioned book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries. For the sake of brevity, I will only present the result here. The kinetic energy associated with moving in the fourth dimension is:

KEX4 = -.3mc2

Where KEX4is the energy associated with an object’s movement in in the fourth dimension X4, m is the rest mass of an object, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum. I have termed this equation the Existence Equation Conjecture.

What does it mean? My interpretation is that existence requires negative energy. In fact, even for a small object like a cupcake, the negative energy would be enormous, typically about equal to an atomic bomb, only negative.

In my book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, I used the equation to explain the physics behind time dilation. I will just briefly describe here that I compare the kinetic energy required to extend the life of a muon (a negatively charged fundamental particle about 200 times heavier than an electron) to the energy required to satisfy the Existence Equation Conjecture for that extended life. Correlation of the experimental results of accelerating a muon (i.e. adding kinetic energy to the muon) to increase its existence (known as time dilation) are within 2% predicted by the Existence Equation Conjecture.

Many of you may wonder why I added the word “Conjecture.” I have only one solid data point and feel the scientific community should weigh in on the validity of the equation. Therefore, I consider it a conjecture at this point.

If the equation continues to hold up under scientific scrutiny, then we have a new insight into the nature of existence.

It is hard to believe or even imagine that the simple state of being (existence) requires negative energy. Welcome to the edge of science, where physics and metaphysics blur.