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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatial
dimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergyto
travelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthe
initialpush?

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Lastasked:13Feb

So,accordingtobasiclawsoftheuniverseeverythingthatwantstopropagate
anywhererequiresenergy.

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Youdon'tneedenergytotravelthroughanydimensionyouonlyneedenergy
toaccelerate,thatis,changeyourvelocity,whichistherateatwhichyoumove.
Movingatconstantvelocitydoesn'tcostanyenergy.

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However,thequestiondoesraiseaninterestingpoint,soletmerephraseitas
follows:"Whycanweexpendenergytochangeourrateoftravelthrough
space,butitdoesn'tseemlikewecandothesameforourrateoftravel
throughtime?".Orevenmoresuccinctly:"Whatdeterminesourvelocityinthe
timedimension?"

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166,528
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95

Whatspatialdimensionislight?
Whyisaphotonsaidtomovethrough
spacedimensionsonly?Wherecanwe
measurethedistanceittravels?

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SpecialRelativity
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timedimension,otherwisetimewillnotpass.Howdoesmovementalongthe
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ustrytounderstandthis.Itwillrequiresomemath,butonlyatthehighschool
level.

Whycan'tlighttravelthroughthefourth
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Whentimetraveling,howcanonebe
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MoreRelatedQuestions

First,weneedtounderstandtheconceptofspacetime.Spacetimeisthe3
dimensionsofspace,plusthe1dimensionoftime,addedtogethertoforma4
dimensionalspacetime.Whywouldanyonedothat,youask?Thetheoryof
relativitysaysthatwheneverwewanttocomparewhattwoobserverssee,and
theseobserversaremovingrelativetoeachother,spaceandtimegetmixedup:
timegets"dilated"andspacegets"contracted".Wheredidthe"missing"space
goandwheredidthe"extra"timecomefrom?Turnsout,inaway,space
actuallygot"recycled"andturnedintotime!Weird,huh?
Now,let'strytounderstandhowaparticlemovesthroughspacetime.Inorder
tomakethemathsimpler,I'mgoingtothrowawaytwospacedimensions.So
nowourspacetimeis2dimensional,with1timeand1spacedimension.Iwill
callthetimecoordinatet andthespacecoordinatex.
AshadytrickI'llusehereistosetthespeedoflightinvacuumtoone:c = 1 .
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Youmustwonder:howcanIdothat?Thespeedoflightisabout300,000,000
meterspersecond,sosettingitto1seemslikea"prettybig"understatement.
Ah,butIdidn'tsayit's1meterspersecond,Isaidit'sjust1!Thismeansthat
I'mchangingmyunitssuchthatonesecondisnowequalto300,000,000
meters.Thentheratio300,000,000meterspersecondisnow"300,000,000
metersper300,000,000meters",andeverythingcancelsoutverynicely,
leavingonlythepurenumber1.Ifthisstilldoesn'tmakesensetoyou,don't
worryaboutit.I'monlyusingthec = 1 tricktomaketheequationslook
simpler.
Sonowspacetimemaybevisualizedasjustasimple2Ddiagram,withthe
horizontalaxisrepresentingspaceandtheverticalaxisrepresentingtime:

Thisisadiagramwithtwoaxes,soapointonthediagramisrepresentedby
twonumbers,t andx.Wecollectthembothintooneobjectcalledavector,
whichiswrittenlikeso:(t, x) .Soforexamplethepointattheoriginofthe
axes,witht = 0 andx = 0 ,willbe(0, 0) .
Whatisthedistancebetweentwopointsonthisdiagram?Theanswerturns
outtobeabittricky.Youmightrememberthatinnormal(Euclidean)space,
thedistancebetweentwopointsisgivenbythePythagoreantheorem.Inmore
technicaltermswesaythatit'sthemagnitudeofthevectorconnectingthetwo

2
+b

points.Themagnitudeofthevector(a, b) is a2
followingdiagram:

ascanbeseeninthe

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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

However,inthecaseofspacetime,whichisnotaEuclideanspace,itturnsout
Pythagorasgotabitconfusedandnowweneedaminussigninsteadofaplus
sign:

Nextwe'regoingtousethisweirdnotionofdistancetodefinesomethingcalled
propertime.Yourpropertimeisjustthetimemeasuredonyourwristwatchas
youmovearound.Itwillgenerallybedifferentfromthetimeasmeasuredby
someonesittingstill,duetotimedilation.Welabelthepropertimewiththe
Greekletter (tau)anddefineitasfollows:

2
2
= (t) (x) .

These'smean"difference".Sothedifferenceinpropertime isthesquare
rootofthedifferenceintimet minusthedifferenceinspacex.Inotherwords,
it'sjustthemagnitudeofthevector(t, x) ascalculatedwiththeversionof
thePythagoreantheoreminwhichPythagoraswasabitdrunk.
Thissquarerootisabitalarming,though:asyouprobablyknow,wecan'thave
anythingnegativeinsidethesquareroot,orelsebadthingswillhappen!
Thankfully,relativitycomestotherescue.First,letusanswerthefollowing
question:whatisthevelocityofaparticle?It'sjustthederivativeofpositionx
withrespecttotimet :
v =

dx
dt

Whatdothed 'smean?They'rejustdifferences,likethe'sweusedinthe
definitionofpropertime.Soletuswriteinstead:
v =

x
t

Now,whatisthehighestvelocityamassiveparticlecanachieve,accordingto
relativity?Itcangetarbitrarilyclosetothespeedoflight,butneverfaster.But
wesaidbeforethatthespeedoflightisjust1 .Sothemostextremescenariowe
canhave(ifwe'resoclosetothespeedoflightthatwecan'ttellthedifference)
is
x
t

= 1.

Multiplybothsidesbyt andweget:
x = t.

Thismeansthat

= ( ) ( ) = 0.
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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

2
2
= (t) (x) = 0.

Sointheworstcasescenario,thethinginsidethesquarerootisjustzero.It
cannotgobelowzerobecausethatwillmeanthattheparticleismovingfaster
thanlight!Whileconsideringthisseeminglytechnicalpoint,weactuallyalso
discoveredaninterestingfact:aparticlemovingatexactlythespeedoflight
haszeropropertime.Butwewon'tbeconcernedwiththissincewearedealing
onlywithmassiveparticles,andthosecannevereverachievethespeedof
light.
Thenextstepistodefinethespacetimevelocityoftheparticle.Thisisusually
called4velocity(sincespacetimeisusually4dimensional)butinourcasewe'll
havetocallit2velocity.Thespacevelocityv wedefinedabovewillbecalled1
velocity.
Whydoweneedtwovelocities?Well,the1velocitytellsyouhowfastyou're
movinginspaceperunittime.ThisisusefulintheoldandboringNewtonian
mechanics,butnotsomuchinrelativity.Thereasonisthat,aswe'vealready
mentioned,spaceandtimethemselvesgetmixedup,contractedanddilated.
Weneedsomeconceptofvelocitythatwilltakethatintoaccount.Thisisthe2
velocity.
Wedefinethe2velocityinspacetimeinthesamewaywedefinethevelocityof
avectorinspace:it'sthetimederivativeoftheindividualcomponentsofthe
vector.Inthecaseofspacetime,thecomponentsaret andx.Takingthe
derivativewithrespecttot doesn'tmakemuchsenseasit'sactuallyoneofthe
components.Thisisexactlywhywedefinedthepropertime:it'sanotionof
timethattakesintoaccountbothtimeandspace!Sowedefinethe2velocityu
asfollows:
u = (

dt
d

dx
d

).

Notethatuisboldbecauseit'savector.Okay,thisequationlooksabit
complicated.Butallitmeansisthatthefirstcomponentmeasuresmovement
alongthetimecoordinateandthesecondcomponentmeasuresmovement
alongthespacecoordinate.
Now,whatcanwedowiththe2velocity?Alot!Forstarters,let'sconsidera
particleatrest.Thatmeansitspositioninspaceisnotchanging.Aderivativeis
themeasureofchange.Sothederivativeofxmustbezero:
dx
d

= 0.

Whatisthepropertime?Again,ifxisnotchangingthenthedifferencex
betweentwopointswillalwaysbezero:x = 0 .Thepropertimeistherefore:

2
2
= (t) (x)

2
= (t) 0
= t.

Inotherwords,
dt
d

= t

andtherefore:

= 1.

The2velocityforaparticleatrestisthus:
u = (1, 0) .

Thatwaseasy!Okay,sowefoundoutwhatthe2velocityisforaparticleat
rest,anditturnsoutthatit'snotzero.Whatdoesthatmean?Well,recallthe
definitionofthe2velocity.Thefirstcomponentmeasuresmovementalongthe
timecoordinateandthesecondcomponentmeasuresmovementalongthe
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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

spacecoordinate.Soaparticleatrestdoesnotmovealongthespace
coordinate(asexpected),butitdoesmovealongthetimecoordinate.
Letusreiteratethisimportantconclusion:Aparticleatrestinspacestill
movesinthetimedirectioninspacetime.Itdoesn'tneedanyenergytodoso.
Thisbasicallyanswersthequestion,butwecanplaywiththe2velocityabit
moretotryandunderstandwhatitactuallymeans.Naturally,weare
interestedincalculatingthe2velocityforparticlesthatarenotatrest.Their
velocitymaybeanywherebetween0 (rest)and1 (speedoflight),butitcannot
beexactly1 sincemassiveparticlescannevertravelthroughspaceatthespeed
oflight.
I'llsaveyouthedetailsofthecalculation,sincetheyareabitmessy.I'lljust
quotethefinalresult.Inthegeneralcase,the2velocityis:
u = (, v),

wherev isthe1velocityand istheLorentzfactor,definedasfollows:

=

1
1v2

Ifwepluginv = 0 ,i.e.aparticleatrest,weget = 1 andtherefore

u = (1, 0) whichisthe2velocityforaparticleatrestwecalculatedbefore.So
thisresultmightseemweird,butatleastit'sconsistent.
Aplotisworthathousandequations,sohere'saplotofthetwocomponentsof
the2velocityasfunctionsofthe1velocity:

Whatdoesthismean?Thebluecurveisthecomponentofthe2velocityalong
thetimedirectionandtheorangeoneisthecomponentofthe2velocityalong
thespacedirection.Westartat1velocityv = 0 ,i.e.,atrestinspace.Thisgives
usspacetimevelocityonlyalongthetimedirection.Asweincreasethe1
velocity,bothcomponentsofthe2velocityalsoincrease.Asthe1velocity
approachesthespeedoflightv = 1 ,bothcomponentsofthe2velocity
approachinfinity(thisisthepointthattheybothseemtoconvergetoat
v = 1 ).
Theinterpretationisasfollows:nomatterwhatyour1velocityinspaceis,
whenyouconsideryour2velocityinspacetimeyoufindoutthatyoumust
alwayshavesomevelocity"throughthetimedimension"inadditiontovelocity
"throughthespacedimension".
Let'sfinishwithsomethingcool.Wewilltrytounderstandtimedilationin
termsofmovementthroughspacetime.Intuitively,thevelocityatwhichyou
"movethroughtime"musttellhowfasttimepassesforyou,comparedtoan
observeratrest.Theplotaboveshowsthatthefasteryoumovethroughspace,
thefasteryoumovethroughtime.Ifyou'reatrest,youmovethroughtimeat
velocity1 .Soyouexperiencetimethesameasanyotherobserveratrest.

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Search

Nowyoustartmoving,andyourvelocitythroughtimeincreases.Whenyour
"timevelocity"is2 ,youmovetwiceasfastthroughtimeasanobserveratrest!
Thismeansthatforeverysecondthatpassesforyou,twosecondswillpassfor
2
8
Home
Write factor
Notifications
anobserveratrest.Thisisexactlywhattimedilationis!(Indeed,the
thatweputinthefirstcomponentofthe2velocityisexactlythefactorfortime
dilation.)

Namit

AskQuestion

Insummary:
1."Velocityalongthetimedimension"isawelldefinedquantity:it'sthetime
componentofthe2velocity.
2.Youdonotneedanyenergyto"travelthroughthetimedimension":your
velocityalongthetimedimensionisalwaysgreaterthanorequalto1 ,whether
youwantitornot.
3.Thevelocityalongthetimedimensiontellshowfastyourclockticksas
comparedtoanobserveratrestit'sthethingresponsiblefortimedilation.
Updated26Apr.67,393views.

Upvote 604

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PeterWisniewski3votes(show)
Thisisthebestanswerever!Couldyourecommendanyarticles/booksabout
timeandrelativity?
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport29Apr
BarakShoshany:Atwhatlevel?
LouisCohen1votebyBarakShoshany
ThebestanswertoanythingIhavereadsofar.Thanks.Anyideawhysomeof
thecommentsweredeleted?It'shardtoimaginepeoplegettinginappropriate
overalittlephysicsandmath.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport16May
BarakShoshany:Thanks!...
BryanDehn1votebyBarakShoshany
Youdon'tneedenergytotravelthroughanydimensionyouonlyneedenergyto
accelerate,thatis,changeyourvelocity,whichistherateatwhichyoumove.
Movingatconstantvelocitydoesn'tcostanyenergy.
Thisissosublimelysimpleanddeceptivelygenius
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport9Jun
AustinArrendale1votebyGarrettJReme
Thisisaverygoodexplanation,however,ihaveonecomment/question.Nearthe
endyoustatethattheplotshowsthatthefasteraparticlemovesthroughspace,
thefasteritmovesthroughtime.Ithoughtthatthefasteryoumovethrough
space,thesloweryoumovethroughtime,whichiswhytravelingatnearlight
speedwouldbetheonlyhypotheticalwayofachievingtimetravel(inessence,
movingyoumoreintothefuturebecauseyouareaginglessthaneveryoneelse).
ThewayIseeit,Cisnotjustthespeedoflight,butitisTHEuniversalspeed
limit,period.ItwouldalmostbemoreaccuratetocallCthe"speedoftime"or
maybeeventhespeedoftheuniverse.Photonsdonot"experience"time
becausealloftheirmotionisthroughthe3spacialdimensions.Anythingwith
significantmass,ontheotherhand,hasahugemajorityofitsmotionasmoving
throughthetimedimension,andtheremainderofitsmotionisthroughspacetime.
Everytimewemoveaboutinspace,thatismotion"takenaway"fromourmotion
throughtime,sincethe2addtogethertoequalC.Youcanillustratethiswitha
simpleanalogyofthrowingafootball.IfIthrowafootballstraightaheadat30
meterspersecond,attheonesecondmarkitwillbe30metersahead.NowifI
throwthesamefootballwiththesamevelocitybutithasabitofaslanttoit,it
willstillhavetraveled30meters,butitwillhavetraveledlessthan30meters
forwardbecausepartofthatmomentumwas"diverted"intotheseconddimension
(width,asopposedtolength).
Withthatinmind,weALLtravelthroughspacetimeatthespeedoflight,itsjust
thatmostofthat"speed"istravelingthroughtime,asopposedtospace

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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport16Apr
BarakShoshany:Thanks!...
JohnSmith1votebyMackenzieCovert
Toallmathematiciansusingphrase"thatwaseasy"intheirwork:Idon'tthinkit
meanswhatyouthinkitmeans.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport18Apr
BarakShoshany:Iwillbehappytoprovideamoredet...
AnthonyBecker
Stupidquestion:doesn'tgamma,thetimecoordinateofthe2velocitycorrespond
tovelocitythroughtime?
Ithoughtthatas1velocityapproachesc,velocitythroughtimeapproachedzero.
Theabovegivesmetheideathatvelocitythroughtimeapproachesinfinitywith
spacevelocity.
Helpappreciated!
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport5Apr
BarakShoshany:Indeed,asIwroteinmyanswer,the...
DanielRoussel1votebyBarakShoshany
Thatisaveryveryniceanswer!Loveit!
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport10Apr
HimanishGanjoo4votes(show)
YouwillgiveDr.Hawkingarunforhismoneysomeday.Markmywords!
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport21Feb
BarakShoshany:IdoubtIcouldeverbeany...and1other
RobertGoodman
Doyouthinkyoucouldcomeupwithacompatibleanswertothepartofthe
questionasking,"Whatwastheinitialpush?"Istheresomethingincosmogony
thatwouldexplainhowthescalingoftheictaxisvs.thespatialaxescame
about?Answeringthat,whichdeterminestheslopesofthelinesofmotion,would
seemtoanswerforthe"initialpush".
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReportTue
BarakShoshany:Itshouldbeinferredfrommyanswer...
RichardRouthier
VeryinterestingpostBarak.Thisassumesthatyouknowthepositionofthe
particle,howevertheHeisenberguncertaintyprinciplestatesthatyoucannot
haveatthesametimethepositionandmomentumoftheparticle.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport13Apr
BarakShoshany:Thanks!Thisexplanationis...and1other
Commentdeleted14Feb,2014
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TomaszTylec,Postdoc@PolishAcedemyofSciences
7upvotesbyAramTadevosyan,ArvindSastry,LoganR.Kearsley,RhettErisman,
(more)

Actually,itisexactlyopposite:werequireenergytomoveintime.Tomove
throughspacedimensionswerequiremomentum.NowIneedtoexplainwhat
Imeanby"require".
Theveryshortansweristhattotalenergyofanisolatedsystemisageneratorof
thegroupoftimetranslationswhilethemomentaalongorthogonalspace
directionsaregeneratorsofthegroupofspacetranslations.Thisistruein
classical(relativisticandnonrelativistic)aswellasinquantummechanics.But
thisisveryabstractstatement.Letmetrytoexplainitinabitmoreverbose
way.
Asawordofwarning,thisisabitmoregeneraldiscussionthaninprevious
answers,sowewillneedabitmoresophisticatednotions.
Letusforgetaboutnewtonianmechanics.Themostelegantformulationof
classicalmechanicsisthesocalledHamiltonianMechanics.Withoutgetting
intotomuchdetail,stateofaphysicalsystemisdescribedtherebypositionsq
andmomentap ofallparticles.Setofalladmissiblevaluesof(q, p) iscalleda
phasespace.Dynamicalbehaviourofthesystemisdescribedbythe
HamiltonianH ,i.e.thetotalenergyofthesystem(letusconsiderisolated
systemswithconservativeforcesonly).Anyquantitythatcanbemeasuredis
representedbyafunctionofpositionsandmomenta.Inotherwords,itisa
functiononaphasespace.
Nowthethingisthattheevolutionintimeofaphysicalsystemcanbe
describedeitheraschangeintimeofitsstateorchangeintimeofthingsthat
wecanmeasure(intheend,ourinteractionwithphysicalworldisthrough
experiments,eveniftheyastrivialasobservingwheretheballis).Evolution
(i.e.changeintime)ofanythingthatwecanmeasure,i.e.afunction f onthe
phasespace,isgivenbythefollowingequation:
t

d
dt

ft = {H , ft },

whereonlefthandsidewehavetimederivativeof f (rateofchangeintime)
andontherighthandsidewehavethesocalledPoissonbracketof f with
HamiltonianH .Infact,onecanthinkofH , asanoperatoractingon
functionsthatdescribesrateofchangeintime(soinfinitesimalchangein
time).Integratingitgivesboostintime.Clearlytheenergyisresponsiblefor
thatboost.
t

Thesameargumentsapplytoquantummechanics.Infact,theconnectionof
energywith"movementintime"probablycanbeexpressedeveneasierthere.
EvolutionofastateisgivenbythetimedependentSchrdingerequation:
d
dt

| t

= iH |t

where| describesthe(pure)stateofasystem.Solutionofthisequationis
formallygivenby:
t

| t

= e

itH

| 0

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andagain,itisclearthatduetoenergystateofthesystemevolvesintime.
Wedon'tevenusethenotionofspacetimehere.
Written20May.1,813views.

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BrianBi,majoredinphysics
21upvotesbyBarakShoshany(GraduateStudentatPerimeterInstitutefor
The...(more)),ShirleyXia,AdolfoJosDeFilippis,CraigHeile,(more)

Actually,youdoneedenergytotravelthroughtime.There'snosuchthingasa
particlewithnoenergy.Massiveparticleshavenonzerorestenergymc and
masslessparticlescan'tbeatrestsotheyalwayshavekineticenergy.
2

Therealquestioniswhyaparticlecanhaveenergywithoutmomentum,but
notviceversa.Well,thisisforthesamereasonthataparticlecantravelpurely
inthetimedirection,butnoparticlecantravelpurelyinthespacedirection.
BarakShoshanyexplainsthisinhisanswer.
Written15Feb,2014.4,806views.

Upvote 21

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HarryMcLaughlin,M.S.Astrophysics
8upvotesbyLoganR.Kearsley,JackTurner,UmmonKarpe,RobertMalthus,
(more)

Theenergythroughtimeis...

Rationale
Thisisthe"rest"energy.Whileanobjectmaybeat"rest"inspaceitisstill
movingthroughtime.

CoolFact#1
Wecanwriteaninterestingequation...
Energy(unlikemomentumwhichaddslikeavector)isascalarquantityand
addslikerealnumbers.Wecanthenexpressthetotalkineticenergyin
spacetimeasthesumofthekineticenergiesineachdimension,ormore
specifically,summedovereachdegreeoffreedom.

Seenote[1]fordetailsofthisequation

CoolFact#2
Wecanusethisequationtounderstandthemysterious"massdefect"in
nuclearreactions.This"missingmass"and"masstoenergy"mysteryin
nuclearreactionsconfusestheneophytestudent,andallitis...isthekinetic
energyshufflingbetweenspaceandtimedirections![3]
Whenmassdisappears,decreases,inanuclearreactionreallyhasn't
disappeareditisthekineticenergyoftheparticlesthroughourdirectionof
timeredirectedintothekineticenergyoftheparticlesthroughourspace.
Seenote[2]foraworkedoutexample.

CoolFact#3
Thisunderscoresthefactthatmassandenergyarethesamething,AND,why
"mass"isawordreservedforthe"restenergy"andnotthesocalled"relativistic
mass"asthisnamingconventionmakesourequationssomuchnicertowork
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with.
Technically,thekineticenergyreallyismass.Forexample,thekineticenergies
associatedwiththequarksintheatomicnucleicontributestothemassofthe
nucleons.
NOTES
[1]Thefollowingisacheckof:

Where...

Uponsubstitutionweget...

[2]InanexperimentbyRutherforditwasshownthatgivenenoughkinetic
energy,heliumandnitrogencouldbecollidedtoformoxygenandhydrogen.
Whatistheminimumkineticenergynecessaryforthisreactiontooccur?
Thereactionisasfollows:

Calculatingthekineticenergiesfromaspacetimeperspective:

Substitutingvalues...

Sowhatdoesthistellus?
Whatweknowfromtheequationisthat1.192MeVofkineticenergythrough
ourspacewasredirectedinthedirectionofourtime.Whatthismeansfurther
isthatthisincreaseinkineticenergyofoursystemthroughtimeisequivalent
tosayingthatthesystem'smassincreased.
Ihopeyoufoundthishelpfulandalittlebitinteresting!
Written18Apr.843views.

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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

AriRoyce,Physics,MartialArts,AI,Molecular...(more)
2kupvotesbyAbhijeetBorkar(PhDstudentinPhysics(Astrophysics)),Sabareesh
VSukumaran,AntoinePoulin,WongEeJhun,(more)

Youareaskingaverygoodquestion.Thequestionthatphysicscouldnot
answerrightnow.
Idon'tknowwhypeopletendtoansweryourquestionbyexplainingarather
completetheoryofspacetime.Whileitmayexplainspacetimerathernicely,I
don'tthinkitwouldaddmuchtoourintuitiveunderstandingaboutthis.
Spacetimeisaweirdconceptthatnoonerightnowcouldpossiblyunderstand
beyonditsmathematicalformulation.Whilewehaveseenmanyofits
similaritiestoourexperiencewithdaytodaythreedimensionalspace,wesee
itmostlyjustthroughmathematicalformulation.Intuitively,itstillpuzzlesus.
Byreadingthequestionmorecarefully,I'mconcludingthatwhatyouarereally
askingiswhythetimedimensionseemstoworkdifferentlythantherestof
dimensions.Tomakeitsimpler,Iwouldliketobreakdownyourquestioninto
severalpuzzles.
Thefirstpuzzle.Whiletimedimensionclearlybehavesdifferently,whydo
physicistslovetocallthespacetimesuchanunity4dimensionalspacetime?
Thisisjustbecausemathematicallywehavefoundformulasthatbehavesuch
theircounterpartsin3dimensionalspace,soweGUESSthat4dimensional
spacewouldbejustlikeanextensiontoour3dimensionalspace.Verymuch
likeweextendour2dimensionalspaceformulastoits3dimensionalspace
counterparts.
Forexample,hereistheformulaofdistancesquaredin2dimensionalspace:

Hereisitscounterpartin3dimensionalspace:

Andhereisitscounterpartfor4dimensionalspacetime:

Itlooksthesamebutnotexactlythesame,speciallythe4dimensionalspace
timeversion.Theobviousquestionis:whydowehavetomakethosetermsinto
negative?Iwon'tgointosometediousmathematicalproofaswejustwantto
haveamoreintuitiveunderstandingaboutthis.Thereasonis,inshortwords,
tomakeourexistingvectoralgebrastillvalid.Yes,thereasonisstilljusta
mathematicalreason.Whydowewanttodothat?Becauseit'shardforus
toreallyunderstandthis4dimensionalconcept,weHOPEthatbylookingits
similaritiesmathematically,wecouldfindsomethingthatcouldimproveour
intuitiveunderstandingtoitsphysicalmeaning.Thebestresultwehavesofar
isthatfamousgeneralrelativitytheory,butitstillcouldnotansweryour
questionsatisfactorily.Apparentlywehaven'tprogressedmuch:)
Thesecondpuzzleisyourquestionperse:whydon'twerequireanyenergyto
travelthroughthetimedimension?Wedoneedenergytotravelthrough
timedimensionifweneedtochangeourspeedintravellingthis
timedimension.Asweknowfromspecialrelativity,thatwhenwespeedup
ourspaceship,timeismovingslowerforusthanourcounterpartonEarth.
Whenourcounterpartneeds100yearstotravel100years,weneedlessyears
totravelthatsame100years"distance".E.g.weneedjust10yearstotravel
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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

that100years.Clearlyweneedenergytospeedupourspaceshipinorderto
movefasterintime.Yes,wecouldgotothefutureFASTER,myfriend!
Thethirdpuzzleisyourquestiontwistedalittlebit:howcouldwetravel
throughthetimedimensionwithoutanapparent"push"?Thisistheanswer
thatphysicscurrentlycouldnotanswer.Whatweknowtodayiscomingfrom
the2ndLawofThermodynamics.Ittellsusthatindeedwearemovingintime
andwearemovingtothefuture.BUTwestilldon'tknowwhywemovetothe
future(insteadtothepast),andwestilldon'tknowwhattheinitialpush
is.Thathastobeaninitialpush!
Thefourthpuzzleis:whilewecouldmovefreelyin3dimensionalspace,why
couldn'twemovefreelyintimedimension?Wecanmovetothefuture,surely,
wecouldevenmovetothefuturefaster,butwhycouldn'twemovetothe
past?Yes,wecannot,ourunderstandingtothephysicslawtodayisthatwe
cannotmovetothepast.Andwedon'tknowwhybetterthanourmathematical
modelwouldbreakwhenwetrytomovetothepast.
So,wecouldnotbeabletoansweryourquestionbecausewestillhavethis
problemwithtimedimension.It'ssomysterious.Whilewehavethis4
dimensionalspacetimeconcept,whichlookscool,butifitspremiseistrue,
thattimeisjustanotherdimension,it'sevenworse.Becausethatmeans,not
justwedon'tunderstandthetimedimension,wealsodon'tunderstandthe3
dimensionalspacequitewell.Wedon't,becausewehaven'ttrulyfound
theirunitybeyondtheirmathematicalformulation.
ThismakesyourquestiononeofthebestquestionsinQuora.
Updated27May.91,096views.

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MarkEichenlaub,PhDstudentinPhysics
20upvotesbyDavidSimmonsDuffin(Physicist),MattHodel,AbrahamBuditama,
AndySymes,(more)

Imaginesomeoneasking,"Ifthisbookhas400pages,whydoesn'tatoaster
haveany?Wheredidtheygo?"Itdoesn'twork.Justbecauseabookhaspages
doesn'tmeanatoasterhasthem.Thetoaster'spagesdidn'tgoanywhereit
neverhadthembecausetheideaofpagesdoesn'tapplytotoasters.Similarly,
justbecauseaspaceshipneedsapushtogetgoingthroughspacedoesn'tmean
iteverneededapushtogetgoingthroughtime.Theideasofgettingstarted
andreceivingapushapplytomovingthroughspace,butnottotime.Insisting
onanexplanationofwhytheyapplytospaceandnottotimewouldbelike
insistingonanexplanationofwhytoastersdon'thavepages.Noonewho
understandswhatpagesandtoastersarewouldaskthat,andifsomeonedid,
it'sbefuddlingtothinkofwhattosaytothem.
Let'sclarifyabitfurther.SupposeyouhaveaspaceshiponEarth,thenyoufly
awayatamillionmilesanhour.Todothat,youburnsomefuel,turningits
chemicalenergyintoyourspaceship'skineticenergy.Let'ssayyourshipgainsa
quadrillionjoulesofkineticenergywhilegettinguptospeed.Thenyouwill
needtoburnatleastaquadrillionjoules'worthoffuel(andinrealityalot
more).Ithinkthisiswhatyoumeanbysayingwerequireenergytotravel
throughspace.Ofcourse,onceyouaregoing,youkeepmovingthroughspace,
andthatdoesn'ttakeanyenergy,soitisn'tmovingthroughspacethatrequired
energy,butgettinguptospeedinthefirstplace.
Yourquestiontakesthisdescriptionofburningfueltogetuptospeedand
analogizesittotime.Weimaginethattobeginwith,theshipwas"notmoving
throughtime".Thensomething"pushed"itinthetimedirectiontheway
burningfuelpushesusthroughspace,andthentheshipbegan"moving
forwardthroughtime".Whatwasthepush?
Thisquestiondoesn'trequireananswerbecausetheanalogydoesn'thold.The
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(8)Ifwerequireenergytotravelthroughthe3spatialdimensions,whydon'twerequireanyenergytotravelthroughthetimedimension?Whatwasthei

spaceshipneverwas"notmovingthroughtime."Nothing"gaveitapushtoget
itstarted".Thesearesimplyphraseswecanusetodescribeburningfueltoget
goingthroughspace.Justbecausewecanusethemtodescribemoving
throughspacedoesn'tmeanthatwecantakethephrases,applythemtotime,
andgetmeaningfulstatements.Itisprettyobviouswhatwemeanby"aship
notmovingthroughspace".Wemeanthatitsvelocityiszero(presumably
relativetoEarth.Ofcourse,Earthitselfismovingrelativetothecenterofthe
galaxy,sotheshipismovinginthatreferenceframe,butforourpurposesas
Earthlingsitisnotmoving).Whatdoesitmeantosayashipis"notmoving
throughtime"?Ican'tthinkofwhatthatwouldmean.It'sjustastringof
wordsyoucouldputtogether,likeNoamChomsky'sphrase"colorlessgreen
ideassleepfuriously".Thewordsseemtoformasentence,buttheydon'thave
anymeaning.
(Iimaginethatsomereadersobjectthattheycaneasilyimaginesomethingnot
movingthroughtimetheythinkofashipstayingexactlythesameaseons
pass,everyatomfrozeninplace,butsuchanobjectisstillmovingthrough
time.It'sjustanonaging,stationaryobjectmovingthroughtimeinthe
ordinaryway.)
Inphysics,timeandenergyareassociatedwitheachother,andobjectshave
energywhethertheyaremovingornot,andthatalldependsontheframewe
dotheanalysisfrom.Idon'tthinkanyofthisisreallygettingatthepointof
yourquestion,though.What'simportanthere,Ithink,istorealizethatnot
everyanalogywecanverbalizehastomeansomethingtophysics.
Written15Feb.3,168views.

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