The block universe idea, representing space-time as a fixed whole, suggests the flow of time is an illusion: the entire Universe just is, with no special meaning attached to the present time. This paper points out that this view, in essence represented by usual space-time diagrams, is based on time-reversible microphysical laws, which fail to capture essential features of the time-irreversible macro-physical behaviour and the development of emergent complex systems, including life, which exist in the real Universe. When these are taken into account, the unchanging block Universe view of space-time is best replaced by an evolving block Universe which extends as time evolves, with the potential of the future continually becoming the certainty of the past; space-time itself evolves, as do the entities within it. However this time evolution is not related to any preferred surfaces in space-time; rather it is associated with the evolution of proper time along families of world lines.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
P Anninos, Computational Cosmology: From the Early Universe to the Large Scale Structure. http://relativity.livingreviews.org/Articles/lrr-2001-2/articlesu15.html, Section 6.1, The Einstein Equations.
R Arnowitt, S Deser and C W Misner, The Dynamics of General Relativity. In Gravitation: An Introduction to Current Research, Ed L Witten (Wiley, 1962), pp. 227-265.
A Ashtekar, 100 Years of Relativity: Space time Structure: Einstein and Beyond. (World Scientific, 2005).
E B Babcock and J L Collins, Does natural ionizing radiation control rate of mutation?. Proc Nat Acad Sci 15: 623-628 (1929).
J Brennan, Free will in the block universe. Notes available at http://www.u.arizona.edu/∼brennan/freedomblockuniverse.pdf.
H Bondi, “Some special solutions of the Einstein equations”. In Lectures in General Relativity, Brandeis Summer Institute in Theoretical Physics, Vol. I, Eds A Trautmann, F A E Pirani and H Bondi (Prentice Hall, 1965), 431-434.
C D Broad, Scientific Thought (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1923). For Table of Contents and some chapters, see http://www.ditext.com/broad/st/st-con.html.
P C W Davies, The Physics of Time Asymmetry. (Surrey University Press, London, 1974).
P C W Davies, That Mysterious Flow. Scientific American 287: 40 (September 2002).
S Dodelson, Modern Cosmology (Academic Press, 2003).
P K S Dunsby, M Bruni and G F R Ellis, Covariant perturbations in a multi-fluid medium. Astrophys J. 395: 54-74 (1992).
J Earman, World Enough & Space-Time: Absolute vs. Relational Theories of Space & Time. (Bradford Book, 1992).
T S Eliot, Burnt Norton (No. 1 of ‘Four Quartets’). In T. S. Eliot: Collected Poems 1909-1962 (Faber and Faber, 1974).
G F R Ellis, Relativistic Cosmology. In General Relativity and Cosmology, Varenna Lectures, Course XLVII. Ed R K Sachs (Academic Press, 1971), 104-179.
G F R Ellis, Relativistic Cosmology: its Nature, Aims and Problems. In General Relativity and Gravitation, Ed B Bertotti et al. (Reidel, 1984), 215-288.
G F R Ellis, Physics, complexity, and causality. Nature 435: 743 (2005).
G F R Ellis, Physics and the Real World. Phys Today (July 2005), 49-54. Lett Response, 59: 12-14 (March 2006).
G F R Ellis, Physics and the real world. Foundations Phys (April 2006), 1-36 [http://www.mth.uct.ac.za/∼ellis/realworld.pdf].
G F R Ellis, On the Nature of Emergent Reality. In The Re-emergence of Emergence, Ed P Clayton and P C W Davies (Oxford University Press, 2006) [http://www.mth.uct.ac.za/∼ellis/emerge.doc].
G F R Ellis and T R Buchert, The universe seen at different scales. Phys Lett A 347: 38-46 (2005) [http://za.arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0506106].
G F R Ellis and D W Sciama, Global and Non-global Problems in Cosmology. In General Relativity, Ed L O’Raifeartaigh (Oxford University Press, 1972), 35-59.
G F R Ellis and R M Williams, Flat and Curved Space Times. (Oxford University Press, 2000).
R Feynman, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. (Princeton, 1985).
E Fitgerald, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. (Penguin 1989), Stanza lxxi.
B Dowden, Time. In The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Eds J Fieser and B Dowden (2006). http://www.iep.utm.edu/t/time.htm.
P W Glimcher, Indeterminacy in brain and behaviour. Annu Rev Psychol, 56: 25 (2005).
K G ödel, A Remark About the Relationship between Relativity Theory and Idealistic Philosophy. In Albert Einstein, Philosopher-Scientist, Vol. 2, Ed P A Schilpp, (Tudor, 1957).
J Hadamard, Lectures on Cauchy’s Problem in Linear Partial Differential Equations. (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1923).
S W Hawking, The chronology protection conjecture. Phys Rev D46: 603-611 (1992).
S W Hawking and G F R Ellis, The Large Scale Structure of Space Time. (Cambridge University Press, 1973).
G Hinshaw, WMAP data put cosmic inflation to the test. Phys World 19: (5) 16-19, (May 2006).
C Hoefer, Absolute versus relational spacetime: for better or worse, the debate goes on. Brit J Philos Sci 49(3): 451-467 (1998).
C Hoefer, Freedom from the inside out (2001). Available at http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CPNSS/pdf/DPwithCoverMeasurement/Meas-DP%2016%2001.pdf.
N Huggett, The regularity account of relational spacetime. Mind 115 (457): 41-73 (2006).
J Hunter, Time Travel. In The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (2006), http://www.iep.utm.edu/t/timetrav.htm.
C J Isham, Lectures on Quantum Theory, Mathematical and Structural Foundations. (Imperial College Press, 1997).
R Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will. (Oxford University Press, 2005).
E W Kolb and M S Turner, The Early Universe. (Addison Wesley, 1990).
R B Laughlin, A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down (Perseus, 2005).
R Le Poidevin, The Experience and Perception of Time. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2004 Edition), Ed E N Zalta, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2004/ entries/time-experience/.
M Lockwood, The Labyrinth of Time: Introducing the universe. (Oxford University Press, 2005).
N Markosian, Time. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2002 Edition), Ed E N Zalta, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2002/entries/time/.
K Martin, J Sugerman and J Thompson, Psychology and the Question of Agency. (SUNY, 2003). D H Mellor, Real Time II. (Routledge, London, 1998).
C W Misner, K S Thorne and J A Wheeler, Gravitation. (Freeman, 1973).
Committee on the origins and evolution of life, National Research Council: The Astrophysical Context of Life (National Academy Press, Washington, 2005) [http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11316.html].
R Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind. (Oxford University Press, 1989).
I Percival, Schr ödinger’s quantum cat. Nature 351: 357 (1991).
F R Prete (Ed), Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems. (MIT Press, 2004).
J Roederer, Information and its Role in Nature. (Springer, 2005).
L J Rothschild, Microbes and Radiation. In Enigmatic Micro-organisms and Life in Extreme Environments, Ed J Seckbach (Kluwer, 1999), p. 551.
S Savitt, Being and Becoming in Modern Physics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2002 Edition), Ed E N Zalta, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2002/entries/spacetime-bebecome/.
J Scalo, J Craig Wheeler and P Williams, Intermittent Jolts of Galactic UV Radiation: Mutagenetic Effects In Frontiers of Life; 12th Rencontres de Blois, Ed L M Celnikier (2001) [astroph/0104209].
J J C Smart, Time. In The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Ed P Edwards (Collier-MacMillan, 1967), viii. 126-134.
M R Spiegel, Theory and Problems of Theoretical Mechanics (Schaum’s Outline Series, McGrawHill, 1967), p. 65 and Ex. 3.19 on pp. 73-74.
J M T Thompson and H B Stewart, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos. (Wiley, 1987).
M Tooley, Time, Tense, and Causation. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000).
M Visser, The Quantum Physics of Chronology Protection. In The Future of Theoretical Physics and Cosmology: Celebrating Stephen Hawking’s 60th Birthday, Ed G W Gibbons, E P S Shellard and S J Rankin.
R M Wald, General Relativity. (University of Chicago Press, 1984).
J A Wheeler and R P Feynman, Interaction with the Absorber as the Mechanism of Radiation. Rev Mod Phys 17: 157-181 (1945).
H D Zeh, The Physical Basis of the Direction of Time. (Springer, Berlin, 1992).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ellis, G.F.R. (2007). Physics in the Real Universe: Time and Space-Time. In: Petkov, V. (eds) Relativity and the Dimensionality of the World. Fundamental Theories of Physics, vol 153. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6318-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6318-3_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-6317-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-6318-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)