Fluctuating space
We know from our own observations that large bodies do fluctuate at every scale, a familiar example being the large swells in the ocean which have waves superimposed on them and the waves have ripples and the ripples have ripplets and so on . . .
The incessant fluctuating of large bodies occurs because different expanses or regions from tiny to very large are inevitably and continually perturbed by different amounts, This perturbing creates tension between the regions which, because of their inter-connectedness, one fluctuating region will perturbe the contiguous regions and so on . . . so there is an incessant adjustment going on to even out the tensions caused by the perturbations.
Based on the forgoing account of the fluctuations at every scale of large bodies, we will consider in more detail the possibility that the energy intensity of space itself is fluctuating incessantly at every scale. However, unlike other large bodies, which are subject to perturbation by a number of causes, because space is prior, primary and everywhere, there cannot be anything more fundamental or external to have caused these fluctuations. That is, whereas in a large body of water or air we can usually determine what the causes of the perturbations are and whether they are internal or external to the body, we cannot do so with space, therefore the only alternative is to say that the fluctuations of the energy intensity of space are due to its inherent instability.
What I mean by ‘inherent instability’ is that whatever instability space has must be come from within and be due to the nature of space, it must be the natural state of space. There is the possibly of a perception of circularity in this assertion unless it is appreciated that there has never been a time when there was no inherent instability and no fluctuating going on, so it is the natural state of space to fluctuate.
Since we have assumed that space is an energy field and energy is all that space is, the inherent instability of space must be inherent instability in the energy intensity such that it fluctuates from a nominal mean to lower intensities and from a nominal mean to higher intensities.
Because space has been here for all time there is no point in asking what caused the first fluctuations, space is so big that it is unreasonable to expect that its energy intensity could be completely homogenous, so there must always have been expanses of space with a different energy intensity from other expanses with the consequent tensions between them.
An analogous phenomenon to the incessant instability of space is the behaviour of the atmosphere due to the instability in air pressure. As you can see from the synoptic chart in the figure above, there are cells of low pressure (L) and cells of higher pressure (H) in the atmosphere.
If we take a cross section of the pressures along a line from A to B on the chart, between the low pressure (L) and the high pressure (H), as shown below the synoptic chart, we see that the pressure tends downwards below the standard pressure of 1013 hPa at the Low and above it at the High. Looking at a sequence of synoptic charts quickly conveys the reality of the incessant fluctuations in air pressure.
With this analogy of weather systems we hope to indicate that there is a mean energy intensity of space and there are localised fluctuations around this mean without necessarily ever settling at the mean, in the same way as there are localised fluctuations in the air pressure around the standard atmospheric pressure. We call this a ‘downwardly applicable’ principle in that we can relate what is occurring at the macro-scale of the weather down to what is occurring at microscopic scales of the fluctuations of space.
A candidate for these microscopic fluctuations is what John Wheeler named the ‘quantum foam’, which is, ‘made up not merely of particles popping into an out of existence without limit, but of space-time itself churned into a lather of distorted geometry’. Tthe expression ‘quantum foam’ describes a phenomenon that is occurring at distances in the order of the Planck length, 10-35 metres.
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Although I have held the size constant in the graphical symbols of the event cell for this part of the explanation, of course the size of the event cell will change as the energy intensity varies in that the event cell. It will tend to contract as the energy intensity decreases and expand as the energy intensity increases, both phases being modified by the energy intensity of the contiguous energy cells.
An analysis of the fluctuations follows:
A—The straight line across the width of the event cell represents the mean of the energy intensity of space, which corresponds to the 1013 hPa pressure in the atmospheric analogy. However, as with the standard atmospheric pressure, the mean energy intensity is only a transitory state in the change from higher to lower energy intensity or vice versa.
B—Due to the inherent instability of space, the energy intensity of an event cell starts to decrease below the normal, causing a tendency for the cell to decrease in size, thereby increasing the tension between it and the contiguous event cells which will expand as the event cell contracts.
C—The energy intensity of the event cell is deceasing further, increasing the tension between it and adjacent event cells, the expansion of which will continue to follow the contraction of the event cell.
D—The energy intensity of the event cell has decreased to almost zero and it may collapse altogether. Such a collapse would be the end of that event cell simultaneously resulting in the contiguous event cells expanding to replace it, thereby preventing the formation of a ‘hole’ in space.
E—If the event cell has not collapsed altogether, its intensity may increase, thereby reducing the tension between it and adjacent event cells and causing it to expand.
F —The intensity of the event cell returns to the mean intensity and that event cell ends.
G—A new event cell begins, this time with increasing energy intensity, again increasing tension between it and the adjacent event cells, but this time it is in the opposite direction. This reversal of the direction of tension may be seen as a change in the polarity of the charge of the cell or it may give the appearance of being the opposite state of matter, anti-matter say. These are questions that will be considered later.
H—The intensity of the cell continues to increase, further increasing the tension between it and the adjacent cells.
In A to F we have just described one full fluctuation event of the intensity of space if a collapse does not occur at D, and the beginning of a fluctuation in the opposite direction at G. The cumulative effect of these fluctuating event cells is a field of varying tensions and, because tension is a form of potential energy, it is a field of fluctuating potential energy in which the contracting event cells will appear to have one polarity and the expanding event cells the opposite. It is the fluctuating event cells that make available the energy of space for the work of creating order. Now we need to consider the way in which this energy is put to work, and to do this we first need to establish what determines the way in which the energy is put to work.
Since all we have so far is the randomly fluctuating event cells ‘. . . churned into a lather of distorted geometry’, we will move on to consider what property of these events cells might play a role in the creation of the order that we perceive in the world. It seems that the topology of the event cells may be a candidate to provide the type of influence required.
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