The Four Time Frames

I am always looking for ways to make the universe seem simpler.

Since time, or at least the passage of time as we perceive it, is motion of matter then it's passage must ultimately be determined by matter. If there was no motion, or at least apparent motion, then there would be no such thing as time. Time thus depends on distance, which makes it equivalent to space, as I pointed out in the cosmological theory. But we will only look here at the conventional space, time and, matter as we see it.

The first of the four time frames is the briefest, because it involves the least distance, and concerns the fundamentals of matter and antimatter. As explained in the cosmological theory, when matter and antimatter meet so that they mutually annihilate, the component charges of both are simply rearranging themselves back into empty space and releasing the energy which had held them together. Antimatter is matter with the basic electric charges reversed so that positively-charged positrons, instead of electrons, are in orbit around a negatively-charged nucleus.

The second time frame is nuclear, and involves the building or breaking apart of atomic nuclei. Smaller atoms are crunched together in stars to form heavier elements, some of which can be broken apart by high-speed neutrons or will decay radioactively back into lighter elements. The factor that brings distance, and thus time, into play here is that the nuclei are separated from one another by the mutual repulsion of the electrons in orbit around them.

The third time frame is chemical, and involves interactions of the electrons in orbit around atomic nuclei. The reason that this time frame is longer than the nuclear one is simply that it involves more distance. Electrons orbit the nucleus and to get chemical interactions between adjoining atoms, those electrons are required to line up. This takes distance, and thus time.

The fourth, and longest, time frame is the physical one. This involves the movement of objects over distances, and is the longest simply because it involves more distance. It is by the cumulative effect of gravity that this longest time frame can work in the others. Gravity brings matter together so that it can react chemically, it overcomes electron repulsion in stars to crunch nuclei together into the larger atoms of heavier elements and, according to my cosmological theory, it can even shift the fundamental electric charges in black holes.

Each time frame is supported by the one below it. The nuclear time frame is supported by the electric charges of matter or antimatter, with the nucleus being a concentration of these charges. The chemical time frame is supported by the nuclear in that it is the nucleus which holds the participating electrons in orbit. The physical time frame is supported by the chemical because the objects that move are held together by chemical bonds.

The energy that drives each of the time frames must ultimately come from the one below it. For a living thing to function in a given time frame, it must obtain it's power from one below it. We operate in the physical time frame, but our bodily processes are driven by the chemical time frame.

Our perception of time is rooted in the chemical time frame processes that drive our bodies. If we were nuclear-powered instead, time would move much faster. We can manage living in the universe as we do because we live in the physical time frame but are driven by the supporting chemical time frame.

This structure of time frames is somewhat related to what we saw in "The Science Structure" on this blog, with the branches of science described as a ten-story structure. Does the universe seem any simpler now?