Theophilosophical Physics: Ponderings on the Postulates of Special Relativity Pt. 3
A word on the part 2: I recently came about the major ways philosophers talk about time, and I realized I assumed relativity implies eternalism, meaning past, present and future coexist objectively. This is the majority view however, and I keep to it because it's the only one I think makes sense of how relativity works, if anyone has any other interpretation, please let me know. I'm a novice and I still have a lot to learn. The aim of this series is to better understand physics and math involved using philosophy and thereafter theology, as they are the glue that holds the physics together without it falling into a contradicting nihilism.
In part 2, I tried to qualify what I meant by causality in the term "speed of causality" used in part 1. Following that we'll now see why it needs a speed limit. To illustrate the consequences of changing the speed limit, let's try a thought experiment:
Assuming the other physical principles hold, especially the kinetic energy equation (K.E = 0.5×m×v^2, m = mass, v = velocity), the Planck-Einstein equation (E = hf, h = Planck's constant, f = frequency of light) and the wave velocity formula, v = frequency×wavelength, let's remove the speed limit of massless particles like light, making c = infinity. What would happen in such a universe?
An X-wing starfighter traveling through hyperspace
One consequence of light moving at infinite speed is that it takes literally zero time for light to reach anywhere. As soon as it is emitted it is at it's destination. While that may seem like a good thing, because that's how we seem to experience light anyway, you have to remember that there are equations that describe these things, and if c is infinite then a host of problems come up.
One is that since there is no speed limit to light, there is no energy limit either, if velocity of light is infinite, so is it's frequency, and therefore it's energy. If that interacts with matter, matter will basically "disintegrate" back into massless particles, which then move at infinite speed. Nothing apart from infinitely fast particles would exist, if they don't collapse into a universe spanning black hole first.
However, barring the black hole scenario, there's also something rather strange about infinite speed. Infinite speed means you can be anywhere, everywhere and nowhere, it means omnipresence. In such a universe nothing can exist, or rather, if a universe loses that speed limit, that universe ceases to exist, because space and time would be meaningless, since everything is everywhere at once and at the same time nowhere, because "somewhere" is a relative term, it means you're in a position, which doesn't exist without a reference and relationship to other positions.
Here, causality as we know it vanishes, only the infinite remains, and at that point I can't even describe it as energy anymore, even the physical laws that we assume to hold finally lose their integrity, possibly meaning the black hole scenario wouldn't work anyway. it's an "abyss", indescribable, omnipotent and omnipresent, beyond thought, beyond existence. Sound familiar? Sounds a lot like the Theism to me.
That's a very interesting line of thought, kinda brings an idea about the Christian doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. However, now we see a reason for a cosmic speed limit. The why of that particular speed limit may have to wait a while though. Thanks for following me this far, the next post in this series will most likely concern Time Dilation, if something doesn't come up first.