Chapter I

Principles of Universal Relativity

The Systematic Paradigm of the Dynamic-State Universe

by Hugh M. Lewis

*****

The classical principle of relativity states that if two systems move uniformly relative to one another, then all the laws of mechanics are the same in both systems. We expect and predict this in our most basic formulations about the physical universe. Gravity Systems pose the apparent paradox that two unequal mass objects will fall at uniform rates, relative to one another, in a uniform gravitational field. The laws of gravitational mechanics appear to be the same for both systems, even if they are of unequal mass. Hence, gravitation in systems appears to be independent of mass, and mass appears to be relative to the gravitational system that it is in. The universe presents to us numerous apparent paradoxes that challenge our basic understanding of its structure at almost every level.

The physical universe is founded upon something. In an ultimate and absolute sense, it can be said that the something that composes the essential universe arose out of the random stochastic differentiation of nothingness. God played dice with the universe in the ultimate sense. But we can only know nothingness in a relative way.

The structure of the total universe rests upon certain basic patterns and principles that we do not yet fully understand. I put forward a model of the total universe that is founded upon the structure of space-time, what I call the space-time construct. Thus, we must elucidate this space-time construct if we are to understand the basic patterning of the Universe in a systematic way. I propose a spime-mechanical model of the space-time construct ("spime" being the portmanteau of space-time). To some extent, a spime model resurrects the ether theory, but there are critical and crucial differences between the two theories. The relativistic deconstruction of the archaic ether theory was unfortunate in the history of science because it may have tossed the baby out with the bathwater in the conceptualization of the total universe as a comprehensive physical system.

The total universe is composed of a unified and minimally integrated spime matrix. All phenomena, things of the universe that we know, be it matter or energy, are not only embedded within this spime matrix, but are, more importantly, composed of this same matrix. Energy and matter represent two alternative pathways of the basic dynamics of spime in the universe.

It is necessary to account for the following components of the model:

A. The space-time construct

B. Mass-systems

C. Energy-systems

It is then necessary to account for the systematic interrelationships possibly occurring between these components.

Finally, it is important to extend this model to an understanding of the basic and general dynamics of the universe in the large. We can say the following:

A paradigm of the principles of universal relativity governs this model:

1. The Universe, and all things or phenomena occurring within it, are continuously and simultaneously changing at a constant rate. The interval of change is relative to the energy system that it occurs within. The absolute rate of change is a universal constant that is relative only to itself. This constant appears to be slowly changing and may be a function of the intrinsic dynamics of the total universe.

2. Mass is relative to the gravitational system it occurs within. Mass is a relative measure of gravitational energy.

a. Gravitational interactions are the basis for understanding the dynamic function of mass-based systems.

b. Gravitation arises only in and is only associated with mass-based systems, which are nucleonic systems, and, more important, probably "neutron based" systems.

c. Gravitation is continuous and locally non-thermodynamic.

d. Mass is gravitationally-dynamic in the large.

3. All gravitational systems are universally relative to the space-time matrix they occur within. The total space-time matrix (i.e., the total universe) is relative only to itself in alternating state-trajectories or transition pathways.

4. The equivalence of inertia determines that ultimately mass-systems are in a state of dynamic motion. But gravitational mass systems are independent of their state of motion. They give rise to motion and explain motion, but mechanical motion does not directly cause the gravitational dynamics of mass-systems.

5. Mass acceleration that produces motion is relative to the gravitational system it occurs within, which is relative to the universal space-time matrix.

a. Mass acceleration is equivalent to the dynamic distortion of the instantaneous space-time manifold of the mass-object being accelerated.

b. We may say that the energy of mass aceleraton is equivalent to the negative energy or resistance of displacement of the space-time manifold.

6. Though mass systems are relative to the gravitational systems they occur within, all mass (indeed, all physical phenomena) universally co-occurs at the same instant within the universal system. I call this the principle of universal synchronization or universal simultaneity. In other words, the total universe occurs everywhere at the same instant. This is a principle of universal consistency that underlies:

1. All ordered patterning in the universe.

2. Our ability to observe and understand the universe.

7. The interval at which mass-systems occur or change, the size of the clocks at which they tick, are relative to the state of motion or energy dynamics of the mass-system they occur within.

b. All clocks are universally synchronized to tick at the same rate in the universe. We can say that all clocks occur in 360 degree cycles and this rate of ticking is the same, though the clocks vary in their "size" from the origin depending upon the dynamics of the particular energy system they occur within. We can say at "zero" they are frozen. We can say that this is paradoxically equivalent to an infinitely large system. Hence, at the speed of light, we come full circle, such that the clock we are traveling with stops relative to the synchronous ticking of the entire universe.

8. The space-time construct of the total universe therefore comprises a single integrated "wave-front" that unfolds or "happens" everywhere at the same instant. I will call this wave-front the universal fabric of spime.

a. All changes occur at the same rate and at the same time, regardless of their relative space-time intervals in a synchronous and simultaneous manner.

b. Motion, mass and energy, as alternative phenomenal state patterns of the spime matrix, can bend and distort this fabric in extreme ways, and result in fundamental state transitions, but it cannot disrupt or tear it. This will be reflected in different relative space-time periodic intervals.

c. There appears to be multiple alternative universes that are simultaneously co-occurring and interacting in basic ways. There may actually occur an infinite number of alternative universes, each one of which would be infinitely large. These systems will all occur at the same rates, even if they co-occur in different space-time dimensionalities.

9. There can be no discontinuity of space-time structure of the universe.

a. All dynamic state transitions of co-occurring systems must occur in a continuous and uniform rate, regardless of the relative S-T periodic interval of each system.

b. Differential state trajectories of all phenomena in the universe are occurring in a continuous and universally uniform rate.

10. The absolute rate of change is a constant in the universe, but it may itself be changing and relative to itself. I will refer to this as the universal constant (D) and the universal dynamic (D_n). These are alternatives of the same thing, which I will refer to as an absolute unity (1_u). We may state something like the following:

D/ D_n = 1_u

a. The gravitational constant is derivable from the universal constant.

b. Space-Time, in all its possible phenomenal state-transition patterns (i.e., alternative energies, matter) is ultimately the instantaneous expression of the relation between the universal constant and the universal dynamic.

c. The universal constant and dynamic may be fluctuating continuously or periodically in an asymptoptically unstable way. It will only obey the principles of the absolute minimum and the absolute maximum.

11. There appear to be two sets of absolute limits in the physical universe that constitute the minimum (a) and maximum (b) boundaries for dynamic transition in the universe. These limits are:

a. Absolute Zero (Absolute rest)

b. The Speed of Light (The energy of infinite acceleration, or limit of space-time disruption)

All state transitions of all possible universes co-occur within these minimum and maximum boundaries.

12. All change in the universe is "historically" relative to the particular system in which it occurs. Observable changes can be referred to as dynamic state transitions.

a. All "things" and all phenomena that are observable in the universe are in a state of "dynamic transition" otherwise it would not be observable.

b. Mass-systems, even at relative rest, are in a state of continuous gravitational transition within the space-time matrix. Such that we may state the following:

1. Mass systems at rest are first-order transition systems.

2. Motion systems are second-order transition systems.

c. The change transition of mass-objects are experienced primarily in terms of gravitational dynamics.

13. The universe continuously changes and is therefore inherently dynamic in a random, minimally ordered manner. Everything and all phenomena in the universe are change phenomena following different alternative state-trajectories or transition pathways. Only nothing does not change. There cannot be nothing because it would violate the fundamental minimum limit of the universe.

14. There is a basic spin-symmetry, complementariness of structure, equivalence and net conservation of value in various systems occurring in the universe. Hence, we may convert one form of energy into another in equivalent amounts.

We may hypothesize therefore the following:

Spime is equivalent to Matter

Matter is equivalent to Energy

Energy is equivalent to Spime

We may state a corollary of universal self-equivalence of alternate states:

Spime is equivalent to itself in internal-external states.

All forms of matter is equivalent to itself in alternative subatomic states.

All forms of energy are equivalent to itself in alternative energy states.

15. Mass systems are fundamentally complementary to dynamic energy systems. In essence, they are two alternative dynamic transition pathways that may be taken in the observable physical universe.

16. The universe naturally seeks a state of equilibrium, which I will call absolute rest. Even light itself, in the large, seeks this state. Random differentials occurring on the most basic levels determine that in the large the universe can never achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, hence it will dynamically evolve in a basically chaotic way.

a. We may understand the four-field differential energy dynamics occurring in continuous interaction between internalized and external spime states in terms of nonlinear control theory of a second order spin system that follows four alternate state-trajectory patterns.

b. The four alternative energy fields arise in the externalized spime matrix as the result of discrete resonance-spin characteristics of discrete particle-states of matter systems, and they mark the boundary of transition and crossing between alternative mass-bound states along different pathways.

c. The energy system of the universe has not been completely described as an integrated exchange system. It arises always in a mass-based matter system (i.e., some discrete internalized spime state) with particularistic characteristics, and it is always expressed in relation with the externalized spime matrix and results in interaction between different co-occurring mass-based physical systems.

d. There may be a fifth to nth energy fields in the universe that have not yet been described or identified as such.

e. The energy system is equivalent to a second-order motion system in the sense that it is the expression of dynamic state-transition of externalized spime matrix. Motion is the mass-equivalent and complement of energy. The energy system can therefore be expected to be a secondary and derivative system of the mass-system, and reflects the discrete state-properties of the mass system. They are in a sense secondary perturbations of the "space-time" construct arising spontaneously in the spin-bound transitions of fundamental particle states and leading to dynamic interactions between mass-systems as the result of the distortion of the space-time manifold between these systems.

f. It is expected that the energy system of the universe exhibits an overall complementariness and symmetry of structure.

g. Energy systems co-occur simultaneously, periodically and continuously in the externalized spime matrix. Therefore, it is possible that multiple universes co-occur simultaneously in the same matrix, albeit in different basic S-T dimensions.

17. The paradox of energy systems as second order transition systems is that they normally intermediate the transition between internalized and external spime matrices. Therefore they can be said to underlie and be an interdependent variable of mass-bound systems. This paradox is resolved by construing the entire system of transfer between spime, energy and matter as a kind of resonance control system.

18. The space-time construct is composed of spime. Spime is organized into an internalized matrix in matter and an externalized matrix in a minimally integrated energy-field or propagative field.

a. Internalized matrices are the positive mass-based systems occurring in the universe.

b. The externalized matrix consists of a "negative energy" or "potential energy" (or even "anti-energy") field composed of randomly oriented and organized spime that has the potential of propagating unlimited amounts of energy omni-directionally and simultaneously. Energy systems only obey the principle of the maximum, which is the complement of the principle of the minimum.

c. The externalized spime matrix consists of a "potential energy field" that in its random indeterminancy is universally self-canceling or self-neutralizing. This potential energy field has complementariness of structure such that it is both self-energetic in terms of the four known forces associated with matter.

d. The externalized spime matrix can be considered to be the fundamentally "undifferentiated" or minimally differentiated background or foundational structure of the universe, from which all alternative state-dependent phenomenal systems arise and are shaped. There is a basic complementariness of structure about externalized spime, such that for each finitely differentiated state system, there is a complementary "antithetical" state system that embeds this system into the undifferentiated background.

e. The most basic differentiation apparent in the spime matrix is the differentiation between internalized and externalized spime. Gravitation and other forms of energy are the complementary "anti-thetical" systems the interrelate internal and externalized spime matrices.

f. The externalized spime matrix is basically "invisible" and directly unobservable except for its effects and interactions with internalized spime as expressed in secondary energy-dynamic systems.

g. It can be inferred from these indirect secondary effects to have minimal structure (i.e., minimal self-mass, self-gravitation, and self-energy). I would suggest that it is normally fluid and essentially randomly dispersed. I would suggest also that the total volume of externalized spime mass & potential energy is much greater than that of internalized spime mass & realized energy in the universe.

h. There is a bottle-necking in transition pathways between internalized and externalized spime states, based on the inherent stability of some of the former states. Thus, both normally occurring matter and energy are inherently stable transition systems within which much basic structure of the universe becomes "locked" up.

i. The externalized spime matrix is the "normally" occurring form of phenomena of the physical universe, marked by minimal dynamic change.

j. The four forces associated with energy in the naturally occurring universe are equivalent forms of one another that arise in the interaction of discrete particle states of matter with the externalized spime matrix in relation to other particle states. Basically, they are the differential and dynamic forms of expression of positive (realized) energy in the externalized spime matrix.

19. I hypothesize a systematic structure of the universe, at a sub-quantum level of analysis, based upon the alternate state characteristics of a single "zeroeth-entity." The zeroeth-entity has no intrinsically defining characteristics except that it is in a state of continuous transition between alternative possible minimal states. The minimal characteristic of this zeroeth-entity is its rate of spin, which is taken to be a first-order parallel spin about its main axis that is randomly rotating. The basis of universal synchronization and the constant of change is this minimal spin characteristic. The spime matrix is ultimately composed of zeroeth entities in differential concentrations of four alternative states that comprise what I term the "wxyz infinitesimals." These infinitesimals exhibit minimal properties of stochastic attraction that result in stable configurations of "nth-particulates." These particulates in turn constitute the quark-string structure of internalized spime matrices and all sub-atomic particles, as well as normally occurring externalized spime itself. The basis of all simultaneous change in the universe is the universal spin-characteristic of its zeroeth-entity.

20. Finally, I speculate that the origin of the universe can be conceived as the stochastic differentiation of some fundamental structure that was self-producing or self-reproducing. We must talk about cosmology in terms of the origin of the hypothetical space-time foundation of the universe, from which everything else, in time, was derived. Philosophically and nihilistically I would like to reincorporate the ultimate principle of absolute nothingness in this argument. The something of space-time differentiated out of relative nothingness in a progressively integral sense. The differentiation of this original structure led to increasing complexity, order and chaos in the universal system. We can speculate that the expansion of the current universal system within which we are situated may actually be the result of a system that is growing in its fundamental space-time dynamic. This growth describes the total universe as a working system that fundamentally disobeys the laws of thermodynamics--that one can make something out of nothing. Thus we might call the model of the Dynamic-State Universe a model of a system that is growing and increasing in fundamental ways. If it is infinite now, it was infinite in the beginning hence its growth is one that characterizes the polynomial expansion of infinite systems.

a. The universe is a working system that is extensively infinite and unbounded and only finitely bounded internally by relativistic and dynamic constants that structure all relational and differentiation patterns occurring in this system.

21. I hypothesize therefore a kind of minimal paradigm of Universal Dynamics governing change in the universe, that is derivable from the principles of Thermodynamics, if we assume some principle of cosmic complementariness regulating all relationships in the Universal System.

O. Uniformity of Change, as reflected in the universal constant rate

1. Universal Constancy, a foundational state of infinite changelessness, i.e. phenomenal permanency.

2. Law of Universal Stability--all state-transition phenomena seeks a perfect state of asymptoptic stability in the large.

3. Absolute Nothingness--a maximally, infinitely undifferentiated state

The principles of universal relativity would be derivable from a consideration of alternative transition pathways or state trajectories of all observable phenomena within bounded and finite state systems that occur within such a universal construct.

If such a model even remotely resembles the actual universe, then we must seek a resolution to a fundamental paradox it poses for us. The universe appears and must be construed as a finite working system in the largest sense imaginable, one that is infinite in extent and eternal. It must obey basic rules governing its dynamic structure that determines that it can never seek some ultimate state from which it originally derived and by which it is defined. We have a fundamental violation of rules that determine that something cannot be made from nothing.

Only by the superimposition of principles of infinity and eternity might we be able to reconcile this kind of contradiction. In an infinite and eternal universe, any original or final state is but a result of a previous state and a precursor to some subsequent state. The state of absolute nothingness to which the Universe seeks its own self-organized sense of balance, could only have been derived itself from some other state-system occurring in an infinite sense. It is thus cyclical as a system in the largest and most fundamental ways imaginable.

We have only then to reconcile our fundamental paradox of being finite within an infinite system.

*****

An alternative theoretical model is offered that might serve to partially overcome some basic obstacles to our understanding of the physical world and to help to integrate several different sets of perspectives together into a more general frame of reference.

The basis of this theory rests on a fundamental presupposition that has largely been taken for granted and unasked. I believe it to be a first presupposition necessary to defining an objective physical science.

This may be summarized by the following statement:

a. Nothing cannot be known.

b. Therefore, in the observable physical universe, there cannot be nothing in an absolute sense.

This leads to the following corollaries:

c. There can be nothing only in a relative sense of something else by which nothing is known.

d. And, therefore, relative nothing is also something measurable.

While this kind of reasoning may sound like an extreme form of hair-splitting, it has very real, and I believe dramatic, consequences, for our understanding of our physical universe and the informational patterning it contains.

Models of the universe so far constructed have been based implicitly on the premise that "nothing" exists in the universe. This "nothing" usually takes the form of a "void" in some absolute sense. We would like to see it as empty space that is "devoid" of anything.

As a consequence of this unquestioned premise, as fundamental as it is to our sense of reality, and to our ability to know reality, we have tended to build models of a physical universe that contains the inherent dichotomy of nothing/something. Something, anything, all things, is always understood to be some "thing" with a material or measurable presence. Implicit to its thingness is some sense of physically perceptible boundary beyond which there is "nothing" by which it gains contrast. Indeed, this very basic pattern-recognition formula is the very figure-ground perceptual basis of all our theorization about physical reality.

The consequence of this kind of thinking is that we postulate a basic void of space-time as implicitly nothing but a universal reference-coordinate system, that is determined in a Machian sense by the "things" it contains. We leave space-time as a largely undefined mystery, and yet we associate fairly dynamic and radical properties to it.

We are left with a residual model of space-time itself as something in and of itself, with its own sense of structural patterning, but only with an implicit definition of its fundamental "nothingness."

If we think about light or gravity, we like to think of it in some kind of particulate form, as a "package" of something that travels through space-time to get somewhere else. It must cross that great mysterious gulf of dark and empty nothingness. It is a physical presence that must be somehow transmitted through the nothingness implied in the undefined space-time void, to reach something else.

The point of departure of this theory is that there cannot be nothing, therefore space-time is something in and of itself, not defined by the things it contains, but defining for itself those things.

If we accept this postulate as plausible if not quite reasonable, then we can understand the following assertion:

There can be no spatio-temporal discontinuity in the observable physical universe.

a. Things can only travel in one direction at one time.

b. Things can only change in one direction of time.

The universe is coherent and ordered. It defines its coherence through its physical properties and laws that appear everywhere equal and inviolable. We assume the correct laws to be universally applicable, whether we fully understand them or not.

If we assume that there can be nothing, then we must accept as possible the violation of the preceding statements. Nothingness implies a fundamental discontinuity in the physical universe, if its presence occurs within it. Either we accept the possibility of spatio-temporal discontinuity, or we reject a preconceived and undefinable notion of nothingness.

In such a reconceptualization of the fundamental order of relations in the physical world, as radical a presupposition as it may be, it permits us to do some things we were not prone to do before. It allows us things that were fundamentally impossible for us to do when we had a fundamental nothing/something dichotomy underlying our vision of the universe. It also allows us to finish other things we started, but could find no end for.

If light or gravity can be transmitted across the void of space-time, then light or gravity must have a physical "somethingness" that is similar to matter. It must have its own energy that allows it to travel the gulf of nothingness, and to arrive at the other side without significant loss of energy. Indeed, this is what light and gravity appear to do. But in a fundamental sense, we must ask, how can something cross or pass "nothing." In a grander sense, how can something arise from nothing as implied by a "big bang" and continue to be contained in nothing as if there were some finite boundary about the universe, implied by a model of the big bang.

Surely, if light is to pass the gulf of nothing, that nothing must have something in it that allows the light to transmit itself in. A true wall of nothing interposed between a source of light and ourselves as observers would seem to me to be fundamentally and definitively impenetrable. Light would flow into it, and then just disappear into nothingness.

The hypothization of the red-shift in light from apparently recessional galaxies from vast distances in space-time, is held on account of these galaxies moving ever faster and further apart from one another. The light travels otherwise unimpeded across the vast expanse of emptiness, to arrive, from everywhere at the same time, and on a continuous basis, at our own doorstep.

But if we assume that in fact the light is not crossing nothing, that there cannot be nothing to cross, then that space-time that light is crossing has some kind of substantive basis in the universe. To think of this substantive basis in our conventional material terms like some kind of "dark matter" seems counterintuitive, unacceptable and implausible. To construe the apparent "nothingness" of space-time in the material terms of what we construe as "somethingness" is a kind of contradiction in terms that comes from not only not seeing "nothing" as something but from then trying to see something as not "nothing."

But to think of our material substantive terms in terms of its own basis in space-time becomes somewhat more credible and plausible. To remove the dichotomy of space/matter is to remove the boundary between something and nothing, and to see nothing as something, and therefore, something as possibly nothingness.

Whatever that something is that is space-time, and appears so empty and void to our eyes, and permits light and gravity to travel through it almost unimpeded, must be considered one of the greater mysteries of all times. But perhaps the signature that somethingness of empty space-time leaves on the light that transmits through it is really there after all. Perhaps that is the red shift itself of light that appears universally uniform and constant as a measure of distance, rather than the apparent speed of recession. Perhaps, being 99.999999999999% transparent to light and gravity, that something of space-time, as ethereal and empty as it may seem and feel, still normally causes some kind of minimal interference to light such that it bends and shifts over very vast distances.

Something similar has happened to us before--a radical frame shift of perspective that allows us to see our physical world in fundamentally different ways, devoid of the illusions we take so for granted because they are so obvious. We used to see the sun circling the earth, followed by the moon. If someone had told the early Christians that the "nothingness" of air was in fact something that caused the trees to bend and sway, much as gravity appears to cause bodies to collide together in the middle of an vast emptiness of nothing, that person would probably have been destroyed as heretics. Now, the most a heretical nonbeliever in the big bang would suffer would be paradigmatic exclusion and social ostracism. We had a theory of atoms long before we could ever really see an atom, and we derived a very successful science on its foundation in faith and logic. And once we begin seeing atoms, and even the components that compose atoms, then why should we stop there?

Surely, the entire modern theory of the physical universe rests on the theory of relativity as Einstein explained this in reaction to an older "ether" theory that did not account for all phenomena in an adequate way. But perhaps, in abandoning an "ether" theory completely, Einstein somewhat surreptitiously imposed a "blind" model upon the universe as a fundamentally relative something in a sea of nothing, leaving us with the legacy of an unresolved dichotomy that has stood in the way of a unification of our view of the physical universe.

This model is based on the following radical assumptions:

1. Space-time has a fundamental unity with matter and energy in all its forms. In fact, space-time is nothing but an alternative construction of matter, and matter is nothing but an alternative form of space-time. This alternation between matter and space-time is largely mediated by energy in various forms.

2. Space-time is composed of small units called "spime" (Spime is a palindrome of space-time. It implies, among other things, a stickiness and "gooiness" that describe its character well. I propose as well a "spring" theory of spime, especially in internalized matrices of nuclear matter, that is spaghetti like "string" theory of quarks, but has its own elastic properties due to a fundamental helicity of structure.

3. The complementary and spontaneous state-alternation of spime within a universal fluid matrix explains the variable geometries of different physical systems in the same matrix.

4. This pattern of spime explains the basic mechanism of universal change and time on a molecular level, and the pattern of the universal coordination of motion and causality, which are always unidirectional and never discontinuous.

5. Spime matrices occur in internalized and externalized structures, the former accounting for the normal space-time of the universe, and the latter for all physical matter occurring embedded within it, including elementary particles.

6. Space-time (designated here as S-T) is equivalent to gravitational energy, which is equivalent to thermodynamic energy, which is equivalent to matter. There is a net conservation in the conversion between these alternate states. Normal physical matter represents an incredible "compression" of normal space-time that I hypothesize to be something of the order of S-T = (mc²)² or even greater, depending on how we conceptualize the actual normal pathways of the conversion process.

7. Gravitation is explained as a two-step process that involves the induction or absorption of the spime matrix into physical mass-objects, for the continuous replacement of the spime substance in the internalized matrix, and the resulting radiation of gravitational energy from the object.

8. Dynamic gravitational systems occur naturally in the universe which are continuous and which are essentially non-thermodynamic in character.

9. The universe appears to be "winding down" (or out) and this process is explained as a natural consequence of spime-gravitational dynamics which predicts that all forms of energy in the universe will seek ultimately a state of equilibrium.

10 The universe cannot be expanding or shrinking, because it probably lacks a common center of mass from which to expand from or shrink to, though it may have multiple regional centers of balance. This implies, among other things, that the directly observable universe (but not the total inferable universe) is probably infinite. If it has a center of balance, this would probably consist of a huge "gravitational vortex" that would have the capability of both consuming the universe and recreating it at the same time. The expansion of the universe is an apparent phenomenon that is a consequence of the "winding" out of the universe--its long-term trend to seek a state of equilibrium, as demanded by a revised law of universal entropy.

10. This being said, the question of origins of the universe remains open and unanswered. A kind of "big bang" may have occurred, but probably much deeper in time and on a scale greater than any thing imaginable, and yet it would probably still remain only a universally "regional" phenomena.

11. However it got there, the total universe appears to be infinite and unbounded. It may be composed of multiple interconnected universes, created from a common substance far smaller in scale than that of even the subatomic particles of quantum physics. We reach a point, even in our physical sciences, where the powers of both our perception and conception are strained and exhausted, and only metaphysical conjecture remains to point the way. At that stage, a Hindu model of origins is equally sufficient to a Judeo-Christian one.

This spime gravitational model suggests the following radical conclusions:

1. There may be spontaneous acceleration of multiple mass-objects from states of absolute rest.

2. All mass-objects accrete, seeking relative gravitational unity.

3. Thermodynamics applies only to limited conditions and systems in the universe, and are a subset of another paradigm of gravitational-spime dynamics

4. The universe continuously recreates itself along common and ubiquitous pathways. We might be able to convert:

spime to gravitation or electromagnetic radiation

gravitation or spime to matter,

electromagnetic radiation, gravitation and spime to matter,

and vice versa.

5. The universe is probably far older and steadier that predominant models assume and that we are prone to imagine or credit.

6. Red-shifting occurs as the apparent recession of distant galaxies due to the continuous and steady expansion of the space-time manifold between the galaxies, that is explainable in terms of its natural "winding out." This expansion itself may be only more apparent than real, a function of vast distances rather than recessional acceleration, if we assume that spime being created in some places of the universe, is being consumed in equivalent amounts in other places.

7. There may be at least one alternative concurrent parallel universe that is the reverse of the observable physical universe.

8. We may be able travel slightly faster than the speed of light, if we can maintain the structural integrity of our vehicle and ourselves in the process.

9. "Holes" in spime may be quite common, and possible to reproduce, except that they may be "one way" affairs. These "holes" would not be empty voids, but the sub-components of spime that are stretched and strained to their own breaking point.

10. We can possibly make "dooms day" devices that make atom bombs look like fire crackers and it may be possible to make "anti-gravity" devices that effectively counteract the forces of gravity in local contexts.

While these possibilities are hopeful, they are at this stage no less fanciful than Buck Rogers in warp drive.

*****

Space-time has been conventionally conceived as something fundamentally different from the things it contains. Our understanding of space-time remains deficient, and implicitly it has remained something just next to nothing, and at most a universal coordinate-reference system, with perhaps some dynamic and relativistic properties mysteriously associated with it.

I propose a theory that on a fundamental level there is a basic unity of the physical universe that is rooted in our conceptualization of space-time not as something different from the things it contains, but as essentially isomorphic with those things. If we take as our primes this alternative point of view, very basic processes of causality, change and continuity underlying the patterning of physical phenomena in reality are explainable, as are basic processes of creation and atomic causality. Several very startling conclusions are derived, which suggest the grand paradox of both the fundamental relativity of our entire physical reality, and its fundamental stability and constancy.

Some laws, especially the laws of thermodynamics, are held to be special covering laws that are not universally applicable to all physical phenomena as we define these laws. New sets of laws governing a fuller range of possible physical phenomena are proposed on several levels. This theory appears to be successful at least on a conceptual level of understanding, but this does not entail that it is either the correct or the best possible theory for the job it has tried to do. Lacking viable alternatives, it has at least heuristic value in trying to do the job in the first place.

It explains the universally observed phenomena of gravitation as secondary effects resulting from the relativity of mass in the space-time construct. The space-time construct is held to be a unifying "substance" of physical reality upon which all change is based, and recognizes no fundamental discontinuity between the inter-galactic voids of space-time and the hardness of physical matter.

In this model, non-thermodynamic processes of nature occur in the form of gravitation in normal time and space, and lead to apparent paradoxes such as the possibility of the construction of "something" from "nothing" and the fundamental relativity of physical objects and energies that appear to be permanent, ubiquitous and stable in the universe.

Explication of fundamental physical processes of change and space-time on a theoretical level lead to an understanding of advanced systems of gravitational dynamics which may underlie many physical patterns observed in the universe, and predicts, among other things, the possibility of spontaneous acceleration occurring among gravitating bodies and the continuous creation of matter and energy within common stellar systems.

It suggests a model of the Universe that is probably much older and steadier than anything yet imagined, and also suggests the possibility of alternative Universes in different space-time constructs. The Big Bang model is considered to be a natural illusion of the solar-centric appearance of the evidence, much as the illusion of the Sun circling the earth, and the Red Shift and Hubble Constant are sufficiently explained in terms of a universal Einstein shift that predicts the gradual and steady loss of momentum of Energy over the long term of space-time in a framework that fits the theoretical construct.

*****

Certain basic presuppositions are made in this model. In its consideration, we need first to try to clearly answer some basic questions:

What is matter?

What is energy?

What is time?

What is space?

What is mass?

What is gravitation?

Some basic presuppositions follow:

Matter is any physical substance occurring or possible in the universe. As we know it, it is always constituted by atomic composition, and always has mass. In relativity theory, and the equivalence of Energy and Mass, it represents a very stable mass- system of bound energy in the physical universe.

Energy as we conventionally understand it is expressed primarily as thermodynamic (electromagnetic radiation). It obeys without exception the laws of Thermodynamics, and has its own propagational geometry. It is held to travel in a perfect vacuum at a speed that is held to be a universal constant. This speed in a vacuum can never be changed, and is a basic property of the universal propagation field of space-time.

Matter has been found to be convertible to energy. Hence, energy can be considered to be an inherently unstable mass-system that has been unbound. As dramatically demonstrated by atomic scientists in the testing and use of nuclear bombs, a small amount of matter can yield prodigious amounts of energy. Einstein and Poincaré summarized this by the equation:

E = mc²

Matter and Energy in this sense exhibit what I will call a complementariness of structure. Matter and energy occur phenomenally in discrete, measurable states. In these states, they can neither be created nor destroyed, but only converted into alternative forms.

I derive the first conclusion, that matter is ultimately a subsystem of energy, because matter and energy can be converted, at least in theory, into one another. Matter can be observed to be annihilated in the production of prodigious quantities of energy. On some level, both the matter system and the energy system therefore appear to follow the basic laws of thermodynamics. Both systems also exhibit basic equivalence of mass.

Matter has a set of properties associated with relativistic geometry that thermodynamic energy does not clearly have, except to the extent that such energy can be said to have mass and therefore is susceptible to gravitational displacement within its own geometrical patterning.

Both matter and energy are "mass-systems" and as such they obey what I posit to be fundamental laws of gravitational dynamics, albeit in different geometries. Equivalence as a precept relating different kinds of mass within a gravitational system, is applicable as well to mass-energy, or what has been called the "inertia of energy." The mass of matter determines and is determined by its total energy content, or E = mc2. This suggests that all forms of energy, according to Einstein, are subject to gravitation.

The measure of mass is held to be the degree of gravitational displacement it exhibits in any gravity system in any space-time construct. All bodies of mass, or mass-objects, can be said to have gravitational properties that are always associated with it. A mass-object is a finite unit of physical matter. There can be no mass-object without gravitation.

The principle of Equivalence states that gravitational energy of any system is equal to the mass of the system, which is equal to the inertial resistance of that system to acceleration. The principle of equivalence states that:

Everything is accelerated the same amount by the same gravitational field.

Recent experimental evidence tends to confirm that even so-called gravitational self-energy, which is held be a form of negative "binding" energy, also obeys the Equivalence principle. These experiments also indirectly indicate that gravitational self-energy has independent mass, and this mass of the earth's gravitational displacement has been measured to be approximately 1/2,000,000,000's that of the physical mass of the earth.

Gravitational energy as it is found appears to be a physical entity of extremely miniscule proportions. Gravitational energy, like mass and thermodynamic energy, appears to be neither created nor destroyed by any observed physical processes. Gravitational force can therefore be thought of as an indirect consequence of a mass-object's bound energy state. It constitutes its own energy system that is evident only upon the dynamics of mass and motion in gravity systems.

Finally, what are the possible relationships between these things in physical systems theory?

Two questions must be clearly derived for the explication of our system.

The first goes some thing like this:

What is the basic structure of space and time?

The second goes something like this:

How is it that a gravitating object, like the earth, can cause two bodies, of unequal mass and of any shape, to fall at uniform velocities to the earth, without any other known force being exerted upon these bodies?

In order to frame the first question, it must be stated at the outset that space and time cannot be physically separated, and that they appear to coexist interdependently in a kind of fundamental complementariness.

It is worthwhile to frame these questions in terms of motion. We may state certain principles.

First is the principle of non-simultaneity of multiple physical existences of the same unique object in space. It goes something like this:

The same physical object cannot exist in two different locations in space at the same time.

An inverse of this principle also has relevance. It states:

Two different physical objects of any shape or size cannot occupy the same location at the same time.

The second principle is that of the irreversibility of time, which goes something like this:

Any same event that occurs in time after another event cannot have also occurred before that other event, especially if the second event is a natural historical consequence of the first event.

In essence, this argument states that we cannot rewind the unfolding flow of change in the universe, like we can rewind and watch a film in reverse. There can be no reverse time machines.

The third principle relates first and second together as a form of spatio-temporal integrity in the definition of motion, and goes something like this:

For any object to be in two different locations separated by a straight (or shortest possible geodesic) line, it must travel for a definite period of time between those locations.

A fourth principle describes the basic uniformity of space and time under conditions of all else being equal. It goes something like this:

Any two objects that travel the same distance in any direction from their starting point, at the same speed, will reach that distance at the same time.

Another corollary consideration about the principle of direction is appropriate, I believe, at this juncture. It reads thus:

Any object that travels between origin point a and destination point b in space (x-y-z) and in time period (t), cannot travel between the same origin point a and any alternative point b' during the same period. In other words, an object can travel in one direction in space-time, and in one direction only at any one time.

At this point, we describe in simple terms a rather standard, classical and mechanical Newtonian idea of the universe. It becomes relativistic when we introduce a couple of other principles. The first is a principle that I call spatial-temporal unity. It goes something like this:

The degree of spatial compression defined by distance/time is always the inverse of the rate of temporal compression experienced at that speed. If the rate of speed traveled increases, the rate of time passage decreases proportionately, and vice-versa.

The next principle is what I call universal spatial-temporal synchronicity, which reads something like the following:

If two time pieces, or two rulers, calibrated to the exact same frame of reference, are accelerated to any equal speed, their standard interval scale of measure will remain unchanged between them relative to that speed, but the interval measured will increase or decrease compared to the same set of standards at some other speed.

In other words, the rate of temporal compression experienced in acceleration, however diminutive, cannot be different for two different objects all other things being equal.

These statements beg the basic question of how space and time are structured in a fundamental way, and how motion may be critically related to this structure.

I proffer therefore an alternative model of the space-time construct. Space-time exists in a conservative equilibrium, in a state of universal complementariness. This complementariness I will call universal unity of space (S) and time (T). This can be stated as:

S-T = 1, therefore S = 1/T and T=1/S

We can compress spatial dimensions only by expanding the temporal frame, and vice-versa.

I will hypothesize that space and time co-occur in an interdependent relationship. Space-time constitutes essentially a four-dimensional propagational field composed of spime that is principally expressed as gravitational energy. The basis of its structural integrity and coherence is derivable from its own integral clockwork that operates on a different time-interval level than physical mass. Its effort is to maintain universal synchronization of its field, regardless of the motions and accelerative differentials within the field. It is like a sheet of rubber, or an expanding balloon the elastic surface of which can be stretched and bent in any number of ways, without it being broken.

The second question is equally important if we are to understand the larger pattern of informational organization in the physical universe. It concerns the problem of the precise scientific explanation of the exact cause for gravitational attraction, or what Newton called "action at a distance" that implies an equally imprecise but intriguing concept, Equivalence.

Now, according to Einsteinian relativity, we understand somewhat that a gravitating body, like the earth, exhibits an influence upon the structure of space-time itself, which influence results in phenomena like uniform acceleration of free falling bodies. But we do not understand the exact nature of that influence in any precise or clear way. In other words, we have a very good description of what happens, complete with validated predictions within local frameworks, derived directly and accurately from field equations in the theory of general relativity, but we lack the full explanation of why it occurs.

Somehow, a large heavy object like the earth exerts a predictable influence upon the patterning of spatio-temporal relations in the regions surrounding it, resulting in mysterious forces that cause the uniform acceleration of otherwise independent bodies in the same gravitational field.

Before describing what I believe to constitute a general descriptive explanation of these basic processes and their relationships, it is worthwhile to note several further characteristic observations about gravitational force:

Its energy appears to be discrete, measurable, constant in proportion to the mass of the system, and conforms predictably to the shape of the body that generates it.

It appears to be capable of acting upon objects at great distances.

It appears never to dissipate and it "lasts" with equal strength for the life of the body, without diminishing (unless the gravitational constant itself is changing). Its power appears to be capable of pulling in an unlimited number of objects from space that would represent a combined energy potential far exceeding that contained in the object itself.

It therefore appears to violate the basic laws of thermodynamics.

According to relativistic consideration, the fact of the mere presence of a massive gravitating body is held to critically distort the structure of the space-time manifold around the planet in predictable ways. This distortion is continuous and lasts the life of the gravitating body. It is inherent to the mass of the body--in fact "mass" is the indirect measure of the gravitational power of the body.

Exactly how it does this is unknown, but several conclusions follow.

The force does not originate from within the mass itself, or appear to dissipate in any form or degree the energy contained in or inherent to the body, unless it is somehow replaced in equal measure. In fact, fairly constant gravitational pressures exerted within the body can be an almost inexhaustible source of a great deal of thermodynamic energy generated from within the body.

If gravitational energy is derived thermodynamically from within the mass itself, then it is expected that eventually the gravitational field would weaken or the body somehow dissipate (altering it mass structure.) This is just as the burn out of the sun is expected to do as a result of thermodynamic displacement of mass. In fact the accretion of a large number of extraterrestrial objects to the planet over time would only have a net consequence of increasing the net mass, hence the net gravitation potential of the body would increase, violating everything known about finite thermodynamic systems. All else being equal, mass does not change, nor does the strength of the gravitational field surrounding that body.

A few other observations are in order. The structure of space-time appears to be independently coherent and predictable, and to be transformable within the gravitational field in ways that retain the overall sense of structural coherence regardless of the variables of the field itself.

Mass appears to affect the coherence of space-time structure in predictable and long-lasting ways with a mysterious energy that is invisible, inexhaustible and non-thermodynamic. To explain this mechanism would answer many other questions about the structural patterning of the universe.

Just as we cannot know gravity for the effects of mass and motion, we cannot know space-time itself but for the effects of gravitation. Since matter and thermodynamic energy are in essence "mass-based" systems, they exhibit properties that are defined only by gravitational effects. Hence, I believe these systems to be subsystems of a larger and more basic gravitational system. This gravitational system also appears to have self-gravitational aspects, (i.e., it is itself a mass-based system that works upon itself independently of its effects on other matter or energy systems) which suggests that it is part of a more basic system. It is for this reason that I believe that a more basic space-time system underlies gravitation, which in turn underlie both thermodynamic and matter systems. We can assume gravitational equivalence between these alternative systems. The more basic space-time system accounts for the structure of gravitation and its affects on the organization of motion and mass in the universe.

We cannot know space-time except for motion and the effects of gravity. All motion follows certain properties. These properties define the descriptive and predictive patterning of space-time and are altered in predictable ways in the presence of a gravitational field.

A large mass-object distorts the space-time structure in large areas around it. Concentration of mass in space-time results in gravitational distortion of the proximate space-time manifold. In a sense mass as a uniform gravitational effect should be displaced over an even, non-linear field gradient to an infinitely diminishing distance that results in relative masslessness. It occurs somewhat like a camera lens that has focal lengths that reach to a uniform level of "infinity." The space-time construct of the gravitational field attempts to do this.

There is an independent coherence of space-time. This coherence is relative only to a large system of motion and mass. All explanations so far appear to chase the central issue of the exact description of the force involved in this coherence. This coherence is assumed to be manifested in the relativistic synchronization of all events occurring within it and the complementariness of space-time itself.

From this understanding, it must be concluded that space-time cannot be construed as only a universal reference coordinate system that defines the system of relations between moving bodies and energies in the universe. It is therefore probably composed of something in itself, not absolute void. In other words, it has some form of physical presence, even if normally undetectable and "invisible." In property it appears to be a propagation field with at least a minimal binding energy. It is something that occupies space-time in a fundamental and irreducible way and that is space-time itself in the most fundamental of senses.

In this sense, even what seems to be empty space in the universe must be interpenetrated by the stuff of space-time. It was my central hypothesis that this substance of the universe was gravitational energy itself in its most basic form, represented as gravitational "self-energy." I have come to amend my hypothesis somewhat, in consideration of the dynamics of space-time and that of gravitation. They do not appear to be one and the same system, or isomorphic to one another on a more basic level.

Instead, space-time appears to me to constitute a more basic system upon which the gravitational "self-energy" system is based. In other words, gravitation appears to affect the system in complex ways, but does not "cause" the system to happen. The space-time system is one whose coherence describes basic change in the universe, and how continuity of structure can be maintained regardless of physical change. Gravitation affects this system in specific ways always as a consequence of the presence of some matter having mass, but does not fundamentally alter the structure of this system except perhaps under very unusual circumstances. The space-time structure is therefore probably independent of the self-gravitation system that appears always to affect it.

Thus, the resulting theoretical argument proceeds at two levels, first on the explanation of the space-time construct itself, and then, second, on the level of gravitational dynamics. Finally, the argument attempts to understand how the two levels are related to one another such that gravitation appears to affect the structure of space-time in complex ways, and how space-time may be in essence the "substance" of gravitation.

The coherence and integrity of the space-time construct is suggested by the universal synchronization of all objects within the universe. If it is nothing but empty void within a mass-coordinate system, then how do the apparently independent objects of mass "communicate" between one another. The universal observation of gravitational phenomena demands some form of transmission or propagational field, implying some form of energy in the process. I do not think that this can be explained by the notion that all things in the universe are independently following the same properties at the same temporal standard. This is an incomplete explanation begging the central question.

Several questions are forthcoming from this sense of the independent coherence of space-time. It would exist even if no object were in its field to frame it, no light traveled through it and no bodies were in motion within it, and no mass-objects existed to causes its gravitational perturbations.

Is space-time indestructable? Can it be made and destroyed, or can it only be altered in some other form? Can it be converted to energy and mass, and vice versa, can energy and mass be converted to space-time? Though these kinds of questions cannot be sufficiently answered at this time, they suggest the possibility that space-time can be converted into some other system, albeit in some other reality.

On a very basic level of the informational patterning of the physical universe, I will suggest the following model of space-time in relation to the known and observable universe. Space-time exhibits a natural informational patterning between physical objects and other physical phenomena in the universe that confers a sense of grand unity and logomachic coherence to its structure at all levels.

It is therefore my conclusion universe appears stratified on at least four levels of the informational organization of matter, energy, space-time and sub-spime.

These systems arrange themselves in a pyramidal hierarchy such that the system of matter is a subset of the system of energy, which is thermodynamic. And the system of energy is a subset of the system of gravitation that is essentially self-gravitational and non-thermodynamic but which yields thermodynamic patterns.

Whether mass and thermodynamic energy can be converted to gravity potential remains unknown. In the known universe, the two states of energy cannot be normally convertible, but exist in complementary relationship to one another. I suggest they comprise two levels of informational patterning, and that the gravitational level of the space-time construct underlies and composes the higher levels of energy and the mass-energy systems.

Gravitation appears to exist within the space-time construct, and to exert an influence upon it, but I believe that the understanding of the space-time construct cannot be seen as being completely isomorphic with the understanding of gravitation as a self-binding energy force.

Gravitational displacement can be described as an effect of the alteration of the space-time construct, and alteration of the space-time construct results in gravitational displacement. These effects are found only in relation to massive objects containing matter.

A gravitoid is not a fundamental unit of space-time, but consists of the principle form of expression of space-time in relation to mass-based systems. To understand space-time, we must look not exactly at gravitational dynamics, but at sub-gravitational dynamics, which is completely conjectural at this stage, given almost a complete surfeit of evidence, and open to any and every interpretation.

Gravitational fields are therefore not propagational fields per se so much as they are energy systems that exist within such propagational fields. These propagational fields can, at this stage, be considered to be the substance of space-time.

Thus the coherence of space-time cannot be considered to be the product of gravitation. Gravitation must be the consequence and the evidence for the coherence of space-time, affecting this sense of coherence in relativistic and dynamic ways.

Another way of putting this is that if we removed all matter, all thermodynamic energy and all gravitation from the universe, then we would still have some minimal construct that constitutes "space-time." I will call this minimal construct "spime" and until we can understand "sub-spime" dynamics, we must conjecture that it is, at least as far as our physical universe is concerned, the minimal unit or stuff of our physical reality.

It remains the case that we can only understand spime now through the effects of gravitational dynamics as we observe them. A gravitoid is not spime, but must be composed of spime. Spime must compose as well thermodynamic energy and matter. A conclusion of this is that energy and matter and gravitation are ultimately but alternative pathways for the same substance, and the inter-conversion of energy, matter, gravitation is based on the dynamics of spime in different complex states. At the same time, it is clear that they are in a sense ranked subsystems of one another. This implies as well that at any one time the total system of matter is a subset of the total system of thermodynamic energy, which is a subset of the total system of gravitation, which is itself a subset of the total system of spime.

If this is the case, then self-organized spime would constitute the background propagational and organizational field for physical reality. Gravitational displacement affects this field in some way--perhaps because gravitoids are the principle form of expression of spime.

Spime refers us directly to sub-gravitational dynamics.

The diagram above represents the minimal structure of spime, as a unit that exists in some possibilistic space, either primarily as a time vector or as a space vector, but never exclusively of one or the other. We cannot have purely flat space devoid of time, nor of purely "vertical" time devoid of space.

In this framework, spime is structurally reiterated. Its minimal unit is itself a naturally occurring system that has the capability of state-alternation. Its structural reiteration is its "blinking" in whatever dimensional vector it "happens" in. "Blinking" can be understood in terms of periodic harmonic oscillation of its minimal components (n-particulates) in a bound state.

It can only move in one direction at one time. A direction can be considered a positive space-time vector. In its reiteration, it cannot be significantly discontinuous in its sequential chaining--it is like a flexible chain of time.

Gravitation has the effect of displacing this chain--it can cause spime to change its structural state and values. Gravitation itself is such a minute and apparently ubiquitous particle-property that has affects upon the structure of spime is essentially continuous and apparently ubiquitous.

The continuity of physical pattern found in the universe, whether it is the permanence of a bound atom or a wall or a feather or a photon of light, is the illusion of the vector reiteration of spime. It is the illusion of the relativity of space-time.

In this sense, physical reality is like a film that is moving at so many frames per minute. We see only the illusion of continuity that belies a successive pattern of reiteration.

We cannot say that a body moves through the universe, so much as space-time moves through and around the body. What "moves" is the translation of the pattern of organization of matter and energy across the space-time matrix in a statistically coherent way. The sense of pattern moves, the "substance" is continuously, reiteratively replaced. The rate of replacement, or structural reiteration, is fundamentally relative.

Gravitoids or gravitons have the effect of altering the structural patterning of the spime-matrix by changing the relative states of the matrix. Gravitoids may fit somehow within the matrix, but do not "compose" the matrix.

Are gravitoids the same thing as spime? If gravitoids are spime, then they form a matrix, and gravitational displacement alters this matrix. Gravitoids would therefore exist in variable states. Gravitoids can be thought of as spime that are cast off or displaced from the matrix within an object of mass. The mass effects of gravitoids can only be considered to be the effects of gravitoidal displacement upon the spime matrix.

In understanding the universe, we are left with another paradox of the groundless ground or the infinitely disappearing regress of smaller and smaller systems within systems. We reach such a small level, that it is difficult to tell we are really observing only a single system, or the cause-effect results of two or more layered systems.

There is a facet about understanding gravitational systems, which suggests that gravitation has two sets of alternate states--one bound within a matrix, and the other unbound and propagative.

There is a sense that the unbound state affects the dynamics of the matrix structure in critical ways, but also that the normal coherence of the matrix structure is independent of the propagative aspects of gravitational energy.

Perhaps this is in another sense a moot point. Spime-dynamics are really a function of sub-gravitational structure, and gravitational dynamics are but the epiphenomenal patterning of spime-dynamics on another level.

I believe gravitoids are therefore like small atoms, small particles of mass that are the result of a minimal bound state of spime--they may in fact be half-whole parts of spime. The gravitational binding of spime is therefore a consequence of the continuous alteration of their energy thresholds.

We must speculate that the minimal unit of energy as being the threshold of displacement, the threshold of dislocation, resulting in change. Compression or expansion of spime is the alteration of this threshold of displacement. Gravitational energy is released in discrete states as a result of the alteration of these thresholds.

Spime has "elastic energy" in that it is something like a coiled spring. It may be stretched or compressed, but tends to reach some optimum state. From a compressive state it has resistance energy and from a stretched state it has binding energy. Spime exists within its self-matrix as an essentially non-discrete entity. It has no clear boundaries in space or time. It exists primarily as a momentary potential within a universal field of relative potentials.

Spime that is released from the matrix either through contraction or gravitational displacement in matter becomes somehow a gravitoid. A gravitoid becomes a discrete, separable entity that has mass. In such a state, a gravitoid exhibits a permanence and sense of physical presence that is essentially lacking in a unit of spime. It can, among other things, react upon the spime matrix through gravitational displacement to alter the configuration of the matrix. Another way of defining a gravitoid is as a minimal unit of spime that has mass. Gravitoids are therefore self-mass based systems.

Gravitational displacement can be reckoned as a consequence of understanding gravitation as a self-mass system. In this state of physical particularity, two gravitoids cannot occupy the same place at the same time, unless some condition of binding takes place. Binding can go in two ways--matter binding, resulting in the physical creation of matter, or in energy binding, resulting in the physical creation of thermodynamic energy.

If a gravitoid is reabsorbed into the spime matrix, it loses its particularity as a mass-based system.

We must speculate whether gravitation is uniform or variable in its state. Might ot there be different species of gravitation--heavy or light gravitation, or long or short gravitation?

In terms of gravitational dynamics, spime naturally coheres throughout the universe to create a seamless matrix within which gravitation and all other physical forces and properties are expressed and organized.

If space-time is an independent system to that of energy, then it follows that in some fundamental sense, neither energy nor space-time can be created nor destroyed, and the two systems coexist within the same universal construct without fundamental isomorphism of identity being achievable between them. I do not believe this to be consistent with systems theory, and suggest that in some unknown way space-time is convertible to energy. If we assume that the energy system is a subset of space-time, then we can hypothesize that in some way space-time may be convertible to energy, and vice versa, energy may be reducible to space-time. The essential means of this convertibility between space-time and energy is via gravitation.

In other words, in such a system, energy and space-time can be both created and destroyed, contingent only upon their conversion to one another or into some other as yet unknown alternative system. In such a system, it is possible to imagine the total disintegration of mass to what is apparently "nothing" in space-time, and therefore also the potential creation of something from the same nothing. Though this has not been knowingly observed to happen, it does not mean it is impossible.

These assumptions lead to another observation that has to do with the notion of basic causal complementarity of the physical universe. In short form, if something can be created, then it can be destroyed, and if something can be destroyed, then it can also be created. If this is true, then a derivative assumption suggests that if something can be converted into something else, then the reverse is possible also. In other words, nothing can be created or destroyed, but only converted into something else. All that is altered in the process is the epiphenomenal informational patterning that results upon different levels of patterned organization.

The next question has to do with the fundamental nature of space-time.

Whatever is most basic to space-time, must be basic to energy and mass as well,

a. if these are derivatives or subsets of the space-time system,

b. and, if the space-time system is something more than merely a relativistic coordinate reference system containing energy and mass,

c. and, if the two systems are in fact two interconnected but fundamentally independent systems.

If space-time is composed of something, then can this most basic of "substance" be made or destroyed, or in more precise terms, can it be converted into something else besides gravitation, energy or matter? Though it cannot now be answered, an affirmative answer would suggest the possibility of alternative space-time constructs (i.e., multiple possible universes).

Even if space-time is just a universal coordinate reference system of empty nothing containing energy and matter, it leaves unanswered the basic question of the fundamental spatial-temporal coherence as manifested by objects in relative motion within that system, and as demonstrated by gravitational effects. How is coherence between different mass-objects maintained within an empty coordinate-reference system? How is "communication" achieved that allows dynamic synchronization of the clocks and movements of different mass bodies in relation to one another?

If an object is at rest, it is in a state of minimal motion. This minimum level is altered, lowered by the presence of mass concentration, creating acceleration. It somehow weakens or alters the surrounding gravitational structure of space-time, creating a "free fall." Gravitational displacement appears to weaken the space-time structure, lowering the threshold of equilibrium. Still lacking in this kind of description has been a direct cause.

To try to offer a model of this mechanism, I believe that two things need to be explained and then related to one another.

First, is the explanation of gravitational affect of mass on the space-time structure.

Second, is the explanation of the space-time structure itself, of its normal physical coherence.

The first mechanism might be explained by what I have come to call the universal relativity of mass in space-time. Nuclear mass, as a bound energy state, travels through time, even in a motionless state, at an inherently slower rate than the surrounding space-time context. In a sense, matter as a mass system is like an inherent natural clock that is ticking at its own rate, albeit one that is different than at the rate of electromagnetic radiation or normal space-time itself. This is the result of the permanent compression of the space-time contained within the mass-object itself. In other words, the time dimension of its rate of change exhibits the equivalence of its inertial resistance to acceleration. It is like "thickened" space-time that is the equivalent of an accelerated body.

The gravitational effects observed from such systems are the results of uniform acceleration that occurs across the field gradient that is created between the source of mass and the surrounding space-time manifold. This uniform acceleration occurs as the result of the free-falling object having to increase its speed to match the clock of the gravitating body. Gravitational displacement is the consequence of this differential created at the boundary between a matter-mass object and the surrounding space-time manifold. Spime displaced from the surrounding manifold is flowing continuously "into" the center of gravity of the object in the same way that a regular object does. Gravitoids converge on the mass object such that they exert a continuous and steady pressure upon the object. This pressure is equivalent to the mass of the object.

In a sense, the space-time construct is continuously pulled into the mass-object, carrying everything into its path along with it. This dragging motion is the cumulative result of the elastic energy of spime to resist discontinuity or destruction. It is equivalent to the acceleration of a mass-body. This resistance of spime results in secondary displacement of gravitational energy from the mass object itself and this secondary displacement results in the liberation of gravitoids back out into the space-time matrix.

The basic mechanism hypothesized in this model is the continuous replacement at the level of space-time within a mass body, which results in continuous accretion or "absorption" of the surrounding space-time manifold.

The coherence of space-time is the same as the coherence of any physical entity in the universe. At the level of spime they are the same, only varying in their shape and densities. The coherence of space-time is the ability of spime to maintain the overall integrity of the entire physical system in spite of the process of continuous replacement and displacement that occurs at this level. It suggests that change must be structured on a very basic level. The universal integrity of pattern insures that the distance between the earth and the moon at any one time will remain the same, and will not instantly collapse to nothing.

It is conjectured that "gravitoids" displace from the spime matrix as a normal result of inertial shifts within the system, or as a natural consequence of the effects of gravitational displacement. In other words, the normal process of spime replacement within any physical distribution is a function of the relative densities of that distribution. Spime replacement occurs from a function of primary displacement that is the result of leaving a "slot" open within the matrix. Such a slot will have automatically a lower energy threshold than the surrounding slots.

A gravitoid displaces from the spime matrix because it crosses the energy threshold and is released as such. Any new spime entering the slots do so at a fundamentally minimum or "origin" threshold, until they are released again at a maximum threshold--that is a function of the gradient of the spime in the larger distribution. Thus, under such conditions, on average, the energy of displacement is usually greater than the energy of replacement. A mass body displaces itself gravitationally as gravitoids as if it was an accelerating body. Thus mass is equivalent to its inertia, and replaces itself as spime at an overall lower energy level. The end-state of gravitoid displacement is never the entry-state of spime replacement. I would expect that such a process, if it occurred, would occur on a statistical basis. At any one moment, a particular percentage of the entire-mass body can be expected to be replaced by new spime. I suggest this is equal to the ratio of the mass of self-gravity to the gravitational mass itself, or about 1/2 billion.

Continuous replacement of spime draws in the surrounding space-time matrix on a continuous basis, and returns the additional energy as gravitoids. Laws of conservation of mass suggest that this replacement has almost no net effect on the original mass-distribution, but is a near perfect process of conversion. Its effect is experienced as gravitational pull as objects which enter into the gravitational field of a large mass body are drawn by the surrounding spime matrix as if liquid going down a drain.

Space-time density is the equivalent measure of the relative rate of change D and thus of the relative rate of absorption A experienced within any mass-based physical distribution. The density of space-time displacement is equivalent to the rate of acceleration of an object.

If this is an approximate explanation for gravitation, several conclusions follow. Creation of high pressures in internal gravity distributions can result in gravity fusion. Gravitational fusion can result in thermodynamic radiation. Higher gravitational heat pressures, as for instance in solar furnaces, can result in electromagnetic fusion of mass. At the same time, gravitoids should be able to return to spime at low energy states, and under other conditions electromagnetic radiation should be able to be reconverted to gravitoids. These energy processes may be occurring under our noses without our realization. They do not obey thermodynamic principles. We do not notice the net gain in the production of mass in the sun or of additional thermodynamic energy in the earth's core, because a greater amount of mass is dissipated by the sun's system than is created. What it makes for is an extremely stable energy system in the long run. It is a stability that cannot be accounted for by the finite amounts of mass and energy contained in such systems as if they were static and merely thermodynamic entities.

In a sense, mass objects absorb space-time, as dynamic but coherently interconnected spime, but at differential amounts depending on the size of mass. The absorption of space-time is equivalent to the rate of replacement of the mass itself. Gravitational field absorbs spime at a different rate than does electromagnetic energy or matter. Its own values are much closer to that of the normal structure of space-time itself. Gravitational displacement is the consequence of this process of mass-absorption of space-time.

In a sense, the basic structure we are searching for is the relation of spime to mass-systems. Equivalence dictates that all mass systems are equivalent, therefore the rate of spime absorption is constant at theoretical rest. Spime is pulled in continuously to replace the mass-energy field. Gravitation itself has mass, and therefore absorbs space-time but in different rates and resulting geometrical patterns than that for matter or energy.

The continuous absorption of space-time by mass-systems results in continuous secondary gravitational displacement within the larger system. Gravitation is the effect, and not the cause of this system. It is the measure of the amount of absorption of the system over the rate of replacement.

Spime is therefore continuously absorbed into a mass-system, and the mass is the measure of the amount of absorption, but, as something that is quasi-finite, spime-absorption must result in secondary elimination of mass-energy in the form of gravitoidal displacement from the system.

All mass seeks uniformity of absorption. The differential of time interval is a product of the additive characteristics of mass. In other words, a unit-object in mass unity with a mass of 1,000,000 units has a proportionately slower clock, as if it were in essence traveling at a higher velocity through time, even if it is actually at rest in space. This differential is inertial resistance to acceleration (i.e. that amount of energy required to move a body a of a certain weight a certain distance or speed.) Any smaller mass unit must accelerate uniformly to the equivalence of the clock of the gravitating object, thereby achieving unity at the interface of the two bodies.

The second mechanism accounting for the structural coherence of space-time is inferable from the observations of gravity systems. I believe that it can be accounted for by a facet I refer to as spatio-temporal relativity.

Space-time relativity can be interpreted as spatial-temporal elasticity, or motional elasticity that guarantees that there cannot be an abrupt and sudden, instantaneous transition from one level to another, without a uniform gradient between. This is essentially a reinterpretation of the principle of non-simultaneity. In other words, there can be no discrete or discontinuous steps in the universe, without some continuous gradient of transition between them.

Understood in another way, whether a body is in motion or in a state of rest, the transition from one moment to the next is continuous, and continuously variable. To imagine a discontinuous transition is to imagine a lapse of space-time, or an absolute "void" occurring between moments or points of a vector of movement. We are left therefore to resolve Zeno's paradox in the coherence of space-time.

Another way of understanding the coherence of this system is to state that at all places and at all times all natural clocks must be synchronous, regardless of their relativistic differentials.

In order to explain the continuity of the space-time construct, I will hypothesize a "minimal" unit of space-time that has gravitational potential. I will call this unit a "spime." As a propagational field, it must be maximally uniform, and maximum uniformity, or what I would call universal equilibrium, is similar in thermodynamics to a state of maximum entropy.

The maximum speed limit achievable within this universal propagation field is what I will hypothesize to be the speed of gravity, which may in theory slightly greater than the speed of light. At this speed, maximum uniformity is achievable, but this speed is impossible for any mass-object to achieve, as it would entail the disruption or discontinuity of the space-time continuum. It entails near total disequilibrium of the entire space-time matrix.

There is still a need for an explanation of an underlying mechanism that would explain how this is achieved. I will state a theory that may or may not prove correct. It resembles the old ether theory. It goes something like this. There is a minimal unit of all matter and energy that is smaller than that of the atom, or indeed, of the main subatomic particles.

The spime is like an atom of an atom, and it composes all known physical reality, even empty space itself. It is the constituent unit of both mass and energy and in this sense of complementarity can be found equally in both states. As such it exhibits a basic spatio-temporal unity. This minimal space-time construct exhibits certain properties that result in its displacement. It seeks a structural relation with a distributional patterning that is synchronous and as evenly "spaced" as possible. Temporal synchronization of the gravitoid is directly equivalent to its relative size and distribution. Spimes cannot cohere into "lattice" structures unless they have at least differential equivalence between themselves. In a sense, transmission of energy between spime creates a wave front of relative equivalence.

We cannot say technically that it is exactly the same physical object that exists through time or in motion. It is in essence an infinitely and non-randomly replicating object that is continuously replaced at the level of the spime, and this is spontaneous replacement resulting in gravitation, regardless of whether the object is in a state of perfect rest or motion. The object, even in a state of rest, is translated through time by means of continuous spime replacement and recurrence.

Spime replacement requires absorption of the surrounding space-time matrix, which results also in secondary gravitational displacement of gravitoids.

Mass accretion creates concentrated distributions, or clusters of these spime elements in stable structures. Individual spime replace themselves with a certain periodicity, but the overall structure remains static and approximately the same. In a sense, space-time in matter becomes very thick whereas in the voids of deep space it remains very thin. Space-time itself, structurally speaking, may be less stable and more dynamic than that occurring in mass or even energy states. In a bound energy state, matter creates a physical boundary between the clustered spime within and between the surrounding space-time manifold. This boundary has the effect of weakening the space-time coherence around the object by means of spatial-temporal compression of the surrounding gravitational field in direct proportion to the object's mass and in distribution to its surface shape.

This establishes an uneven field relationship that leads to a compression of the surrounding spime matrix from its normal distribution.

Gravitational displacement is the result perhaps of the ability for individual spime to be "knocked" out of their "slots" within the matrix and to be replaced by another spime, perhaps as the result of the propagating energy differentials that approximate the spatio-temporal compression.

If such a particle is "liberated" from its location, it will propagate instantaneously as a gravitoid at the speed of gravity until it becomes caught in another slot somewhere in the universe. This sense of propagation tends to be away from areas of concentration. Gravitoids may in theory propagate forever, and form a universal gravitational reservoir that is completely random and self-canceling.

We might speculate that gravitoids, as helical half-wholes of spime, eventual collide with similar gravitoids, and cancel one another out by return to the space-time construct from which they originated.

It may be that in mass-objects the physical boundary surrounding physical matter creates a kind of discontinuous boundary, separating spime in different matrices within the object and without. Spimes within the object cannot be lost without replacement, except perhaps through thermodynamic conversion, but spime outside and along the boundary of the object are continuously replaced, to be filled in by other spime.

Spime comes and goes at relative temporal rates of replacement. Their displacement could occur as the result of two such units attempting to occupy the same position at the same brief moment. They may exhibit a kind of quantum blinking between spatial-temporal or mass-energy states. This constitutes the universal clock that coordinates all activities. It is the relative matrix that spime alters, in mass, in energy and in empty space that is either stable or dynamically transformed. In general, in a statistical sense, it can be postulated that spime naturally seeks a state of uniform zero equilibrium in a local sense. Though gravitational mass and energy appears to be very weak compared to other more obvious forms of energy, its binding potential at its relative size and period might represent a force that is extremely strong. In other words, it would take a tremendous amount of concentrated energy to rend the fabric of space-time.

Thus I have offered, in rough form, rational explanation for what I take to be an alternative theory of the universe that meets certain requirements in systems theory for comprehensivity. I do not prove it as the correct one, though it does offer clear suggests for its demonstration. It was derived mostly logically, from an attempt to understand the basic principles and relations governing the universe in clear and concise terms that are not academically obtruse.

The following chapters attempt to further elaborate some hypothetical models spime-gravitational dynamics and fundamental principles derivative from this theory, and then to attempt resteadying the universe into a more stable dynamic state of existence than implied by the conventional Big Bang model.

Natural Systems

2001