Quintessence is the name for a fundamental form of energy that I have proposed hypothetically as part of a systems-based model of the fundamental structure of physical reality. I propose this model as an alternative solution to the problem of a unified field structure. The basis of this model is the examination of gravitational dynamics and their relationship to the nucleus and to other forms of energy. Essentially, gravitational dynamics upon either a basic level or upon extended, derivative levels that we are more familiar with, do not follow the standard principles of thermodynamics. We are left then having to rethink basic paradigms and ways of seeing the world, even upon a very basic physical level. The model of quintessence is consonant with a systems-based explanation, and it appears to be sufficient to the basic parameters of acceptable explanatory theory--namely logical parsimony in accounting for all observable facts, and the capacity to effectively explain mechanisms of change.

The foundation of the model of quintessence is the mechanism that I have come to call spime-gravitational replacement. Essentially, we may say that all forms of matter and objects of mass carry energy. We know by the principle of equivalence that energy is equivalent to mass by the speed of light squared. Mass therefore represents highly concentrated forms of energy. All objects bearing mass represent forms of energy that are entrapped. The conclusion is that energy carries mass, and energy is continuously dynamic in that it continuously replicates itself in four-space. The self-replication of mass based objects, of energy, and of space-time itself, occurs at all levels simultaneously, and is an on-going event framework in the universe. The discontinuity and variability of this process constitutes the basis for dynamic variation in unfolding structures in the universe, and becomes a model of universal change.

It is expected that the rate of self-replication is upon a fundamental level constant, and is related to the speed of light, which can be thought of as the instantaneous rate of reiteration of a photon of light in four-space. Quintessence can be thought of as a basic form of energy that is hidden in the fabric of space-time. It holds the universe together, on a string, so to speak, and simultaneous it is the basis for the articulation of all dynamic events in the universe, at all levels of integration. We may hypothetically reduce all energy exchange transactions that occur to a common quintessential denominator, and look at these transactions systematically in terms of state changes of quintessence.

Local self-replication of matter comes at a cost--essentially, energy must replace itself on a periodic basis, and this replacement is achieved by the conversion of the "hidden" quintessence of space-time into alternative forms that are more recognizable and observable. We can only explain a process of the self-replication of energy in terms of being able to draw from a larger pool of energy in an open environment.

This process of replication of energy underlies all dynamics we observe, and constitutes a system that occurs between a "thing" which in this case is a given form or state of energy, and its environment. The consequence of this process of replication is the property of discrete mass, and the displacement of the space-time manifold that embeds an object of mass. This process results in gravitational dynamics, as is especially evident with very large gravitating bodies that may be said to continuously consume the space-time manifold that surrounds it. We experience the consequence of this process, the continuous consumption of space-time, as a gravitational field effect. 

It is beyond the scope of this article to fully outline or provide the points of argument for such a model. It is addressed in the context of this Newsletter as a means of providing a forum for its presentation and for further development and refinement of the general model without resort to its specific points. Suffice it to say that upon this model an entire paradigm of gravitational dynamics can be constructed, and this paradigm is entirely consonant with a systems-based and meta-systems framework of explanation. Upon this framework we can articulate an alternative cosmology of the total universe, a cosmology I've come to call the "dynamic state universe." It is possible as well, I believe, to successfully and systematically account for all fundamental structures that occur on the basis of this kind of model.