A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WORLD VIEW


 
 

6. WHAT MAKES MASS-ENERGY A DIMENSION?








We are not used to thinking of mass-energy as a dimension. Why not? Because we have been asking only what dimensions an object has, and forgetting about the object itself. We think of an object in space and how it can move in all directions. We can think of an object in time and how it moves along time's arrow. So we say that anything can exist and move in four dimensions of spacetime.

Attending a meeting
If I walk into a room where there are four other people present, then someone calls me on my cellphone and asks me, "How many people are there?" I do a quick count and then answer, "There are five people here." He queries me and realises that I have included myself, so he shouts back in protest, "You are trying to make it sound better than what it really is! It is customary to only refer to the other people in the room and not yourself." Then I will respond back to my friend, "But it is more useful to include myself in the number because for us all to sit down we need five chairs, not four."

So I claim that while the mathematical definition of dimensions may be customary, that it is more useful to count the dimension of the object itself to make five dimensions of nature, not just four.

As long as we define dimensions in terms of what dimensions that an object is in, then we will not be able to say there are any more than four dimensions. But as soon as we define dimensions as we have, as the properties that are required for existence of the universe, then we have to look at the object also.

I am going to apply three tests to see if mass-energy really does stand up to being a dimension on its own. Please follow these arguments, because this is an important link to what follows. It will also help you understand more about what dimensions are.

Is It A Unique Property?
A dimension has to have unique properties from other dimensions. It can be thought of on its own, and has its own characteristics and laws. It must not be dependent for its properties on another dimension. If we can conceive of, experience or measure this dimension on its own then it confirms its place as a dimension.

Objects have both mass and energy, but we are not looking here at objects as such, merely the mass-energy of those objects.. Mass-energy gives us the stuff of the universe, which allows the existence of clothes keeping you warm, or the sunlight streaming through my window at present. A red-hot stone has a some mass, and a lot of energy. If you touch it you would surely know that you have touched something that is really there. Our experience tells us that mass-energy is a different kind of property from the size of that stone, or the time of day that it was you touched it. It is a completely inedpendent property.

Mass-energy has the unique property of being able to be sensed through our physical senses. The dimensions of space and time mean nothing unless there are objects that inhabit them with the property of being able to be seen, touched, smelt, tasted or heard. It is the property which enables the formation of quantum particles. It enables things to have colour, form, and the ability to react to gravity. It enables objects to become exceedingly complex, small, or huge. As such it is a much more complex dimension that space and time.

Even the smallest particles, superstrings, have mass and energy expressed through the way they vibrate. There is just one kind of string, but their different vibrational aptterns are what make them into different particles with different mass, spin and electrical charge [TFOTC pg 346] This dimension is obviously a basic requirement for existence of anything.

To put it into a more conceptual format, mass-energy is a different property from length, width, height and time, and is not a subset or product of them. We can conceive of mass-energy on its own, and measure it in a different way from any measurement of space and time. It has its own characteristics and laws of operation.

We can draw a line to represent the dimension of mass-energy, and see if it makes sense.

Fig 8. Dimension of mass-energy. This line represents the dimension of mass-energy. For the different values on this line we could use units of mass or energy. The dimension has an arrow of direction to show the direction of increasing value.
With a mass-energy line like this we can add and do various kinds of claculations with it. The values of mass-energy are clearly observable and measurable.

Just as there is a dimension called length which enables anything to have the property of length, so also it fits to have a dimension of mass-energy, which enables there to be objects with mass-energy.

Is Mass-Energy Co-dependent?
While they are independent for their properties, dimensions are equally dependent for their existence in the universe on each other.

Does Mass-Energy Allow Movement?
For a dimension to be meaningful there must be different positions within the dimension. This is the ability for things to exist at arbitrary points within the dimension.

Mass-energy can most simply be conceived of as a line as I have shown in Fig 8 of increasing mass-energy, and positions along that line would be measured say in gms/joules. That means that either different objects would be along that line, or it may illustrate a growth in mass-energy of something, say a tree. There is clearly freedom here for things to exist or be measured at different points on this line.

A more complicated picture is a cube with three axes of space, time and mass-energy. I could call that cube 'nature' because that seems to be what we count as the natural world. I have put the three dimensions of space onto one axis because I cannot imagine more than three dimensions at a time. Now any point in that cube represents different properties for any object. In other words the natural properties of any object can be defined by their position in that cube. The space axis would define the size or spacial position of the object in terms of cms. The time axis would define the time or duration of the object in seconds. The mass-energy axis would define the weight/vitality of an object in gms/joules. Different objects and objects of a different mass/energy would be at a different position in the 3D graph.

Fig 9. SpaceTimeMassEnergy Graph. An object 'A' can be plotted anywhere on this 3D graph to represent its position in space, time and value of its mass-energy. Different objects will be at a different position on this graph, and a growing object's positions would be plotted as a curve of greter mass-energy with advancing time.


When we see how mass-energy can be mapped together with space and time, it makes a strong case for admitting mass-energy into the ranks of a universal dimension.

Mass-Energy and The First Law of Thermodynamics
Lets look at one of the implications of mass-energy being a dimension. The first law of thermodynamics is the conservation of energy and matter which states that there is a fixed supply of mass and energy in the universe, After the big bang there was no further mass-energy in the universe created, nor is there any destroyed. Matter and energy can change its form, but not its total amount.

Why such a law? The dimensionality of mass-energy provides a reason for a fixed supply of matter and energy. One way to look at it is that if we have just one dimension of mass-energy, all the mass-energy lines are essentially on top of each other, and therefore combined into one. There is no other place to be. There are no possible one-dimensional mass-energy lines outside of the one line to intersect and provide any new matter or energy. In the same way that 1D time has a fixed rate, so also 1D mass-energy has a fixed level of mass-energy. Therefore we have the law of conservation of mass and energy.

This is a law that is one of the most accepted in physics. Even in black holes we don't get a destruction of matter and energy, as Stephen Hawking has recently announced [TIME Magazine, Aug 2nd 2004].

The law of conservation of matter and energy could be seen as one of the foundations of materialist philosophy or naturalism, which says that everything can be explained in terms of the laws of physics or nature. It may be argued that if no energy or matter can be added into the system of our universe then there is no need for any other explanation for things that exist or happen. It is  a reason why science has also been essentially materialistic in its scope and philosophy and does not accept any supernatural explanations, as being outside its domain.

However if we see the reason for the law of conservation of matter and energy is because there is normally only one dimension of mass-energy operating, but that there can be other dimensions, then the foundations of naturalism are no longer tenable.

One of the problems with the first law of thermodynamics is that there was a beginning to the universe when all the matter and energy it contains came into being. The law is contradicted. People and exception by stating that the law only applies after the time of creation. But what use is a law that has such a major exception? That exception denies the validity of naturalism as a philosophy and as the basis for science.

Multi-dimensionality can explain that exception. If mass-energy in the universe is only one dimension, it has to have a beginning. Any line drawn in 1D  has to have a beginning and an ending.

One of the requirements for any theory is that it can provide better explanations for why things are the way they are. Multi-dimensionality provides an explanation for the law of conservation of matter and energy. But it can explain even more.

Think what would happen if another dimension of mass-energy were added. The extra dimension could inject new energy. If a second arrow of mass-energy intersected with or was added to our 1D system, more energy would be added. as we see graphically:

 Fig 10. Effect of 2D Mass-energy.
The mass-energy line 'A' intersects with mass-energy line 'B',
thereby sharing their energy. The total energy increases,
so the combined mass-energy line 'C' goes in a new direction.

We see a similar principle operating with gravity. Gravity causes an object to fall. However if the law of aerodynamics intervenes, and the object which is an aircraft is then filled with fuel and piloted, the law of gravity fails to have the same effect. Instead the object is able to fly. Another law intersects with the law of gravity to produce the effect of flying.

Do we find in nature examples of matter or energy being added? That could be an explanation of what we call miracles.

Biblical Examples Of An Extra Mass-Energy Dimension
The Bible is full of examples of an extra mass-energy dimension operating. Most miracles involve this dimension.

Healing miracles. Eg The Leper healed [Matthew 8:1-4] Sickness is partly a result of entropy that leads to a gradual or sudden breakdown in the ordered functioning of our bodies. A reversal of this would inject new energy to allow healing to happen. I have experienced miraculous healing myself, and sensed the extra energy brought by the Holy Spirit that enabled the healing.

Nature miracles. Eg Jesus' calming of the storm [Matthew 8:23-27] A storm is a highly disordered use of energy that produces more disorder. More ordered energy brought into this would be required to calm a storm.
Multiplication miracles. Eg Feeding the 5000 [Matthew 14:15-21] A multiplication of mass is required which would be impossible if the law of the conservation of matter and energy applied as in the 1D mass-energy dimension.

Miracles didn't stop with the Bible, and one could go on to report modern day miracles which are similar to the Biblical ones.

Now don't object to miracles on the grounds of naturalism. It is that worldview that is being tested here. Miracles like these are often doubted because we have a 1D view of the mass-energy dimension. But aren't these actually the evidence we are looking for to show if there are further dimensions of mass-energy available to us? Good scientists don't ignore evidence. It is not miracles, but our limited world-view that is the problem. Miracles are evidence for at least a second dimension of mass-energy.

The Law of Entropy
We can't go on without discussing the second law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy. The law of entropy is that physical systems and the universe as a whole tend to disintegrate to a lower order of available energy or organisation of matter.  As entropy increases, disorder increases and energy disperses. Entropy is something that happens to mass and energy in time. The dimensions of space don't have entropy, and time doesn't suffer entropy either. The only dimension to suffer entropy is mass-energy. One of the big benefits of accepting mass-energy as a dimension is that it provides a simple explanation of the cause of entropy.

Entropy is the sun dispersing radiation, an ordered stack of cards being shuffled, a car crash, my shoes wearing out, spilling my coffee, an apple decaying,  a smoker suffering from lung cancer, or the universe cooling down. Matter and energy is not lost, but it becomes more dispersed and so less available for use by a particular system. Space expands and time is always there, but mass-energy becomes more limited. We could say entropy is a limitation of the dimension of mass-energy, because it limits its freedom to continue to be useful.

Entropy is a logical extension of the law of conservation of energy and mass in an expanding universe. As the universe expands mass and energy is dispersed through a greater volume, on average there is less mass or energy per volume remaining. Even in a closed physical system within the universe, because the universe is expanding, all closed systems are expanding also. The analogy for this is the surface of a balloon that is being blown up. It is not only the size of the balloon that is expanding, but also all parts of the surface of the balloon expand in proportion. As I have explained, entropy is a logical extension of the conservation of mass and energy it is therefore a necessary principle of a 1D mass-energy world.

The reason given by Stephen Hawking [ABHOT pg 153] and Brian Greene [TFOTC ph 156] for entropy is that there are always more possible disorganised states than organised ones, and so by the laws of probability, with time there will become more disorder. It takes a lot more energy to put coffee back into the cup than what it took to spill it. This provides a mechanism for how entropy works, but a mechanism is not the same as a cause. I say that my car goes because it has an engine and fuel - but that is a mechanism rather than a cause. The cause of my car going is that I am driving it.

The cause of entropy is not time, but the limitation of 1D mass-energy that does not allow new matter or energy. If there was an extra energy input the coffee could be put back into the cup. In other words recognising mass-energy as a 1D helps to explain entropy.

That limitation is however removed if there are more dimensions of mass-energy. Sickness is an example of entropy where our body runs down, but miraculous healing is new energy coming in to reverse that process. If there was an intersecting second dimension of mass-energy that stabilised or reversed entropy in a system, then because mass-energy is normally 1D that demonstrates that the prime cause of entropy is really a dimensional limitation.

Could There Be Three Dimensions of Mass-energy?
I don't want to assume that the theory of multi-dimensionality means that there are more dimensions of mass-energy. But as there are three dimensions of space, and could be three dimensions of time, could there also be three dimensions of mass-energy?

What would three dimensions of mass-energy look like?

One of the limitations of 1D mass-energy is that it has to have a beginning. In 2D there can be multiple beginnings because there would be more mass-energy lines drawn. In 3D (shown by a continuous line drawn around a sphere) there is no beginning required. One dimension of mass-energy means that there has to have been a beginning for all the matter and energy of the universe.  But in such a creation the first law of thermodynamics is broken. The assumption has been made that creation is an exception to the rule. What happens if that assumption is wrong?

If there were three dimensions of mass-energy, this would help explain the origin of our 1D mass-energy at the time of creation. The law of conservation of energy would not be broken if the 1D mass-energy of our universe came from 3D mass-energy, because there is no beginning (or ending) required in 3D. This law is a powerful reason for accepting the existence of 3D mass-energy.

If you complain that the existence of God is enough to explain creation, and that 3D mass-energy is not required because God can bring everything into being directly by his Word, please understand what I am claiming. I am not replacing any need of God as the agent of creation, but merely explaining a way of it happening. It is merely claiming that in God's created order there are extra dimensions of mass-energy that are available to God for his creative purposes.

For the law of conservation of matter and energy to be upheld it requires three dimensions of mass-energy to exist. There is no stronger proof of multi-dimensionality that science can provide.

The extra dimensions of mass-energy are not normally able to be seen by us because of the principle of transcendence. However this would not stop them from intersecting with our universe when it is appropriate for them to do so.

There is a powerful Biblical reason to accept a 3D mass-energy dimension, but that will come in section 12.

 Rev Brian Brandon, May 2004
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