Becoming The Overman

The following is an appendage to the Special Theory of Relativity written by C. Nicholas Walker that deals with the relationship between matter and energy at speeds close to that of light, dubbed the Decay Theory.

FOR MOST PHYSICS MAJORS in colleges and universities around the world, Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity, most specifically his Special Theory of Relativity, are taught to them at some point or another, and are generally assumed by the mainstream American audience as very complex and difficult to understand; this is inherently untrue. In their very basics, Einstein’s theories are meant to be understood by a wide variety of people, as such is a result of the way his mind worked to create theories, using universal analogies and metaphors to explain the mysteries of the cosmos. And although his theories have been fought by some scientists since the day they were first introduced to the public in 1905, they are mainly considered “true and repetitively applicable.” However, there is one single aspect of the Special Theory of Relativity that betokens a looking into, and that is the relation of matter and energy during speeds in which Special Relativity is “true and repetitively applicable.”

In order to continue on, one must have a sort of prior knowledge of what Special Relativity is. Albert Einstein originally wrote his theory in 1905 in the form of a college thesis titled “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” in which he purported, apart from popular belief at the time, that 1) light moved at a constant speed and followed the same laws of electrodynamics no matter the conditions or frame of reference, and 2) light moved at the same speed no matter the state of motion of the emitting body at speed c (approximately 186,300 miles per second) and that nothing could surpass that speed. What this means is that when light does something, it does it the same way every time, no matter in what fashion the observer or emitter is moving, and that nothing with mass can move at faster than the speed of light—this is because as matter increases its velocity it gains mass in the form of kinetic energy, and at the speed of light its mass would be infinite, therefore needing an unattainable infinite amount of energy to keep it going, which is obviously impossible. In a nutshell, light is the universal constant and you can’t beat it.

Having said that, I give the following two situations to illustrate Special Relativity in its finest. First, imagine standing on the side of the road watching a train go by. In it sits a man with a rubber ball. The train moves at 45 mph, and inside the man throws his ball forward at a speed of 10 mph, relative to himself. To you, however, the ball appears to leave his hand at 55 mph, using basic Newtonian physics to add the two velocities together. Now there is the second situation, which gives the point of it all. You see this same train go by with the same man onboard, only now the train is moving much faster, at one half the speed of light (approximately 93,150 mps). Now the man inside does something, only this time instead of throwing his ball he turns on a flashlight, whose beam moves at 186,300 mps relative to himself. But, alas, according to your predictions the speed of the light moving out the handle should have been over the speed of light (about 279,450 mps), which is impossible. Of course, the light you see and the light the train-rider sees are in fact moving at the exact same relative speed, whereas the ball was not. This problem causes Special Relativity to take place (and now we see what is so “special” about it). Because the light must be moving the same speed, Mother Nature—or, rather, Mother Physics in this case—compensates for the difference by manipulating time and distance so that the light never actually surpassed its own speed. It’s rather logical and obvious, when one thinks about it. If time divided by distance equals velocity, and we know the velocity in this case can’t change, then time and distance must be changed in its stead. When this warp occurs to time, it is termed “Time Dilation;” when it happens to distance it is termed “Lorentz Contraction.” The aspect that concerns us now is Time Dilation, which is considered by many, especially science-fiction writers, as a form of time travel.

Time Dilation is a very extreme occurrence that becomes exponentially more prevalent the closer one moves toward the speed of light, which is why moving at everyday speeds as we do on Earth shows such a little effect of Time Dilation—so little so that it is nearly impossible to notice at all. However, if one were moving much faster, at, say, 170,000 mps, they would certainly notice this aspect of Special Relativity. If you stepped onto a train moving at that speed and stayed onboard for only five seconds, when you stepped off the super-train, five minutes would have passed for those observers standing still, because time is moving at a different rate for you than for them, essentially slowing you down. Take a five minute ride and travel five years into the future. This actually happening is a matter of undeniable fact, for it is studied nearly everyday by particle accelerators, which can move singular particles at incredible speeds. However, this research, as such technology allows today, can only study this effect on single particles, and has never been seen on an assemblage of particles, like an object or a living organism. This simple fact causes great concerns in the mind of your adolescent narrator, so I must speak of them next.

Matter and energy are innately connected. They can be transformed into one another, become completely dependent on one another, and more so in the case of living organisms, such as human beings, than anything else—it can be widely agreed that a human being without matter is not a human being, as is a human being without energy not a human being. For the subject at hand, however, internal energy is the most important. The internal energy of a system (abbreviated E or U) is the total kinetic energy due to the motion of molecules—either translational, rotational or vibrational—and the total potential energy associated with the vibrational and electric energy of atoms within molecules or crystals. Internal energy is a quantifiable state function of a system, and therefore is more intricately dependent on matter to exist, or perform its necessary duties. We also know that matter, because of its physical property of mass, is the only material that can be affected by Time Dilation (remember that the mass would reach infinity at the speed of light, needing infinite energy for propulsion). Time Dilation would not, on the other hand, be able to affect the energy of any given system, because energy has no mass. It is unrestricted by the laws of Special Relativity, and therefore cannot undergo its effects. And it is this thought that leads us to the finale, the climax of invention.

To begin with, let us accumulate our thoughts as they are so far. Firstly, we understand the meaning of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity and its implications on time and distance at speeds close to that of light. Next, we understand the reasoning behind Special Relativity’s effects on time itself, causing one to be “warped” into the future due to the slowing down of the time rate for fast moving bodies. And we also understand the necessary connection between matter and energy in all things of one or more particles, and how each of them is affected by Time Dilation in differing ways. Now, with all this building causality, there must be some momentous effect…and there is. We climb the mountain of facts and find at its summit the result: if, while moving at speeds close to that of light, matter is ruled by a slower time-rate than energy, then any object consisting of an assemblage of particles—and therefore containing internal energy—must experience an internal decay where the matter and energy separate, the internal energy continuing to move through a time-rate unaffected by Time Dilation, while the matter of the subject moves through an exponentially slower time-rate, separating the two and causing the subject to decay into nothingness; separate entities of matter and energy moving through two separate time frames. The implication of this in reality are unknown; the train, if moving at such speeds, would most likely puff into non-existence, all of its energy being essentially sucked away, leaving only a husk of pure matter. The internal energy itself could take many forms, from becoming pure heat to a wave of concussive energy that blasts away anything in its path. Of course, this is where science gives way to science fiction, and imagination becomes the most appropriate tool.

Before Albert Einstein published his theories in 1905, the entire world was filled with an entire selection of scientists who had encyclopedias filled with what they knew, positively beyond fact. One theory came around and it changed the face of science, and made every single person on Earth—forced them, really—to think differently. But the fact is, facts change everyday human beings are alive, and the only truth is that there is no truth. According to the preceding research, gathered in a new and interesting light, this “Decay Theory” based on the relativistic electrodynamics of moving bodies appears to be true and factual, if not actually commonsensical. The following is a matter of undeniable fact: when moving through two different time-rates, two things cannot possibly stay together, and therefore must separate. Whether this Decay Theory is “true and repetitively applicable,” however, has yet to be seen.

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Tipler, Paul. Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Mechanics, Oscillations and Waves, Thermodynamics (5th edition). W.H. Freeman, 2004.

Kennedy, R.J. and E.M. Thorndike. “Experimental Establishment of the Relativity of Time.” Physical Review. Series 2, Volume 42. 1932.

Einstein, Albert. “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” Annalen der Physik. June 30, 1905.

Wright, Matthew Early. “Riding the Plasma Wave of the Future.” Symmetry: Dimensions of Particle Physics. April 2005.

“Internal Energy.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. December 7, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_energy.