Science Question: If the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace – is gravity’s effect on time the culprit?

I have been watching the debate about dark energy as a possible explanation of what is causing the universe to expand faster and faster (as cosmologists first discovered 10 years ago). But last night, as I was watching the new series “The Universe”, I was reminded of a particularly interesting facet of Einstein’s relativity theory – the effect of gravity on time. Bottom line of that theory is that time passes slower when you are inside a gravitational field.


This is something NASA has been able to demonstrate by putting atomic clocks in orbit and that the programmers of the GPS satellite system had to take into account to make the system work properly. Clocks (and all other matter) move faster when there is less gravity. Time, as we measure and understand it, passes slower on earth, than in orbit, and it is faster still once you get away from the sun, and even faster when you get out of the Milky Way. This leaves me with 2 questions:

1) If time is passing faster, the further away from a gravitation field you get, wouldn’t that explain why the universe is expanding faster? Eventually, as galaxies get further apart, there is less and less gravity in inner-galactic space, thus (I would assume) time is going faster between galaxies and the “normal” expansion process would be occurring at an accelerated pace. In other words, voids grow faster than matter rich areas of the universe because everything happens faster there. Think of a large balloon that is expanding on a wall of video monitors, some of the videos are playing faster and thus that part is expanding more rapidly. Not only that, be the expansion itself is causing gravity to be less and less on an influence because the galaxies are now further away (more space-time between them). Will time eventually become a run-away engine in the vast emptiness of space? Will the speed of time approach infinity?


Fact: The emptier space is (the less gravity) – the faster time passes.

One way I thought to test this would be to observe the speed of stars (if there are any) or any other matter in the “vast hole in the universe” that was discovered recently. If “emptiness” has the affect of accelerating time, that may be measurable by observing its affect on light traveling through those empty spaces. (objects opposite fast empty holes in the universe would appear closer than they really are)

2) About this time/gravity relationship. I imagine that as gravity approaches infinity as in a black-hole, time approaches zero. If time is slowed down – then what does that say about the spectacular speeds of stars orbiting black-holes? Have those calculations beed adjusted for this? Is there even a mathematical way to express time passing differently in different regions of the universe?

As I type this, it also occurs to me that this may also explain why there seem to be few stars between galaxies – maybe they age and die very quickly. I don’t understand the math well enough to try and calculate the relative difference in the rate of time in inner-galactic space versus on earth – much less in the middle of that billion-light year wide void, but imagine if there is a measurable between the surface of the earth, and 200 miles up in orbit, that a billion-light years of gravity free space might tack on the years pretty quickly.

If any one out there has a science background I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Join the discussion 9 Comments

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  • Nimmer says:

    Or, with no datum possible could it be that the reason why the universe is accelerating in its expansion be that the universe is spinning as well as expanding and thus a centrifugal force is able to overcome gravity? Although it is evident that the universe is not expanding on one plane could this be because we are still at the initial stage of the start of the universe. An oval shape might develop.

  • Luis Biarge says:

    I'm against Universe expansion:

    For example a question: – The universe expand in any radius at light speed: How can accelerate? At what speed expand the diameter (radius x 2)?

    This and more, also doubts, proofs and hypothesis in http://bigbangno.wordpress.com

    Sorry if disturb.

    Thanks.

  • Otefoski-ek says:

    I wonder, for the expanding universe were warm?

  • Socks says:

    Time speeding up isn’t about gravity, it’s to do with relativistic speeds and how ‘clocks’ tick slower for a stationary observer when a body they are observing is moving at very, very, very, very, very high speeds. Gravity is irrelevant.

  • Nimmer says:

    Following the big bang we have speed and distance and thus time. Now let’s imagine that the universe is actually slowing down in its expansion. This slowing down actually effecting time it self. If time were to slow down would the expansion appear to be speeding up?

    • benshoemate says:

      That is almost impossible to think about. Since our definition of speed relies on time, a slowing of time while expansion occurs at the same “speed” or pace is not possible because of the definition of speed – we would need a new definition of speed to think about it that way.

      I often think that if time slowed or even stopped for a few billion years and then started again, we would never know since we are “in the flow” of time. God could pause the game, go grab a snack, and come back and we here in the game, would never know or ever even have the chance of knowing unless we somehow find away to access the system clock, a definition of time that is outside the universe. Something that, since we really can not detect or really even conceive of, I have no clue what it might be. But if you think of something outside the universe we can tune our clocks to, let me know.

      *
      *

  • Shepherd Sam says:

    My name is Sam Shepherd; my bio is attached along with a copyright paper that describes the cause of the expanding universe, the explanation as to when the universe began to accelerate. please feel free to email me at shepherd.sam@comcast.net.

    Samuel
    Shepherd,

    A.A.
    Chemistry, B.S.ChE, M.S. EnT, DABFET, CHS III

    shepherd.sam@comcast.net

    (281)
    797-2501

     

    Relativistic Solution

    to a

    Newtonian Accelerating Universe©

    By

    Samuel Shepherd

    Presented January 5,
    2012

    At

    Barnesville, Ohio

    6/26/12

                =============================================================

    ABSTRACT

    Why is the universe
    accelerating in its expansion? Since Perlmutter et al identified the fact that
    the universe is not only expanding but accelerating; few can explain the reason
    for the acceleration. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are the mathematical creation
    to explain this acceleration. This paper offers another simple, but elegant and
    robust explanation for the initial expansion of the universe followed by its
    currently observed acceleration into eternity.

    DISCUSSION

    When discussing the
    accelerating universe, several physical concepts need to be considered. We have
    evaluated String Theory, Relativistic and Quantum theory; resulting in a
    complete disconnect with Newtonian Physics. 
    The combining of the infinitely small with the very large completely
    collapses in the face of currently understood physics.

    This failure has
    resulted in a complete revision of the approach. An approach that combines the
    relativistic E=mc2 with the conservation of energy as presented in
    Newtonian kinetic energy E=1/2 mv2.

    As presented in the law
    of light; NOTHING CAN TRAVEL FASTER THAN
    THE SPEED OF LIGHT

    That’s right NOTHING
    can travel faster than the speed of light. Is NOTHING something? No it isn’t;
    it is only the fabric of space.

    Therefore, “NOTHING”
    can travel faster than the speed of light. So, how fast can “nothing” travel?
    The answer is found at the singularity of a Black Hole, where all matter is
    converted to energy. When the singularity reaches a size of less than Planck’s
    length (1.6162 x 10-35 m) in a three dimensional space, the energy
    (and any associated boson particles) permeates throughout the universe at
    speeds exceeding the speed of light. The maximum speed of this energy of
    “nothing” , which is “space” itself,  is
    as follows:

    Since;                        Relativistic
    energy (E)=mc2  has to be
    equal to the Newtonian (E) = 1/2 mv2

    Then ;                        mc2  =  1/2 mv2

    Or upon rearrangement; 
    v = 1.414 x c

    “NOTHING” (or Space) CAN TRAVEL 41.4% FASTER THAN THE SPEED
    OF LIGHT

    The result of this energy impacting the fabric of space
    (pressure) is an accelerating universe, much the same way as molecules of gas
    being added at increasing speeds to a balloon causes the balloon surface to
    accelerate in its expansion.

    But, when did this occur?

    In the beginning, the
    universe exploded at tremendous speed in very short time (10-52 secs).
    Up to this point, gravity was not strong enough to cause any form of black hole
    formation, and therefore no accelerating universe was possible. After this point,
    the expanse began to slow; gravity became a factor, causing matter to collapse
    into black holes and slowing the rate of expansion of the universe.

    At this point in
    creation, the universe began to accelerate as the rate of black hole formation
    increased.  This acceleration of black
    hole formation created an ever increasing singularity formation; the increase
    in the number of singularities (smaller than Planck’s constant) resulted in the
    immediate acceleration of fabric of space as the energy is converted from
    relativistic to kinetic energy. The resulting universe and fabric of space must
    accelerate as the energy from the black hole singularities increase at an
    accelerating rate pushing the fabric of space toward eternity.

    This acceleration of
    space will further dissipate matter to a distance at which gravity can no longer
    form black holes. This acceleration of black hole formation will continue until
    matter is so dispersed (large distance), from the accelerating universe, that
    gravity no longer has an impact and the black hole formation will therefore,
    cease. This cessation of black hole formation will stop the further
    acceleration of the universe. The universe will continue traveling at a speed
    of less than 1.41 times the speed of light until the universe is so dissipated
    that no stars or light will be visible.

    The implications of
    this accelerating universe on time are profound. If space can travel 41% faster
    than light, then the apparent age of the universe as measured by Doppler, is
    undoubtedly wrong. It is also important to note that an accelerating universe could
    have resulted in the Entropic energy we now observe. It is probable that
    Entropy did not exist until the universe began to accelerate.

                                                          S = c^3 Ak/Gh

     Where, the formula for the Bekenstein–Hawking
    entropy (S) of a black hole, which depends on the area of the black hole
    (A). The constants are the speed of light (c), the Boltzmann constant (k), Newton’s constant (G), and the reduced Planck constant (ħ).

    Prior to black hole formation, (A) = 0, and therefore no
    entropy existed.

    ————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    Relativistic Solution

    to a

    Newtonian Accelerating Universe©

    By

    Samuel Shepherd

    Presented January 5,
    2012

    At

    Barnesville, Ohio

    6/26/12

                =============================================================

    ABSTRACT

    Why is the universe
    accelerating in its expansion? Since Perlmutter et al identified the fact that
    the universe is not only expanding but accelerating; few can explain the reason
    for the acceleration. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are the mathematical creation
    to explain this acceleration. This paper offers another simple, but elegant and
    robust explanation for the initial expansion of the universe followed by its
    currently observed acceleration into eternity.

    DISCUSSION

    When discussing the
    accelerating universe, several physical concepts need to be considered. We have
    evaluated String Theory, Relativistic and Quantum theory; resulting in a
    complete disconnect with Newtonian Physics. 
    The combining of the infinitely small with the very large completely
    collapses in the face of currently understood physics.

    This failure has
    resulted in a complete revision of the approach. An approach that combines the
    relativistic E=mc2 with the conservation of energy as presented in
    Newtonian kinetic energy E=1/2 mv2.

    As presented in the law
    of light; NOTHING CAN TRAVEL FASTER THAN
    THE SPEED OF LIGHT

    That’s right NOTHING
    can travel faster than the speed of light. Is NOTHING something? No it isn’t;
    it is only the fabric of space.

    Therefore, “NOTHING”
    can travel faster than the speed of light. So, how fast can “nothing” travel?
    The answer is found at the singularity of a Black Hole, where all matter is
    converted to energy. When the singularity reaches a size of less than Planck’s
    length (1.6162 x 10-35 m) in a three dimensional space, the energy
    (and any associated boson particles) permeates throughout the universe at
    speeds exceeding the speed of light. The maximum speed of this energy of
    “nothing” , which is “space” itself,  is
    as follows:

    Since;                        Relativistic
    energy (E)=mc2  has to be
    equal to the Newtonian (E) = 1/2 mv2

    Then ;                        mc2  =  1/2 mv2

    Or upon rearrangement; 
    v = 1.414 x c

    “NOTHING” (or Space) CAN TRAVEL 41.4% FASTER THAN THE SPEED
    OF LIGHT

    The result of this energy impacting the fabric of space
    (pressure) is an accelerating universe, much the same way as molecules of gas
    being added at increasing speeds to a balloon causes the balloon surface to
    accelerate in its expansion.

    But, when did this occur?

    In the beginning, the
    universe exploded at tremendous speed in very short time (10-52 secs).
    Up to this point, gravity was not strong enough to cause any form of black hole
    formation, and therefore no accelerating universe was possible. After this point,
    the expanse began to slow; gravity became a factor, causing matter to collapse
    into black holes and slowing the rate of expansion of the universe.

    At this point in
    creation, the universe began to accelerate as the rate of black hole formation
    increased.  This acceleration of black
    hole formation created an ever increasing singularity formation; the increase
    in the number of singularities (smaller than Planck’s constant) resulted in the
    immediate acceleration of fabric of space as the energy is converted from
    relativistic to kinetic energy. The resulting universe and fabric of space must
    accelerate as the energy from the black hole singularities increase at an
    accelerating rate pushing the fabric of space toward eternity.

    This acceleration of
    space will further dissipate matter to a distance at which gravity can no longer
    form black holes. This acceleration of black hole formation will continue until
    matter is so dispersed (large distance), from the accelerating universe, that
    gravity no longer has an impact and the black hole formation will therefore,
    cease. This cessation of black hole formation will stop the further
    acceleration of the universe. The universe will continue traveling at a speed
    of less than 1.41 times the speed of light until the universe is so dissipated
    that no stars or light will be visible.

    The implications of
    this accelerating universe on time are profound. If space can travel 41% faster
    than light, then the apparent age of the universe as measured by Doppler, is
    undoubtedly wrong. It is also important to note that an accelerating universe could
    have resulted in the Entropic energy we now observe. It is probable that
    Entropy did not exist until the universe began to accelerate.

                                                          S = c^3 Ak/Gh

     Where, the formula for the Bekenstein–Hawking
    entropy (S) of a black hole, which depends on the area of the black hole
    (A). The constants are the speed of light (c), the Boltzmann constant (k), Newton’s constant (G), and the reduced Planck constant (ħ).

    Prior to black hole formation, (A) = 0, and therefore no
    entropy existed.

    ————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    Sam was born in Barnesville,
    Ohio and was raised in Bethesda, Ohio. He is an internationally recognized inventor
    and entrepreneur. He currently serves as Director of Technology for Cheltonia,
    Ltd, headquartered in the UK and is the Technology Consultant for Missing Link
    Technology, L.L.C., Houston, Tx, a company specializing in development and commercialization
    of leading edge technologies in the Water, Oil and Gas and Alternative Energy
    Industries. He holds degrees in Chemistry/Physics, B.S Chemical Engineering,
    M.S Environmental Engineering, and Lifetime Fellow Status at the American
    College of Forensic Examiners, with a Class III Certification in Homeland
    Security, with specialties in WMD and COBRA (Chemical Ordinance, Biological and
    Radiologic Armaments).

     

    Sam started his
    career as a laborer in a deep mine in Southeast Ohio and now has over 37 years
    experience in the Petro Chemical, Alternative Energy and wastewater industries.
    He is currently advising several international energy companies in futuristic
    technology development and corporate direction.

     

    He assisted in
    the development of technology for the Lunar Outpost Commission for the
    Moon/Mars Mission in 1990, he is a private pilot with over 1100 hours of flight
    time, developed ballistic absorbing media for military purposes, optimized
    technology utilizing artificial blood. He has extensive training in
    engineering, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, risk assessment, forensic
    engineering and holds 2 certifications in FEMA risk management.

     

    He was the
    founder and CEO of Bioset, Inc. from 1995 until he left the company in 2003 and
    was the founder and CEO of American Environmental Forensics. He has worked as a
    consultant to (2) Department of Defense DARPA teams for the development and
    commercialization of Biofuels and Alternative Energy Systems for the military
    and civilian application in the “algae to oil” DARPA program.

     

    Sam has authored
    8 US patents, 17 International patents and is currently involved in the
    development of 4 patents pending. He has developed HTHP mud motors, methane
    hydrate recovery technology, waste water sterilization technology, microalgae growth
    technology, algae to biocrude and the oil extraction technology that is
    currently being employed globally and is actively involved in the
    commercialization of the “algae to oil” projects for several Domestic and
    International companies.

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