This three part post is based on original theoretical research presented in my book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, 2012, Louis A. Del Monte (available at Amazon http://amzn.to/Zo1TGn)

In our last post we were left a significant unanswered question. Where does the enormous negative energy required for existence come from?

There are relatively few candidates. In fact, after much though and research, two emerge.

The gravitational fields of the universe. Gravitation’s reach is infinite. Everything in the universe pulls on everything else. However, to date, no experimental evidence supports that the energy for existence is being syphoned from the universe’s gravitational fields. Although, we know gravitational energy will cause time dilation, and extend a particle’s existence, we do not observe any reduction in gravitational fields between objects. In fact, the force of gravity, as measured on Earth, remains unchanged over centuries of measurement. It is theoretically possible that dark matter blocks any gravitational energy syphoning within a galaxy, but its absence between galaxies allows the gravitational fields between galaxies to be syphoned, and thus causes the distance between galaxies to increase. This squares with observation, but this hypothesis has a serious problem: most distant galaxies are moving away from us at speeds that exceed the speed of light. If this is due to weakening gravitational fields between galaxies, it suggests the galaxies themselves are moving faster than the speed of light, and that violates the special theory of relativity, making it unlikely. Based on the above reasoning, until new data is available to the contrary, syphoning energy from gravitational fields between galaxies does not appear to be a viable candidate.

Dark energy. Is it possible that the universe’s expansion is occurring to sustain its existence? We know that the accelerated expansion of the universe is real. We attribute its expansion to an unknown cause: dark energy. Is the energy required for existence being syphoned from the vacuums that exist between galaxies? If that is the case, as energy is removed from the vacuums between galaxies, mass is equivalently remove, based on Einstein’s famous mass-energy equivalence equation (E = mc2). As energy/mass is removed, the gravitational attraction within the vacuum decreases causing it to expand. In addition, the expansion of space, causing the most distance galaxies to move away faster than the speed of light, can be explained on the basis that those distant galaxies have been around longer and have had more energy removed from the vacuums that separate them. Therefore, the phenomenon of dark energy may be the existence equation conjecture at work (i.e., removing energy from the vacuums of space).

One important question remains. Why doesn’t the space within a galaxy expand? My speculation is that dark matter acts to block any removal of energy from the space within a galaxy. In effect, I am suggesting that dark matter causes a galaxy to act more like one galactic particle.

What does all of the above say about the nature of time? If we are on the right track, it says describing the nature of time requires six crucial elements, all of which are simultaneously true.

  1. Time is change.
  2. Time is a measure of energy, since change requires energy.
  3. Time is a measure of existence.
  4. Movement in time (or existence) requires negative energy.
  5. The energy to fuel time (existence) is enormous. It may be responsible for the life times associated with unstable elementary particles, essentially consuming them, in part, to satisfy the Existence Equation Conjecture. It may be drawing energy from the universe. If correct, it provides insight into the nature of dark energy. Essentially the negative energy we call dark energy is the existence equation conjecture removing energy from the vacuums between galaxies.

This theory of time is speculative, but fits the empirical observations of time. A lot of the speculation rests on the validity of the Existence Equation Conjecture. Is it valid? As shown in appendix 2 of my book, Unraveling the Universe’s Mysteries, it is entirely consistent with data from a high-energy particle-accelerator experiment involving muons moving near the speed of light. The experimental results agree closely with predictions of the Existence Equation Conjecture (within 2%). This data point is consistent with the hypothesis that adding kinetic energy can fuel the energy required for existence. The implications are enormous, and require serious scientific scrutiny.

The Existence Equation Conjecture represents a milestone. If further evaluation continues to confirm the validity of the Existence Equation Conjecture, we have a new insight into the nature of time. Existence (movement in time) requires enormous negative energy. The Existence Equation Conjecture, itself, provides insight into the physical processes underpinning time dilation. It answers the question why a subatomic particle’s life increases with the addition of kinetic or gravitational energy. It offers a solution path to a mystery that has baffled science since 1998, namely the cause of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Lastly, it may contain one of the keys to time travel.