Abstract
Included in Carl Sagan's posthumous collection of
essays: "The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal
View of the Search for God" (Penguin, 2007), is
a beautiful satellite photo of Saturn, taken during one of NASA's
missions to the planet. It is a stunning picture of perfect
spherical symmetry, and as I admired the photo, the thought
occurred to me that this could be an image of gravity itself - the
"bare" force, acting on its proper astrophysical scale. Had Newton
seen this photo (and known the energy conservation law), he might
immediately have deduced his namesake gravitational force law -
the geometry is so obvious. While we have lost our dark skies and
starry nights to the city lights of modern technology, we have in
compensation gained photos like this - a museum-quality picture of
the planet Saturn, as never before seen by human eyes.
Just taking the photo at face value, we notice two major features:
1) the superb spherical symmetry, and 2) the fact that all the
particles composing this planet (and its magnificent rings) have
been gathered together in one place, rather than (as is more
likely) being strewn throughout space in a random/chaotic mist. In
other words, this is a photo of the work of a "gathering" force,
evidently a force acting between all the individual particles of
the planet to bring them to a common location at the center of
their mutually attractive forces. The force is spherically
symmetric in its activity, of that there can be no doubt. The
photo just tells us that there is a spherically symmetric
"gathering force" ("gravity") at work here, nothing more. Newton
has to help us lesser mortals with his inverse-square
gravitational force law, the balancing angular momentum and
"centrifugal" force laws of mechanics (for the rings), etc. , but
post-Newton (and with the principal of energy conservation), all
this is evident from the photograph.
The atomic nature of matter (and its variety) is not demonstrated
in the Saturn photo, although the simple existence of a planet's
worth of matter without a counter-balancing allotment of
antimatter, is in fact a crucial ontogenetic issue which must be
addressed during an earlier cosmological epoch (primordial
weak-force symmetry-breaking between matter and antimatter
during the "Big Bang"). So much for lovely Saturn and the simple
symmetry of gravity - illustrating also the universal democracy of
the attractive force of gravity: only the mass -
not the kind - of a particle is felt by gravity (a democracy
extending even to antimatter).
If Saturn illustrates the simplicity of Newtonian gravity for us,
what forces does the Sun demonstrate? Our blazing star - so
different from serene Saturn - shows what happens when gravity
becomes strong enough to arouse the tremendous nuclear forces deep
within atoms. The weak, strong, and electromagnetic forces - in
addition to gravity - are all at work in our glorious star. In the
center of the Sun, at tremendous pressure and temperature, the
strong and weak nuclear forces work together to transform hydrogen
(one proton) into helium (2 protons/2 neutrons), releasing in the
process enormous amounts of energy (e = mcc), which is carried by
the electromagnetic force (as light) to outer space and planet
Earth. It's of course more complicated than this, but this is the
essential picture (electron neutrinos are also released).
The solar process is "spontaneous" of course, given the whip of
gravity. Gravity is forcing the solar process because matter - in
the absence of antimatter - has a symmetry debt to
repay, which can be accomplished by the conversion of
matter's mass to light. Light has the greatest symmetry
of any energy form, and during the "Big Bang" very
high-energy light creates matter and antimatter in equal numbers
of particle-antiparticle pairs. These pairs attract each other
(via the opposite charges of the long-range electromagnetic force)
and annihilate, returning to the symmetric light which formed
them. However, the weak force also enters this creation process
and slightly reduces ("breaks") the symmetry of the annihilating
pairs, such that about one pair out of 10 billion (approximately)
fails to annihilate, leaving a (tiny) residue of matter which
decays to its ground state, forming our asymmetric matter-only
universe, including us. This is "primordial weak
force symmetry-breaking", and it is responsible for the
production of the matter component of our universe. The photons
released from the bulk of the (symmetric) annihilation reactions
are seen today as the 2.7K cosmic background radiation. Meanwhile,
the heavy leptoquark antineutrinos released during the primordial
symmetry-breaking have become the mysterious "dark matter" of the
Cosmos. The matter-only asymmetry of our Universe is its most
significant single fact - the "original sin" of the Cosmos - the
underlying explanation for all subsequent phenomena.
Light (free electromagnetic energy) has the greatest symmetry of
any known form of energy, whereas atomic matter (bound
electromagnetic energy) is very asymmetric.
To this point, light is massless, carries no charge (including no
gravitational charge), is non-local and timeless, traveling
with intrinsic motion "c". Velocity "c" is a symmetry state of
effectively "infinite" velocity defining/creating space (light's
entropic conservation domain). In contrast, matter is massive,
carries various charges (including a
gravitational "location" charge), is local and temporal, has
no intrinsic spatial motion, having instead an intrinsic temporal
motion in history (matter's entropic conservation domain).
History is matter's entropic equivalent of light's entropic
spatial domain. Together, free and bound electromagnetic
energy produce the compound entropic conservation domain of
historic spacetime, wherein both forms
of electromagnetic (EM) energy can find their conservation needs
satisfied - beginning with their entropic ("intrinsic")
motions in space and time. It is these "intrinsic" motions in
space and time that cause the entropic expansions of space, time,
and historic spacetime. When free EM energy is converted
into bound EM energy (as during the "Big Bang"), a great deal of
symmetry is lost; according to Noether"s Theorem, this lost
symmetry must somehow be conserved. Nature's way of conserving
light's symmetry when massless light is converted into massive
matter is via charge conservation - matter-antimatter annihilation
providing the archetypal example. The charges of matter are
symmetry debts of light. Charge conservation is symmetry
conservation, and this rule applies also to matter's gravitational
"location" charge, hence providing a conceptual unification of the
"four forces of physics" under the mantle of Noether's Theorem
as applied to their various charges.
The point of this discussion is that the "whip of gravity" is a
symmetry debt of matter, specifically the gravitational
"location" charge of matter (Gm), which codes for the lost
symmetry of light's "non-locality" - symmetry lost when light was
converted into matter during the "Big Bang" (or subsequently).
Matter has "location" in spacetime, light does not. "Location" is
a lower state of symmetry because the time dimension of matter is
one-way, and because matter's definite spatial position is
undistributed. Light's non-locality has "all-way" dimensional
symmetry, as well as a symmetric spatial distribution (equitable
everywhere) due to its "infinite" and "intrinsic" velocity "c",
which is actually a state of dimensional symmetry, banishing time.
Matter's gravitational symmetry debt (Gm) is active in terms of
negative spatial entropy-energy, that is, gravity causes the
contraction and heating of space, rather than spatial expansion
and cooling. What gravity is actually doing is converting space to
time, converting the positive spatial entropy domain of light
(free EM energy) to the positive historical entropy domain of
matter (bound EM energy), creating the compound entropy domain of
historic spacetime. Recall that Einstein discovered that "space"
is actually "spacetime". Gravity is simply extracting a metrically
equivalent temporal component by collapsing space; one entropy
domain is seamlessly replaced by the other, both forming the
necessary dimensional foundation for energy conservation of free
or bound EM energy via "intrinsic" dimensional motions, whether
spatial (light - velocity c) or historic (matter - time). People
ask: "What is the Universe expanding into?", when told of Hubble's
epic discovery; the Universe expands into the compound entropic
domain of historic spacetime. Gravity is matter's memory
it once was light.
When gravity causes the conversion of mass (bound EM energy) to
light (free EM energy) in our Sun, the gravitational mass of the
Sun is reduced, as is the Sun's "location" symmetry debt, in
equivalent amount (hence "paying down" the "principal" of the
"location" symmetry debt, not just paying the "interest" as in
weaker planetary fields). If this process could go to completion,
the Sun's mass would be completely converted to the light which
originally created the atoms of the Sun, and the Sun (and its
gravity) would disappear - all symmetry debts paid in full.
However, due to the conservation of "baryon number", this process
can only go to completion in a "Black Hole", via Hawkings "quantum
radiance" (this is the conservation function of black holes -
paying the symmetry debt of "baryon number" in satisfaction of
Noether's Theorem). On planets like Earth or Saturn, where
the gravitational force is too weak to engage nuclear energies,
gravity simply "pays the interest" on the "location" symmetry debt
represented by the planet's gravitational mass, converting space
to time and hence creating the time dimension of the planet,
providing the planet with a (very necessary) historical entropy
domain. In the Sun, both "interest and principal" of matter's
"location" or gravitational symmetry debt are simultaneously paid
by the conversion of mass to light.
Our Sun (and stars generally) is simultaneously performing two
important services for the Universe: 1) paying the "location"
symmetry debt of the Sun's gravitational mass, both "interest and
principal", by the gravitational conversion of bound to free EM
energy; 2) taking the first step along the "Information Pathway"
toward the Periodic Table of the Elements and the creation of
life, by converting hydrogen into helium. Indeed, the solar
effulgence may be seen as a celestial celebration of this double
accomplishment. The strong and weak nuclear forces, roused to
action by gravity, are involved in both processes. But it is the
gravitational charge-energy (Gm) which collects the particles and
provides the necessary push and "spontaneous" (charge driven)
character of these transformations. Larger stars than our Sun will
complete the Periodic Table via greater temperatures and pressures
and eventually via supernova explosions.
Let us look now at planet Earth, and ask what this may tell us of
fundamental processes. Whereas Saturn illustrated gravitational
forces paying the "interest" on the "location" symmetry debt of
planetary mass, calmly converting space to time/history, the Sun
also illustrated the paying of the "principal" of the "location"
symmetry debt associated with the Sun's mass (Gm), via the violent
action of the weak and strong forces converting hydrogen to
helium, thereby climbing the first rung of the "Information
Ladder" leading to the full Periodic Table of the Elements. On
Planet Earth we finish this journey from the Periodic Table to
life: life is the crowning glory of the Information Pathway
and Information domain, and the rationale for the very existence
of the Universe. On planet Earth, humanity is the top rung
of the
"Information
Ladder"; however, we have no idea what might have been
achieved elsewhere within the Information Domain of our Universe.
The significance of planet Earth is the story of life, of the
gentle intersection of the Information Domain with the electron
shell of atoms and molecules, especially carbon atoms and water
molecules. Seen from a distance, our planet is a curious sight,
surrounded by a swarm of artificial satellites, occasionally
shooting probes (both robotic and manned) to our moon and other
planets, even out of the solar system altogether. It also produces
a multitude of radio and TV transmissions; at night the lights of
cities can be seen. No other planet does anything like this.
Clearly the special feature of our planet is life, and
technologically advanced life at that. But what a curious thing
life is! We who have life tend to become accustomed to the miracle
we are experiencing - we are the atoms of the Earth raised to
self-aware consciousness; we in fact embody the information pathway
by which the universe achieves consciousness and self-awareness,
looks around, and sees itself and its creations "from the inside".
"The human
experience", in all its facets - the drama, the love, the
pain, the courage, the accomplishment, the understanding, the
appreciation, the awe, the beauty, the inventions, the science,
the art, the creativity - all these things and many more are
available to the Universe only through the physical form of human
life (so far as we know). Mighty and vast as it is, the Universe
must stoop to our level to experience anything more complex than
mere existence - human love, for example, or human creativity and
discovery in the arts and sciences, even the pure drama, pomp and
circumstance of our small human life. These all belong to the
universe only through us, only through the information pathway of
the Periodic Table, atomic electron shells, and the evolutionary
phenomenon of Homo sapiens.
Our planet has an atmosphere that is about 20% oxygen, which is a
highly reactive gas (fire, rust) that informs us of the presence
of living plants and photosynthesis. Life has changed
("terraformed") planet Earth in many ways to suit itself (as in
the "Gaia" hypothesis), filling the "biosphere" of Earth
(essentially the entire surface of the planet) with millions of
species of extant/extinct life forms. Life is a weedy "take-over"
force, reproducing itself until it fills all available and
suitable space, even if that space is the size of a planet. Life
is not a small or timid force; life arises from the confluence of
information and electromagnetism in the electron shells of atoms,
molecules, and chemical systems (electricity supplies the force,
information supplies the diversity, evolution supplies the
function). Life is curious and expansive, exploring the available
space for suitable habitat. Above all, life is creative, not only
reproducing itself, but evolving new forms with new capacities,
enabling survival in new habitats. That is what those "artificial"
satellites are about: life finally evolved a space-faring species
of rocket scientists that can propel her to entirely new worlds,
as well as protect her home planet (from large meteor strikes, for
example). As for humans created in the "image and likeness" of
God, in a functional and fractal sense this is true on a
micro-scale, in the sense that we are creative, we make new
species of animals and plants, we even make new elements, we
understand and harness the forces of nature, we terraform the
Earth, and we model our social systems on what we presume to be
"divinely ordained" laws and principles, taking "karmic
law/justice" into our own hands ("on Earth as it is in Heaven").
We are indeed little gods, and what we do now on a daily basis
would seem utterly miraculous to people of biblical times.
Earth tells us that life is one of the fundamental forces, that
life manifests where conditions permit, and that it is
characteristic of life to create, invent, explore, and spread. We
can expect that what is happening in our solar system is also
happening (or has/will happen) in similar systems throughout our
own galaxy and in the other galaxies of the Cosmos. The life force
is apparently a chemical sub-system of electromagnetism. Likewise,
"Information" is a universal characteristic of atomic systems,
resident in the atomic nucleus, electron shell, the chemical
elements of the Periodic Table, and all elaborated chemical
systems. There
is magic in the atoms, and it is called "life". The
fundamental ingredients of life (electromagnetism/Information)
being ubiquitous throughout the material universe, we expect life to
arise wherever conditions permit. The only question is what
form it takes in its various manifestations and evolutionary
pathways. Of particular interest is how common is technological
civilization? This is an especially knotty problem, as even on
Earth today we have stone-age cultures subsisting simultaneously
with rocket scientists and super-computers. Apparently, even when
all other conditions are suitable, a science-based technological
civilization may fail to evolve. And even if it does, it may
self-destruct, leaving no progeny behind. Nevertheless, the
fact that we have no alien visitors is only a testament to the
insuperable distances separating astronomical systems, and the
validity of Einstein's theories regarding the intractable problems
of extensive travel in spacetime, especially for living creatures.
We should be grateful for this isolation, however, as it protects
us from predatory invaders from elsewhere in our galaxy - think of
the "Borg" in the TV series "Star Trek". It seems very likely that
we will always have the Earth to ourselves, to do with as we like,
for better or worse. As for the other - apparently lifeless -
planets of our solar system, they are defining the limits of
habitable celestial real estate: too hot, too cold, too large, too
small, improperly constituted, etc. Of course some of these may
surprise us yet, but there is much to learn even from the sterile
failures.
What is the magic that infuses atoms and the information
pathway with life? Is it anything more than the ability of
DNA to replicate itself within a competitive, difficult
environment? All our art, science, religion and philosophy
testify that there is (at least potentially) more to life than
merely animal functions: eating, breeding, etc.; that beyond the
animal, humans have opened, and are expanding into, a new abstract realm of
knowledge, experience, and accomplishment, an intellectual,
abstract information domain even larger and more various than that
explored by molecular DNA before us, a domain that is pulling us
into unknown territory. Finally, life lifts the Universe above a
bare mineral existence, giving it self-conscious awareness, a
purpose, and a significance. As Tolstoy understood, the meaning of
life is found in the experience of life, both for the Universe and
for the individual. "God is life, and to love life is to love
God." Thou Shalt Grow! Reproduce! Explore! Create! Experience!
Celebrate!