MOBILE VERSION

Randy Schulke (09/13/2025)

The Fundamental Nature of Spacetime Expansion
A New Hypothesis About Space & Time

Contents by paragraph:

Contents by paragraph:
      Newer changes appear highlighted.
1.   New spacetime enters the universe through matter.
2.   Outside the universe.
3.   Can the outside be found on the inside?
4.   The nature of new spacetime is to expand.
5.   Spacetime expansion has a limited range.
6.   Matter permanently exists inside a continuously expanding spacetime bubble.
7.   New spacetime enters the universe as a compacted dimensional unit.
8.   Matter is the three-dimensional matrix for new spacetime entering the universe.
9.   Once fully expanded, new spacetime becomes inert.
10. How it works: absolute rest, inertia, acceleration.
11. Newly emerging spacetime establishes a reference point for inertial and accelerating bodies.
12. Space and time are the same thing, but at different energy densities. Gravity's reach is limited.
13. Time does not pass in empty (inert) space.
14. Inert space cannot host relativistic effects.
15. Spacetime can directly interact with other spacetime, but only indirectly with matter.
      a. No two volumes of space can occupy the same volume of space.
      b. Time emerges internally, but world lines describe time as an external phenomenon.
      c. Does spacetime density support stretching or growing?
      d. Is inert space disorganized by the chaos of emerging spacetime?
      e. Cosmic expansion rate greater than redshift measurements suggest. Universe is larger than imagined.
16. Matter and inert space exist in their own realms, having an almost ghost-like relationship.
17. Spacetime can push and crowd other spacetime, but not matter. Spacetime is indivisible.
18. Newly emerging spacetime expands spherically as a seamless whole.
19. Subatomic particles, including light, seed the universe with new spacetime.
20. Crowding of expanding spacetime leads to other phenomena.
21. Paradoxically, expansion pushes galaxies apart and keeps them together at the same time.
22. The rate of expansion depends on the individual and collective size of mass relative to crowding.
23. Spacetime contraction means matter must conform to the density of spacetime.
24. Newton was right. Matter is relative to the surrounding spacetime, not the distant stars.
25. The process of expansion regulates temporal conditions similar to a master clock.
26. Newly expanding spacetime instantly builds dimensional structure ahead of matter.
27. Gravity drive: Inertia retains momentum, because it has a memory.
28. What is gravity again?
      a. Gravitational energy.
29. Spacetime can be classed as either active or inactive; spacetime or just space.
30. Active spacetime is the power of time to move forward. The arrow of time strictly exists.
31. Time is not a true fourth dimension.
32. The speed of expansion gives the impression of a fourth dimension.
33. Impossibility of time travel.
34. Light is a special problem.
35. Entanglement lets particles share the same moment in time, though separated by space.
36. Active spacetime and quantum fields.
~~  Ending comments.
~~  On a personal note.

Introduction
What began as a simple question about spacetime expansion quickly turned into an unexpected hypothesis, the basis of which rests upon the specific way spacetime increases its volume. However, what recommends this hypothesis even more are the other interesting and important topics expansion seems to touch upon. It offers an alternative view to cosmic stretching while at the same time casting a very different light on the concepts of space, time, matter, energy, gravity, inertia, momentum and even dimensions. At the very least, this hypothesis makes for an interesting journey of ideas.

Spacetime expansion is currently thought to occur by means of stretching whereby the density of spacetime ranges from one extreme (before the Big Bang) to another extreme (after the Big Bang). All apparently without the qualities or structure of spacetime changing during the stretching process, at least none that we know of. It is this unlimited ability of space and time to stretch that makes it such a difficult idea to accept.

Now the concept of stretching is one thing, but knowing that time evolves in only one direction means contraction makes no sense at all. Is it possible for spacetime to stretch its volume and dimensions indefinitely if not a complete void? Certainly something is missing in our understanding of spacetime. Can time undergo re-compression? What does that even mean? Yet, in the land of theories and hypotheses, just about anything is suggestible. And still we wonder, how can a house keep stretching, yet remain the same house in every detail, in every corner, at every scale without additional building material? Perhaps just as the sun has fusion, spacetime has an unknown inner dynamic that can sustain a nearly unlimited amount of stretching? Whatever the case, it still seems reasonable for expansion on such a vast scale as the cosmos to require a steady source of new material from which to build new volume and maintain its spacetime qualities.

Like cosmic stretching, this new hypothesis also begins with some very difficult assumptions to accept. Are they any less plausible than the unlimited stretching of space and time? Hopefully, time will tell. The hypothesis explained below attempts to follow these new assumptions to various conclusions about the properties of space and time with regard to cosmic expansion. Bear in mind that everything stated here is in the context of this hypothesis. As anyone who has ever tried to address such questions knows, hypotheses come and go like leaves on a tree.

A New Hypothesis About Space & Time
1. The foundational assumption of this new hypothesis is that matter functions as openings in the field of spacetime, allowing new spacetime to enter into our existing universe. It is new spacetime entering into our old universe that is ultimately responsible for cosmological expansion and the current size of the universe. This assumption is perhaps the most difficult to accept, because at present there is no direct evidence to support such a conclusion. But such is the nature of a hypothesis to explore the unexplored. Now the idea that matter can act as a doorway through space and time is not new. In fact, it has generated considerable scientific and entertainment interest for decades. A black hole is thought to possess space and time-bending properties that perhaps already act as spacetime doorways. Of course, it is not matter that is the doorway, but the curvature a black hole brings to the surrounding spacetime that creates the possibility of a doorway. The point is, if matter can produce the conditions for such a doorway, even a tiny doorway, who knows what might enter into our universe from the other side of that doorway? Why not spacetime? Perhaps spacetime is the only thing that can pass through such a doorway.

2. Also difficult to accept is the necessary assumption that the source of new spacetime must lie outside the known universe, or, one must consider that the infinitesimal is itself infinitely voluminous and perfectly hidden within the depths of matter. In either case, we don't actually know what matter is other than to presume it is a tiny opening of physical machinery weaving or following a dimensional structure in the fabric that is spacetime. Perhaps matter serves as a one-way passage between two different existences. Again, the concept of creating tunnels through space and time is not new. As for the infinitesimal, the subject of scale also comes into question considering where new spacetime might be coming from. Perhaps spacetime does not represent volume as we imagine it. Whether stretching or growing, having a source medium for cosmic expansion seems a logical if not necessary leap to explain the continuously increasing volume of the cosmos. Even the currently accepted concept of stretching on a cosmic scale needs a source or a better explanation for creating more spacetime out of nothing.

3. Can the outside be found on the inside? Traveling to the outside of the universe doesn't necessarily mean having to travel to the edge of the universe across untold billions of light years and impossible to reach, though that is one possibility. Outside might refer to locating something as simple as a doorway on the inside that leads to the outside. A camel passing through the eye of a needle would be comparatively easy to that same camel passing through the eye of a subatomic particle. So, outside can mean outside in the normal sense, or outside can mean scaled down to the point of being hidden within our own universe. Now we already accept that the dimensions of matter within a gravity field shrink compared to that same matter outside a gravity field. The theoretical concept of contraction has been around for over a century. Still, new material has to come from somewhere, and outside is as good a place to start looking as any. Maybe the outside is not just an empty room, a nothingness. Spacetime may represent one side of a curtain dividing the inside from the outside, or perhaps just this side from that side of an even grander universe. If spacetime represents a curtain without an edge, then it is not the edge we are looking for, but a way through the curtain. Perhaps matter is that doorway through the curtain.

4. Now the nature of new spacetime is to expand, and this expansion becomes the prime mover in the universe. In this hypothesis, as new spacetime begins its journey into our universe, it does so by expanding out of matter. The simple act of emerging from matter is a form of expansion. Expansion further assumes new spacetime's natural state is dimensionally compressed compared to spacetime in our own universe. Therefore, as new spacetime continuously emerges from matter, it exerts a powerful, expansive force into our universe at speeds greater than light that reaches far out into space very quickly. Because the power of time to evolve change comes through the energy of expansion, spacetime expansion becomes the prime mover in the universe. If motion defines energy, then the prime mover is the thing behind that energy that allows motion to continue to work. Expansion not only enables the continuing instant by instant movement of matter and energy through space, it is also responsible for the property of inertia which is explained later. Without the continuous process of expansion, the expression of time and motion in the universe would simply stop. Expansion is itself the expression of time, and is responsible for the growth of cosmic space.

5. New spacetime has a limited range of expansion, after which it stops expanding. When time, as the agent of change, emerges from matter as new spacetime and becomes sufficiently expanded, it stops expanding to become the inert volumetric structure of space itself, preserving its three-dimensional nature in the process. It still exists as a structure (space), but it has no more expansive energy remaining (time). This is what limits run-away expansion. New spacetime simply expends all of its available potential energy during the process of expansion, which predetermines the final volume of space it is capable of expanding into. When expansion stops, so too do the effects of gravity at a distance reach an end.

6. Matter is permanently enveloped within a bubble of newly expanding spacetime just as though time existed in a bottle. Incidentally, relativity says spacetime bends or curves around matter. This hypothesis says spacetime emerges from matter as a sphere and so is already curved. New spacetime expands outward as one continuous sphere from the matter it emerges from. If matter is the gateway for new spacetime to enter our universe, then it exists within its own continuously emerging and expanding spacetime bubble as well. It becomes a never-ending bubble streaming outward from the core of matter, allowing time and motion to progress. Consequently, every particle of matter exists within its own unique bubble universe. It's not just time in a bottle, it's existence as we know it in this universe in a bottle. A bottle that was uncorked at the birth of the universe.

7. New spacetime emerges into our old spacetime as a compacted dimensional unit. This compacted dimensional unit through expansion eventually acts as both space and time, with each aspect fulfilling a particular function at different stages of its expansion. In effect, space and time start out as the same thing, but the process calls for spacetime to transition into inert space in the end.

8. Matter acts as a three-dimensional matrix for emerging spacetime. Like everything else in this hypothesis, this idea represents a big conceptual leap, but it seems reasonable that any spacetime emerging from three-dimensional matter would also be three-dimensional. We are assuming that this is the reason why spacetime has only 3 dimensions and not 2 or 8, or some other number of dimensions. For the most part, the concept of individual dimensions is a man-made, geometric formalism. For example, there is no separating or distinguishing one spatial dimension from another. It cannot be done because there are no natural divisions or reference lines in spacetime itself for making such distinctions. It doesn't exist in nature. While matter can and does establish reference lines and points in spacetime, spacetime itself does not. Such geometric conventions have to be added to spacetime volume by man himself.

9. When fully expanded, volumetric space becomes inert. This is because fully expanded spacetime is left with zero original expansive energy. What was once a forceful combination of energy and dimensionality becomes an inert structure. However, the reach of new spacetime expansion, which is moving faster than the speed of light, provides a continuous quality of action eventually felt everywhere throughout the universe despite being in the midst of a sea of inert space. The quality of inert space is simply one aspect of spacetime. Again, space and time are two aspects of the very same thing. They are not spacetime in the traditional sense of space and time as co-joined dimensions, because in this hypothesis time is not a co-dimension of space.

10. How it works: A body is either centered, off-centered or moving off-center relative to the spacetime sphere emerging from it. A body at absolute rest will remain at absolute rest if the body remains at the very center of the spacetime sphere emerging from it. A body in motion will remain in motion if it is off-center relative to the spacetime sphere emerging from it. And lastly, a body that is accelerating will continue to move off-center relative to the spacetime sphere emerging from it. A non-accelerating off-centered body is how new spacetime is able to perpetuate the motion of a body in open space, otherwise known as the property of inertia. This is because the energy of acceleration is not lost or forgotten as some strange spacetime property of relativity. Instead, inertia expresses a geometric memory for just how off-centered matter is from its spacetime shell. Again, being completely centered means absolute rest. Being off-centered means inertial motion. And a body that continues to move off-center means acceleration.

11. Acceleration itself is the amount of energy necessary to continue pushing a body off-center relative to the spacetime sphere emerging from it. Four times the energy, double the speed. It is proportional to the speed of time, which is slightly faster than the speed of light. Expanding new spacetime itself becomes a point of reference for the moving body. To accelerate, a body must continuously overcome the resistance of spacetime expansion, relative to its mass, which always remains the same amount relative to the speed of the body. As a body accelerates, past spacetime shells can’t interfere with the present emerging shell, since they are all a part of the same stream of spacetime moving away from the body. The past is moving at superluminal speeds away from the matter it just emerged from. This is why the amount of resistance to acceleration is always the same. Every new instant in time is like starting over again, because it is. It makes a case for relativity. However, motion becomes relative only to the newly emerging shell of spacetime and not past spacetime shells or surrounding inert space. So relativity must be confined within the most current emerging shells of spacetime, which also extends to the fullest reach of gravity.

12. If time is the active component in spacetime, then inert space is what time becomes after it reaches the point of its greatest expansion and lowest energy. Space and time share the same quality of volume, but at different densities per unit volume. Of course, density relative to what? If new spacetime is compacted, compressed, folded up, then it means relative to space that has completely unfolded, unpacked and decompressed. This also means gravity has a limited range of influence rather than an infinitely diminishing range that never reaches zero, as the math suggests. At some distance, the strength of a gravity field reaches a functional point of zero, which is determined by the limited expansive energy of spacetime. This is because the effect of gravity itself depends on the rate of spacetime expansion. The rate of expansion and gravity are directly related. No expansive force, no gravity.

13. Because of the inert nature of fully expanded spacetime, time cannot pass in empty space. As time transitions into space, space alone becomes timeless and frozen without further expansive energy. Besides, what would the expression of time be in inert space? When spacetime transitions into inert space, it gives the universe a structured quality of distance and volume between matter. Inert space rests at a stable density and contributes to the cosmic process that allows our universe to continue expanding in a beautiful and orderly way.

14. Since volumetric space is inert, it cannot host or contribute directly to relativistic effects. Instead, relativistic effects can only result from the energy of expansion due to the emergence of new spacetime, which allow matter and energy in the universe to function between the parameters of space and time.

15. Spacetime can interact directly with spacetime, but only indirectly with matter and energy. Spacetime pushes directly against other spacetime, but it cannot push directly against matter which is always insulated by new, emerging spacetime. Though matter is the conduit for new spacetime to enter our universe, it is emerging spacetime that anchors matter through gravity and inertia within the surrounding inert space. A straight path remains a straight path. Any agitation to matter or light that might be caused by the emergence of other emerging spacetime is negligible due to the great speed and enormous energy with which new spacetime expands. Therefore, space must possess some quality of incompressibility if it can be pushed outward by new spacetime yet retain its volumetric quality at the same time. Either that or moving space can exert a force all the way to the edges of the universe instantaneously. Inert space is stuck between the irresistible force of expansion and the incompressibility of itself and surrounding inert space. However, spacetime can and does influence matter indirectly in the form of collective drag. It is the drag of spacetime against spacetime that causes entire galaxies to be carried away from one another, contributing to the further homogeneous expansion of the universe. Light is, well, light, and may be more affected by emerging spacetime because it is "massless", which may contribute to effects of scattering and interference. We are assuming that light moves nearly as fast as time, and expansion has more of an immediate impact on such bodies because of their tiny size and enormous speed, which increases their proximity to the emergent spacetime shell itself. For light to travel through inert space, it must host spacetime shells of its own just like matter does.

a. Inert space is both indivisible and incompressible. Indivisible to fit the observational fact that the cosmos has no apparent gaps, tears or blacked-out areas—spacetime has continuity. And incompressible because of the irreversibility of time. Space resembles a fluid in that it can change shape and is also incompressible. However, spacetime differs greatly from a fluid by being indivisible and because it only interacts directly with other spacetime, and only indirectly with matter and energy which exist within its volume. Because one volume of space cannot occupy another volume of space, expansion, through incompressibility, forces the medium of space to move outward. Were inert space compressible, expansion might be able to re-energize and recompress space back into spacetime, possibly producing reverberating effects and other phenomena. Though modern man has only existed for a few cosmic microseconds, there is no evidence to suggest the density of space and time can or does yo-yo back and forth.

b. Can time be represented by a line? Well, yes and no. It must be remembered, that conceptualizing the existence of a world line is actually an analogy, and not necessarily reality. It's easy to postulate that a body moving from A to B must scribe a line across both space and time. Indeed, slowing time with increasing speed links space and time in a mathematical relationship called spacetime. One simply cannot get from A to B without crossing space and time passing, and therein lies an important distinction: Time need not be external in order for time to pass. The passage of time can originate from the inside of matter moving outward, rather than existing on the outside as an all-encompassing co-dimension of space. What better place for time to emerge than through the subatomic machinery that lies at the heart of matter where existence as we know it begins? If internal, no co-dimensional timeline through space is being formed or is necessary, though this is not how we ordinarily perceive or experience a moving body through space and time. Time could still pass even without the surrounding dimensions of inert space. Time looks to be continuous and external and all enveloping like space, because it appears to be everywhere. It's a perfectly natural assumption for anyone to make. Now, matter at rest either moves along the dimension of time at the speed of light, or time is moving past matter at the speed of light. The point is, matter and time must move past one another for time to pass, which amounts to recognizing it as a physical property if not a principle. A block universe does not recognize time as an actionable series of events. It only recognizes the mental perception that the present moves forward somehow by following a world timeline. However one looks at it, both cases involve recognizing a dynamic relationship between the present and the future, but both are on totally different playing fields—one internal and one external. Emergent time cannot be part of an external 3+1 dimensional structure if time emerges internally. Instead of a world line snaking through space and time along a 4D grid, time is part of an internally emerging sphere that can express itself at multiple locations simultaneously along its curved surface. Time begins ticking internally at the very origins of the emerging spacetime sphere within matter. The process of time emanates from within each individual particle of matter through the constructive process of expansion.

c. If one assigns density to spacetime it can look like stretching, but is it? There is no doubt that the density of active spacetime literally scales. It scales the matter within it just as spacetime itself must be scaled. So, does scale translate to density, which in turn translates to stretching? Scaling sees the energy of time actually build the finished structure of inert space. Scaling cannot be an act of stretching like a gas expanding, but instead, a mechanism that generates and preserves scale. Since expansion means the construction of space and dimension itself, the reverse does not simply mean reversing the order of time and deconstructing space. To hit reverse one needs a time external to the universe, and there is no known natural mechanism for compressing or re-compressing space back into spacetime, nor do we control the near absolute power of expansion time possesses. Stretching takes a limited volume of something and lowers its density by increasing that volume. By contrast, time constructs the volume that is to become dimensional space itself. The energy of time, as the prime mover, puts everything in its proper place in the proper sequence as an act of constructive scaling, which is not an act of stretching. Consider this analogy: Imagine a packed container that has within it all of the materials needed to construct a house. As the container opens, all of the materials, part by part, begin assembling themselves according to the plans of the house and the constraints of the plan. Are the materials emerging from within the container stretching or growing, especially if the container represents a never-ending source of interconnected materials? Is density decreasing or is scaling constructing the property of density itself? In this hypothesis, density refers to a constructive potential of time to organize and assemble the natural structure of compacted spacetime transitioning into a fully expanded inert space. Keep in mind, that anything existing in a volume of contracted spacetime will itself be contracted accordingly, including density. The conventional understanding of density (including stretching) makes no sense when scale itself can shrink or enlarge measuring sticks, or alter the tick of a clock. That is how scale differs from conventional density with respect to stretching in this hypothesis. Be aware that I use the term 'density' rather loosely through out this hypothesis.

d. Is inert space disorganized? Simple answer, no. As fast as spacetime expansion is, it is bounded on all sides by other space and spacetime to conform to the general and orderly flow of space itself in the larger universe. Even the chaos that one might imagine exists within the atomic complex must be confined to a state of order that results in the repetition of processes. Even further, one could speculate whether such a concentration of high-speed interactions involving spacetime might give rise to what amounts to the establishment of physical laws or forces at the subatomic level, remembering that spacetime expands faster than the speed of light.

e. It is interesting to consider that in order for galaxies to be carried along by spacetime drag alone, space would have to extend far beyond the furthest galaxies in the universe, suggesting universal space may be much larger than is currently thought. Inching this concept further, the speed of spacetime expansion may be much faster than the rates of spacetime expansion calculated using redshifted galaxies as measuring sticks. These measurements tell us how fast the measuring sticks are moving, but not how fast spacetime itself is expanding. Again, if the movement of these galaxies is caused only by spacetime drag, then the actual speed of spacetime expansion should be faster. As an example, water moving continuously past a large iceberg in one direction will slowly begin to carry the iceberg in the same direction. However, the water is always moving faster than the iceberg because the iceberg's own mass resists the drag of the water flowing past it. Over time, the iceberg not only moves but actually accelerates. Of course, all of this presumes that spacetime really is expanding and the rate of expansion is actually increasing.

16. For spacetime to interact only with other spacetime is an important realization. In order for this to be true, spacetime must exist separately from the matter that is moving through it, and so it is as if matter exists within its own shell of existence. It is indeed strange because it appears that inert space exists in a ghost-like realm of its own, closed off from interacting with the matter that inhabits its volume. Inert space appears to exist in its own untouchable but very evident volume closed off from time and change. Without fleeting light to illuminate his mind, space is truly a black abyss for man.

17. Since, as a requirement, spacetime cannot pass through other spacetime, it must push against and crowd around other emerging spacetime. Accordingly, spacetime must be indivisible. It makes one wonder if time can somehow stay connected even across the vast expanse of inert space? Expanding spacetime pushes directly against the surrounding spacetime, presumably having an effect all the way to the edge of the universe if it exists. In fact, an edge must exist for expansion to take place, or is all the matter in the universe simply shrinking under its own internal pressure? As such, spacetime throughout the universe behaves as one giant flow constantly pushing outward, away from the matter it emerged from. All of the new spacetime entering our universe from all of the matter in our universe feed into and influence flows of space on an immense scale. Imagine a flow of lava on a planet with untold trillions of tiny active volcanoes. From these tiny volcanoes come more and more lava forming one large flow across the entire planet. Because the interior of the planet, mysteriously, never runs out of lava, the planet continues growing larger, causing the entire sphere to increase in size. Even though these tiny flows create pressure within the lava to move outward, the lava can't be divided nor flow over the top of the other lava due to dimensional limitations. It retains an orderly flow, and the past always recedes away from the present. The planet can only expand outwards in reaction to the continuous pressure. If we reverse this analogy, then our universe would be on the inside of the sphere, and the source of lava that is increasing the volume of our universe is squeezing in through matter from the outside.

18. Newly emerging spacetime expands spherically, which raises the question of how opposing spherical shells might join together to become a single mass. Do spheres eventually become cube shaped? Do they become separate cells closed off from other surrounding cells? Are spheres malleable and so are able to seamlessly squeeze together before transitioning into inert space? Well, none of the above. Emerging spacetime flows out of matter not as an independent shell but as part of a continuous three-dimensional flow. For example, when lava first emerges, it forms an ever-growing circle that spreads concentrically. But near the lava opening there are no definable concentric bands. All spacetime is part of a larger, contiguous flow that began at the beginning of the universe. There are no seams between shells. Everything is connected to everything else right from the beginning of matter, time and space.

19. Distant traveling particles, including light, continuously seed the universe with new spacetime. Subatomic particles travel to the furthest reaches of the universe at high speed, and in the process continuously seed the universe with new spacetime requisite with their mass.

20. Crowding of emerging spacetime leads to other phenomena. If we accept that spacetime, new or old, cannot pass through other spacetime, then crowding becomes a factor around such tightly formed masses as planets, stars and black holes. What crowding does is change the spacetime metric by retarding the advancement of expansion, which increases the strength of gravity. Basically, it is the force of expansion by one versus the force of expansion by the surrounding many. Whatever affects expansion affects the passage of time, which in turn affects the strength of gravity. The slower time moves, the greater the strength of gravity. We usually think that it is gravity slowing time, rather than slowing time producing gravity. On the other side of the coin, emerging spacetime pushes against empty spacetime, causing galaxies to be carried away from one another in spite of gravity's attractive influence. Again, it is the flow, or rather the drag, caused by the flow of spacetime against spacetime that forces galaxies to move away from one another. Because of their large and extensive mass, galaxies are simply caught in the even larger flows of spacetime moving outward to the edges of the universe. It only makes sense that at some unknown distance away from gravity, gravity must be overcome by the weakness of spacetime expansion.

21. Paradoxically, the very force that pushes galaxies apart (spacetime expansion) is the same force that holds them together. Each galaxy has an enormous outflow of emerging spacetime that pushes against every other galaxy around it. So galaxies are themselves, by virtue of emerging spacetime, literally pushing themselves away from one another. This very same pushing against one another is what pushes a galaxy's outer rim stars back towards the galaxy. Spacetime expansion works against gravity at larger scales. Perhaps it's possible that the streams and flows of inert space expanding the universe also contribute to the creation of galaxy clusters and other large structures in the observable universe. Spacetime expansion is a kind of dark energy and dark matter combined. Besides the universe itself, these huge volumes of space flowing outward in all directions must be the largest structures of all.

22. The rate at which spacetime enters the universe varies according to both the individual and collective size of the mass through which it is entering. General relativity collectively describes the geometry of gravity as a curvature of the spacetime metric that forms a sphere. In this hypothesis, crowding leads to a slowing of expansion and an increase in gravity. As gravity increases, the spacetime metric decreases. In addition, there may also exist some back pressure coming from the shear size of the universe into which new spacetime is pushing against. Or, there may be none at all, or possibly even a negative back pressure as the universe expands outward against nothingness. Perhaps spacetime is drawn into nothingness. Perhaps empty space experiences a degree of compression as new spacetime pushes outward in all directions. But any energy of compression could only come from the new energy of spacetime expansion surrounding matter, which would eventually be transferred outward to the edges of the universe, again leaving space inert.

23. As a property of spacetime, the contraction of matter must lead to the conclusion that matter conforms to the density of the spacetime it occupies. Any body existing in a condition of contracted spacetime, for example under acceleration or in a gravity field, must itself become contracted accordingly. Contraction is a real physical property. One would think light speed represents complete contraction, but since time is faster than light, contraction is never absolute nor time completely frozen at light speed. Time still passes for light, however slowly.

24. Spacetime emerging from matter means that the motion of a body is relative to spacetime as Newton first suggested, not relative to the stars as the concept of reciprocity seems to require. Matter that is relative to the spacetime metric expanding around it establishes a preferred inertial frame of reference. In pure relativity, inertia creates a completely relative and reciprocal relationship that does not allow for absolute or preferred motion. The inertial motion of one body is always completely relative and reciprocal to the inertial motion of another body. However, this new hypothesis implies absolute rest does exist, meaning that absolute motion also exists and inertia is its unfinished story.

25. Relativity suggests there is no master clock regulating time in the universe. Everything is relative, and time is not a function, it's a dimensional direction, albeit more abstract compared to the dimensions of space. If new spacetime emerges and expands at the same rate wherever matter is found in the universe, then the universe really does have a master regulator of time governing the cosmos. While it is not a single, external master clock of universal synchronicity, each individual particle of matter in the universe is regulated by the same internal clockwork. This is possible because absolute rest really does exist and, therefore, all clocks can be judged accordingly. That clockwork is based on the constant speed of spacetime expansion, which is the true regulator of the speed of time everywhere in the universe. If there is a single, universal clock for existence, it is not housed within our universe. Pure reciprocity, which derives from the principle of relativity, is, as yet, still hypothetical.

26. Spacetime expansion instantaneously (at the speed of time) creates the additional space necessary for the continued movement of a body along every segment of its path. Because of the way expansion works, space and time literally open up around matter to become the enabler of what might be called pre-intent with respect to motion. What pre-intent means is that everything in motion, inertial or accelerated, retains a memory of its most current speed and direction. The immediate future velocity of a body is predetermined and sustained by this memory, but this does not necessarily predestine a body or system to a certain outcome. If matter were like a moving train, then the expanding new spacetime bubble emerging from and surrounding the train is the track being laid immediately and continuously ahead of it. Laying this track gives the train the immediate freedom it needs to continue moving forward through space according to its inertial memory. How quickly that track is laid in front of the train is what sets the universal speed limit for matter and energy in the universe, which, appropriately, is the speed of time moving at the speed of spacetime expansion. Without new spacetime opening up a path ahead of matter, the train would instantly run out of track and stop. As a consequence, matter (the train) never comes into direct contact with old spacetime (inert space). Expanding dimensions ahead of the train literally opens up a new path through space and time, leading to the continuation of change. In both relativity and this hypothesis, the role of geometry is very profound. Matter and energy are constantly being reborn into what becomes their immediate future. The emergence of new spacetime just as well be existence itself unfolding before our eyes. Does spacetime present different properties and possibilities at different densities? Why not? As the diameter of the spacetime sphere enlarges from a near infinitesimal to a diameter greater than the sun in a matter of seconds, it must pass through a range of different possibilities as spacetime transitions to inert space. As density changes, so must its properties also change during the first few trillionths of a second of expansion through the subatomic depths of matter as it makes its way outward. Each individual subatomic particle within an atom must have its own spacetime shell. Having such a close proximity to one another perhaps helps explain the strong internal bonds atoms share. Particles at the very tiniest scale may be bound together in a single, powerful instant in time. Who knows what happens at such minute scales to matter and energy in terms of emerging spacetime?

27. Inertia retains momentum, and that momentum results in a gravity drive. It does this because of the persistent off-centered position of a body in inertial motion relative to the new spacetime sphere constantly emerging from it. When matter is off-centered, and therefore in motion relative to its emerging spacetime envelope, it creates the same geometric arrangement that slows time and results in gravity. This means it is gravity that sustains the continued motion of mass through spacetime and explains Newton's first law of motion. In a manner of speaking, matter is falling and continues to fall in the direction of its original motion exactly as if it were in a gravity field, but without the acceleration of an external field gradient or curvature. With inertia, the field gradient is internal to the spacetime shell, and therefore, specific to the body producing it. Thus, inertia is the straight-line equivalent of gravity. No inertial system is at rest until all of the matter within that system rests at the very center of their respective emerging spacetime shells. Relativity presumes both space and time serve as a dimensional exoskeleton for the cosmos. By contrast, this hypothesis presumes space alone is the exoskeleton and time is an internal, dynamic function specific to the matter it emerges from. The continuous flow and expansion of new spacetime is what keeps the universe moving forward in time, because after all, time is change, and change is dynamic, not static.

28. So, what is gravity again? Previously, we explained how Newton's first law of motion is really a consequence of gravity. For any body off-center relative to its emerging spacetime shell, motion is perpetuated through spacetime by inertia. In turn, that inertia is perpetuated by gravity. This concept neatly addresses gravitational effects produced by acceleration and inertia. Stationary gravity, on the other hand, such as gravity surrounding planets and stars, is only slightly more involved. When a body enters a gravity field, it encounters spacetime that is still expanding outwards from its source. It does so in the form of a standing geometric field gradient. The gradient, in this case, refers to the rate at which spacetime expansion increases with distance from its source. It is this gradient that induces a body to move and accelerate towards the source of gravity. If we ignore the spacetime shell emerging from a body while in a gravity field, the stationary gravity-field gradient forms a similar geometric arrangement that exists for an accelerating body. This geometric relationship is what causes a body to continue pushing downward even when it's already at rest against the surface of the gravity source. This is exactly what gravity does. The force of gravity gives weight to mass. If the energy of spacetime expansion is added back, the emerging spacetime shell of the body, for the most part, simply conforms to the stationary gravity field acting on the body in the first place. It is immediately subject to the same conditions and constraints of crowding that compose the stationary gradient. In this hypothesis, gravity is a true force, not a highly abstract quasi-dimensional direction.
      Now, this view of spacetime and gravity differs greatly from that of special and general relativity. It certainly contradicts the basic understanding of why and how gravity works the way it does. But whether or not this hypothesis technically violates relativity itself is uncertain.

a. The question of where the energy of acceleration due to gravity (gravitational energy) comes from is still an open question in science, other than to say energy, even potential energy, can be neither created nor destroyed. In this hypothesis, the energy of gravitational acceleration comes from the energy of spacetime expansion itself. Expansion is new energy pouring into our universe. Newly emerging spacetime already possesses the energy to expand space and process change, which energy it carries into our own universe from wherever it originates. Expanding spacetime does not just facilitate and finalize change itself; it is a perpetual source of energy animating the entire universe.

29. This hypothesis recognizes spacetime existing in one of two states: active or inactive. Space and time differ in energy content, which is directly related to its compressed dimensional density. Otherwise space and time appear to be the same thing. Time is space with energy, space is space minus that energy. Time is space compacted, space is time fully expanded. When the moment of time's expansion is over, when spacetime has transitioned into space alone, what is left behind becomes the apparently structured volume of the cosmos. What was active spacetime turns into inactive, inert space. We can say that active spacetime processes change beginning at the very core of matter, and time is a function of expansion that performs that work. Active spacetime represents a creative action almost like being born again into the future on an instant by instant basis. On the other hand, inactive spacetime is an inert medium that serves to give us the properties of distance and the perception of freedom to move. Inactive spacetime establishes a stable, but inert volumetric medium. Once expansion is complete, active spacetime transitions into inactive spacetime to become inert, volumetric space. It is the nature of active spacetime to transition into inactive spacetime. Inactive spacetime is the empty though indivisible, semi-rigid shell left over after expansion is complete. It has all of the qualities one associates with space, but it acts as a dimensional structure of inert space that has accumulated to become the sparkling, clear, universe we observe today. Is it possible that expansion just means energy is dissipating into a true void and that there is no spatial structure at all? Well, how does one explain universal expansion or entanglement without the existence of some type of spatial structure or organization? In the volcano analogy, lava flows because its heat energy makes it plastic and semi-fluid-like. When that heat energy is gone, it becomes a rigid solid. Energized or de-energized, lava and stone are the same thing.

30. Active spacetime is an energized microcosm of space and time with compressed dimensional properties. As such, active spacetime can have no external extension into an extra dimension of time. It has only internal extension back towards the matter it emerged from. While space is a three-dimensional structure, time is the energy itself required to fully expand space's three-dimensions. Consider another analogy: A pressurized hydraulic cylinder is designed to exert maximum pressure in one direction. Part of its power lies in the tiny high pressure orifice that leads to the expansion chamber, forcing the piston to move. Similarly, the flow of new spacetime into our universe is energized via expansion and travels in only one direction through the pinholes that are matter in the medium of spacetime. This perspective of time offers another reason why there exists an arrow of time. The question is not, can nature work in reverse? But why nothing in nature ever does work in reverse?

31. In reality, time is not a fourth dimension. It is, in fact, a fourth mathematical parameter used to describe the quantity of time together with the three dimensions of space. Newly expanding spacetime creates new volume faster than the speed of light, which gives the appearance, experimentally, of having the quality of a dimension. Keep in mind that, other than describing change over duration, there is no explicit definition of what time actually is. Is time a hidden, static dimension, or a quality of action? Time can be characterized in many ways, but there is nothing definitive we can put our finger on other than to say time means change. The nature of time is still the subject of many rousing debates among scientists. Time is still an orphan in search of a parent.

32. Time is perceived to be a dimension because of the tremendous speed of spacetime expansion, but it is a concept literally created on borrowed time. The extension, or dimension, that is perceived as time is actually an extension that is being created instant by instant, present by present, faster than the speed of light. It is as if a room, while being measured, is being created at the same time. The room before it is measured doesn't exist, but when the room is measured, experiment shows that, indeed, the room exists. If this is the case, time is a pseudo-dimension, but still works as a valid dimensional parameter in mathematics to describe motion.

33. Because the expression of time is a dynamical process and not a dimensional location on a 4D grid, time travel is impossible. Without an actual fourth dimension, there is no room to house past and future events. Time only holds a tentative potential for the future, not an inevitability, and it holds nothing of the past. Since time is not a dimensional repository of the past or future, the past, present and future are always now. Only our memories serve up the past, and only our accumulated wisdom can be applied to direct our futures, but do strike while the iron is hot, for the present is the only tool we have to bring change to our immediate futures.

34. Light is complex and difficult to understand. It has particle-wave duality, is massless, moves near the speed of time and requires an explanation of the electromagnetic forces. Based on this hypothesis, we assume that the uniform components of light form a series of entangled particles that spread out longitudinally across an expanding spacetime field, then collapse into a single particle or point when absorbed or measured as might be expected for entangled particles. These waves are restricted in amplitude by the distance spacetime is able to expand as the wave is being formed. Like matter, light must cut its own path through space while remaining entangled as a wave form in its own time frame. The components of the wave are entangled through time, while remaining localized due to the size of their emerging spacetime shells.

35. Entanglement is described as being when two or more particles become linked together in a way that stretches across space but not time. Because of the way time emerges and expands in this hypothesis, two or more particles can share the same instant in time without occupying the same location in space. If correct, this concept opens the door to some interesting implications. For example, how a particle can be in two places at the same time.

36. In this hypothesis, quantum fields in spacetime are inherently present due to spacetime expansion, which provides an energy potential for all interactions. Such interactions create clouds of particle entanglement. That is to say, the energy of expansion is responsible for the creation and presence of energy fields in spacetime that can support entanglement, and are present during all particle interactions. Because expanding spacetime is perpetually emerging from matter and energy, there is no escaping its influence during experimentation. There will always be quantum fields present in a spacetime laboratory. As active spacetime transitions into inert space, the quantum potential drops to zero, because in inert space time does not pass. Inert space can contain no fields composed of matter and energy interactions. However, no one knows what other effects, if any, inert space might produce as it undergoes changes in shape under the pressure of spacetime expansion. It's interesting to consider that if the bonds of entanglement can reach across the cosmos to the very beginnings of existence, subatomic interactions in our little corner of the universe might be influenced by subatomic interactions happening on the other side of the universe in real time, and vise versa.

Ending comments:
Strange as it might seem, quantum fields and spacetime have always appeared to be isolated one from the other. And for nearly a century, this has been a headache for physicists trying to unite particle physics with general relativity to create a single, universal theory. It is noteworthy that while the very successful standard model has evolved over the decades, relativity (our modern foundational understanding of space and time) hasn't changed one iota in more than a century, so polished a stone has it become.

On a personal note:
Having carried these assumptions this far, I look forward to the opinions of others more learned than myself to determine whether this hypothesis has any merit going forward or not. I wouldn't normally post to the web, but it's the only method of review for amateurs.

There are many different conceptual avenues yet to be explored in this hypothesis, and, trust me when I say that it is very, very difficult to find assumptions, any assumptions, that are actually correct. Suffice it to say, this is the only hypothesis in 17 years that has not been shelved or fallen off the drawing board and into the waste-basket. However, the goal is, and always has been, to get to the bottom of how time and space work so that we can move forward, so that we can finally say, "I know what time is."

      Please note I am not an advocate for any kind of pseudoscience, buck-the-establishment fringe theories, philosophical ramblings, or those who simply cannot give up their own ideas when confronted with reasonable facts to the contrary. The inability to let go of an idea that does not work is a pretty good indication of a pot developing a crack, and being highly educated or intelligent does not automatically bestow immunity.

      It is surprising how many average, well-meaning people start with the assumption that all concepts are equally possible and, therefore, have equal validity. But such an open-ended perception could not be further from the truth. This is something amateurs, especially, should keep in mind.

      Perhaps the beauty of knowledge, real or illusory, is a deception we all willingly allow ourselves, and more especially so when the inspiration for an idea originates within our own minds. For some, giving up their cherished ideas is like throwing out a beloved child. However, learning to shelve untenable ideas and move on is both necessary and beneficial, though, given enough time, we all suffer as fools.

Amateur Theorist's
Notebook

Or, Bed Time Stories for Theoretical Physicists