Abstract
Inertial mass is detected on Earth only when matter is accelerated or decelerated. Recently evidence has been reported for a low-level velocity oscillation with a period of 39 ± 1 Mpc (127 ± 3 Myr) superimposed on the Hubble flow. Like the Hubble flow, this oscillation is assumed to be an expansion and contraction of space itself. If space is oscillating as it expands and the Hubble flow contains a superimposed velocity ripple, matter on Earth will experience alternating accelerations and decelerations relative to the rest of the matter in the Universe. The acceleration curve can be obtained from the velocity oscillation curve simply by taking the magnitude of the derivative of the velocity curve and the acceleration curve is found here to have a period of 63.5 ± 1.5 Myr. Evidence has also been claimed recently for a ubiquitous ~62 ± 3 Myr periodic fluctuation superimposed on general trends in the fossil biodiversity on Earth. The periods of the acceleration curve oscillation and fossil biodiversity fluctuations are thus identical within the errors. A second, weaker fluctuation is also detected in both the Hubble flow and fossil biodiversity trends. They too have identical periods of ~140 Myr. From this excellent agreement, it is argued here that it is the oscillation in the Hubble flow, through an inertia-like phenomenon involving all the matter in the universe that has produced the fluctuations in the fossil biodiversity on Earth. This may represent the first instance where observational evidence supporting Mach’s Principle of Inertia has been found.
Highlights
Ernst Mach argued that inertia could only be explained if all the masses in the universe were somehow connected, and the means by which such action-at-a-distance can occur has had a long history in physics [1] [2].How to cite this paper: Bell, M.B. (2015) Mach’s Principle of Inertia Is Supported by Recent Astronomical Evidence
In case it is possible that all the matter in the Universe is somehow interconnected, as has been suggested in the inertia phenomenon, one can speculate that the fluctuations in the velocity of the Hubble flow with time might influence life on Earth in real time, and it is of interest to examine these results more closely
We examine if the velocity oscillation we have observed to be superimposed on the Hubble flow might be the true source of the ~62 Myr periodic fluctuation superimposed on general trends in fossil biodiversity
Summary
Ernst Mach argued that inertia could only be explained if all the masses in the universe were somehow connected, and the means by which such action-at-a-distance can occur has had a long history in physics [1] [2]. Evidence was reported for a low-level oscillation with a period of 39 ± 1 Mpc superimposed on top of the Hubble flow [5] when intrinsic redshift components were identified and removed from the redshifts of the SNeIa sources studied by [6]. This increase is expected to continue to much larger distances, it may not be possible to identify the intrinsic components at large distances because of increasing uncertainties in the cosmological parameters. In case it is possible that all the matter in the Universe is somehow interconnected, as has been suggested in the inertia phenomenon, one can speculate that the fluctuations in the velocity of the Hubble flow with time might influence life on Earth in real time, and it is of interest to examine these results more closely. We examine if the velocity oscillation we have observed to be superimposed on the Hubble flow might be the true source of the ~62 Myr periodic fluctuation superimposed on general trends in fossil biodiversity
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