Abstract
We put forward a new view of relativity theory that makes the existence of a flow of time compatible with the four-dimensional block universe. To this end, we apply the creation-discovery view elaborated for quantum mechanics to relativity theory and in such a way that time and space become creations instead of discoveries and an underlying non temporal and non spatial reality comes into existence. We study the nature of this underlying non temporal and non spatial reality and reinterpret many aspects of the theory within this new view. We show that data of relativistic measurements are sufficient to derive the three-dimensionality of physical space. The nature of light and massive entities is reconsidered, and an analogy with human cognition is worked out.
Highlights
Unlike most approaches, we will not attempt to build relativity theory (Einstein 1905a, b; Minkowski 1915; Einstein 1916, 1920, 1952; Misner et al 1973) from as small a set of axioms as possible
It is in a conversation with relativity theory as it is usually perceived, taking into account insights from quantum theory and being open to intuitions beyond, which allows us to put forward a new view of the physical reality described by relativity theory, giving rise to a possible understanding of the deep conceptual problems of interpreting the nature of this physical reality
We have not yet specified anything about the nature of the physical entities, and will do so just to make the situation easier to imagine. We suppose that both entities are pieces of matter with masses mA and mB and we indicate by ðxA1 ; xA2 ; xA3 Þ and ðxB1 ; xB2 ; xB3 Þ their centers of mass, respectively, indicating their places— by introducing three numbers to indicate these centers of mass, we already prelude the fact that we will start considering more complex situations where at least one of the physical entities moves with respect to the other, and kind of prelude that there are three orthogonal dimensions describing how such a movement can take place, but these are not essential elements, and rather introduced here to keep our analysis simple enough to be able to focus on the core of the matter
Summary
We will not attempt to build relativity theory (Einstein 1905a, b; Minkowski 1915; Einstein 1916, 1920, 1952; Misner et al 1973) from as small a set of axioms as possible Such an axiomatic construction is very valuable, we believe that it keeps at least some of the essential aspects of ‘understanding’ hidden, because of the excessive focus on the physical content of the specific axioms that constitute a minimal set. It is in a conversation with relativity theory as it is usually perceived, taking into account insights from quantum theory and being open to intuitions beyond, which allows us to put forward a new view of the physical reality described by relativity theory, giving rise to a possible understanding of the deep conceptual problems of interpreting the nature of this physical reality
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