Post by Catsmate on Aug 28, 2022 21:16:07 GMT
Quantum Effects in Time Travel
A collection of speculations and ideas.
Many terms and some concepts have been lifted from other works, e.g. the Time Wars novels and the Time Riders RPG, but most occur fairly common in time travel media.
Why yes, I do have a doctorate in physics, what gave it away?
Time Travel.
Time travel is possible because of the level of quantum uncertainly within normal space-time; because events are ‘fuzzy’ at the fundamental level, there is the possibility for matter and energy to be displaced, breaching local conservation of mass-energy.
However the level of uncertainly is itself variable, sometime unpredictably so.
The "nothing" of the vacuum of space actually consists of subatomic space-time turbulence at extremely small distances measurable at the Planck scale, the length at which the structure of space-time is dominated by quantum gravity. At this scale, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle allows energy to briefly decay into particles and anti-particles, thereby producing “something” from “nothing.”
And nothing is unstable. (just try tearing toilet paper)
Plasticity and Inertia.
The ability of time to be modified is referred to as it's plasticity and conversely the resistance to alteration is known as Temporal Inertia.. This varies across time and space; at some locations the flow of time may be wide and shallow, allowing for relatively easy minor alternations to "reality" but ones that have little futureward consequences. Other locations are narrower, deeper and faster flowing parts of the timestream where it's difficult to alter events at all, but if you do manage it things tend to flood outwards and change reality greatly.
Not knowing the difference can be bad for your health.
Obscurity
Time Travellers tend to ‘blend in’ because there is a degree of quantum "haze" about them, part of being out of their natural place in the timeflow.
Observer Effect
The more you know, the less you can do. Observing an event reduces the ambient uncertainty and hence makes it more difficult to change the event. So if one time traveller sees her companion fall off a cliff she may not run over to see the impact because that make it more difficult for her future self to pop back and save their life. If she wanted the companion plummet down and small themselves on the rock below and doesn't see (say) her differently dressed self grabbing him a few metres below the edge using a contragrav saucer and tractor beam then it becomes much more difficult to save them in this may in the future.
The better an event is known or studied the more difficult it is to alter it. Sometimes ignorance is good.
Limelight effect
If the level of uncertainty is itself variable (sometimes unpredictably so) then there are potential problems with time travel; repeated attempts to travel to a certain location in space-time alters the level of useful local uncertainty and hence makes it more difficult for others to appear there. Thus well known historical events are difficult to access, due to quantum effects caused by large numbers of efforts to travel there.
Clockhammering.
While time isn't exactly alive, sentient or sapient it's a sufficiently complex phenomena that, rather like the Gaia Hypothesis, it does have certain characteristics of a living system. Hence there are situations when "time" finds it easier to interfere , sometimes violently, with a time traveller’s actions in order to preserve the "normal flow" of time. Among seasoned temporal voyagers (those who've experiences and [more importantly] survived this phenomena with their personal reality reasonably intact) this is referred to this as "getting clockhammered" or (sigh) "clock-blocking". It can be unpleasant, irritating or fatal.
Some time travellers of a more mystical bent (or recovering mathematicians) attempt to avoid this unpleasantness by providing Time with an easier way to signal them than, say, causing them to be hit by a passing meteorite whose passage through the skull strangely resembles a .32 bullet wound. They have a set of dice or random number generator or comm app that they use. For example; "If all six of these dice show zero I'll change my plans". The theory is that altering the probability is "easier" for Time than other methods of deterring them from tampering with something they shouldn't.
This may or may not actually work; it certainly doesn't work if the person doesn't believe and intend to adhere to the belief sincerely.
It's an interesting quirk for a time traveller; rolls dice before important decisions.
Artron energy.
Temporal or Artron eneregy is analogous to electromagnetic or gravitational energy.
Objects have a certain natural level of chronons, of certain energy levels, depending on their natural position in space-time and it's ambient chronon level; elsewhen in the universe this is different from the ambient level and may be detectable.
In extreme cases objects, especially living beings with their great quantum potential (from the myriad of potential futures they can select from) can interact disastrously with objects from very different periods. Meeting yourself, as your Artron signatures will be very similar but different in intensity, is a particularly bad idea. This is known as the Limitation Effect.
You might find one of your selves (the one displaced from their 'natural' period usually) suffering effects such as:
Fating and Time Twisting
These are variations on the concept of interlinked causal chains.
Time Twisting is a common irritation for time travellers, encountering people out of the 'natural' sequence from the perspective of one or another. It can be amusing, annoying, horrifying or fatal.
Fating is more subtle; Time tends not tot waste major changes and something (or someone) that already has a destined place in future events shouldn't be moved in time. At the most subtle level this can mean that someone avoids meeting a time traveller due to minor coincidences, at the major end of the scale it can be fatal for a time traveller to meddle.
Such an object might, by the desperate, deranged or arrogant, be used as a shield of some sort. This rarely works well.
Causal Substitution.
The Observer Effect naturally (or at least as naturally as anything to do with something as fundamentally unnatural as time travel) leads to Causal Substitution. This refers to altering an observed event without actually altering the event as observed by making changes out of the view of any observers, to reduce the paradoxical impact. I refer you to certain events on the Plain of Sighs in Utah for an interesting example. Never throw away a useful duplicate, be it clone, shapeshifting robot or anything else.
Jonbar Hinge.
Within the quantum temporal framework there is the concept of the Jonbar Hinge. This is a point in space-time where the temporal potentials are reduced drastically; instead of a multitude of fairly similar possible outcomes from a certain action there are only a few, classically two, and they are very different. The probability wave is, if not collapsed, highly constrained. Altering history becomes both rather easy, and very dangerous.
Ontological artefact.
Something that has no creation, i.e. an object that is part of a causal loop or a stable, standing flicker or whose creation has been erased by alterations to the timestream. Always slightly odd, sometimes quite powerful and always beacons of Artron energy.
Such an artefact may be a person of course (e.g. Gandalf Grey). It's not actually common for time travellers to alter events to erase their own birth/creation or their access to time travel but it does happen.
Saving Appearance.
Related to the Casual Substitution but a far more dangerous technique is the Saving Appearance; where a time traveller comes to the aid of their earlier or later self via time travel.
This is rather dangerous at best and really, really, dangerous at worse. Though there are ways to mitigate the Limitation Effect (for example living for a long period in the past to allow one's artron signature to alter to match the ambient) including technological solutions; a wise traveller is a wary traveller.
A more subtle variation is the Ace in the Clock; using a device, information, or intervention organised by a future self to fix a problem, or escape from a situation.
Ace in the Clock.
A plan, device or cache hidden by a traveller in their future to aid themelf in the past. Having a friend impersonate a jailer, leaving a message in a newspaper ad, the possibilities are endless. As is the risk.
Fortean Flickers.
Time travel in general, and the more dangerous techniques especially, are notorious for creating Fortean Flickers, odd effects triggered by permanent alterations to space-time at a quantum level. These could be places where a radio picks up transmission from other periods, places or universes; rooms that are not where they should be (i.e. a door in an outside wall that leads to a room that's obviously not actually there, but is); a spot of a couple of square metres where it's always raining, or the weather is that of three hours in the future; a door that, when opened with one particular key, leads to a different room from than all the other keys.
These can also be artefacts in their own right; a coin that always lands heads up, except when tossed by a time traveller; a power-strip that delivers power even when not plugged in; a water bottle that looks and feels empty but when opened is always full, et cetera.
Hope this helps.
A collection of speculations and ideas.
Many terms and some concepts have been lifted from other works, e.g. the Time Wars novels and the Time Riders RPG, but most occur fairly common in time travel media.
Why yes, I do have a doctorate in physics, what gave it away?
Time Travel.
Time travel is possible because of the level of quantum uncertainly within normal space-time; because events are ‘fuzzy’ at the fundamental level, there is the possibility for matter and energy to be displaced, breaching local conservation of mass-energy.
However the level of uncertainly is itself variable, sometime unpredictably so.
The "nothing" of the vacuum of space actually consists of subatomic space-time turbulence at extremely small distances measurable at the Planck scale, the length at which the structure of space-time is dominated by quantum gravity. At this scale, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle allows energy to briefly decay into particles and anti-particles, thereby producing “something” from “nothing.”
And nothing is unstable. (just try tearing toilet paper)
Plasticity and Inertia.
The ability of time to be modified is referred to as it's plasticity and conversely the resistance to alteration is known as Temporal Inertia.. This varies across time and space; at some locations the flow of time may be wide and shallow, allowing for relatively easy minor alternations to "reality" but ones that have little futureward consequences. Other locations are narrower, deeper and faster flowing parts of the timestream where it's difficult to alter events at all, but if you do manage it things tend to flood outwards and change reality greatly.
Not knowing the difference can be bad for your health.
Obscurity
Time Travellers tend to ‘blend in’ because there is a degree of quantum "haze" about them, part of being out of their natural place in the timeflow.
- They’re not ‘invisible’ just somewhat less noticeable.
Observer Effect
The more you know, the less you can do. Observing an event reduces the ambient uncertainty and hence makes it more difficult to change the event. So if one time traveller sees her companion fall off a cliff she may not run over to see the impact because that make it more difficult for her future self to pop back and save their life. If she wanted the companion plummet down and small themselves on the rock below and doesn't see (say) her differently dressed self grabbing him a few metres below the edge using a contragrav saucer and tractor beam then it becomes much more difficult to save them in this may in the future.
The better an event is known or studied the more difficult it is to alter it. Sometimes ignorance is good.
Limelight effect
If the level of uncertainty is itself variable (sometimes unpredictably so) then there are potential problems with time travel; repeated attempts to travel to a certain location in space-time alters the level of useful local uncertainty and hence makes it more difficult for others to appear there. Thus well known historical events are difficult to access, due to quantum effects caused by large numbers of efforts to travel there.
Clockhammering.
While time isn't exactly alive, sentient or sapient it's a sufficiently complex phenomena that, rather like the Gaia Hypothesis, it does have certain characteristics of a living system. Hence there are situations when "time" finds it easier to interfere , sometimes violently, with a time traveller’s actions in order to preserve the "normal flow" of time. Among seasoned temporal voyagers (those who've experiences and [more importantly] survived this phenomena with their personal reality reasonably intact) this is referred to this as "getting clockhammered" or (sigh) "clock-blocking". It can be unpleasant, irritating or fatal.
Some time travellers of a more mystical bent (or recovering mathematicians) attempt to avoid this unpleasantness by providing Time with an easier way to signal them than, say, causing them to be hit by a passing meteorite whose passage through the skull strangely resembles a .32 bullet wound. They have a set of dice or random number generator or comm app that they use. For example; "If all six of these dice show zero I'll change my plans". The theory is that altering the probability is "easier" for Time than other methods of deterring them from tampering with something they shouldn't.
This may or may not actually work; it certainly doesn't work if the person doesn't believe and intend to adhere to the belief sincerely.
It's an interesting quirk for a time traveller; rolls dice before important decisions.
Artron energy.
Temporal or Artron eneregy is analogous to electromagnetic or gravitational energy.
Objects have a certain natural level of chronons, of certain energy levels, depending on their natural position in space-time and it's ambient chronon level; elsewhen in the universe this is different from the ambient level and may be detectable.
- With the right equipment time travellers glow.
In extreme cases objects, especially living beings with their great quantum potential (from the myriad of potential futures they can select from) can interact disastrously with objects from very different periods. Meeting yourself, as your Artron signatures will be very similar but different in intensity, is a particularly bad idea. This is known as the Limitation Effect.
You might find one of your selves (the one displaced from their 'natural' period usually) suffering effects such as:
- Temporary or permanent neural damage, loss of memories, phobias
- Prophetic dreams (usually effects the 'earlier' self)
- Death
- Temporal duplication, with a copy of the 'later' self dragged in from an adjacent universe to further complicate matters.
- Temporal displacement, with the 'later' self (usually) thrown elsewhen in time.
- Temporary or permanent insubstantiality or invisibility
- Temporary artron energy surge effects, including being surrounded by a slight glowing aura, frequent electrical discharges, feeling unusually hot or cold to touch
- Being repulsive to the temporally aware (Feel the Turn of the Universe)
- Fortean Flickers (see below)
Fating and Time Twisting
These are variations on the concept of interlinked causal chains.
Time Twisting is a common irritation for time travellers, encountering people out of the 'natural' sequence from the perspective of one or another. It can be amusing, annoying, horrifying or fatal.
Fating is more subtle; Time tends not tot waste major changes and something (or someone) that already has a destined place in future events shouldn't be moved in time. At the most subtle level this can mean that someone avoids meeting a time traveller due to minor coincidences, at the major end of the scale it can be fatal for a time traveller to meddle.
Such an object might, by the desperate, deranged or arrogant, be used as a shield of some sort. This rarely works well.
Causal Substitution.
The Observer Effect naturally (or at least as naturally as anything to do with something as fundamentally unnatural as time travel) leads to Causal Substitution. This refers to altering an observed event without actually altering the event as observed by making changes out of the view of any observers, to reduce the paradoxical impact. I refer you to certain events on the Plain of Sighs in Utah for an interesting example. Never throw away a useful duplicate, be it clone, shapeshifting robot or anything else.
Jonbar Hinge.
Within the quantum temporal framework there is the concept of the Jonbar Hinge. This is a point in space-time where the temporal potentials are reduced drastically; instead of a multitude of fairly similar possible outcomes from a certain action there are only a few, classically two, and they are very different. The probability wave is, if not collapsed, highly constrained. Altering history becomes both rather easy, and very dangerous.
Ontological artefact.
Something that has no creation, i.e. an object that is part of a causal loop or a stable, standing flicker or whose creation has been erased by alterations to the timestream. Always slightly odd, sometimes quite powerful and always beacons of Artron energy.
Such an artefact may be a person of course (e.g. Gandalf Grey). It's not actually common for time travellers to alter events to erase their own birth/creation or their access to time travel but it does happen.
Saving Appearance.
Related to the Casual Substitution but a far more dangerous technique is the Saving Appearance; where a time traveller comes to the aid of their earlier or later self via time travel.
This is rather dangerous at best and really, really, dangerous at worse. Though there are ways to mitigate the Limitation Effect (for example living for a long period in the past to allow one's artron signature to alter to match the ambient) including technological solutions; a wise traveller is a wary traveller.
A more subtle variation is the Ace in the Clock; using a device, information, or intervention organised by a future self to fix a problem, or escape from a situation.
Ace in the Clock.
A plan, device or cache hidden by a traveller in their future to aid themelf in the past. Having a friend impersonate a jailer, leaving a message in a newspaper ad, the possibilities are endless. As is the risk.
Fortean Flickers.
Time travel in general, and the more dangerous techniques especially, are notorious for creating Fortean Flickers, odd effects triggered by permanent alterations to space-time at a quantum level. These could be places where a radio picks up transmission from other periods, places or universes; rooms that are not where they should be (i.e. a door in an outside wall that leads to a room that's obviously not actually there, but is); a spot of a couple of square metres where it's always raining, or the weather is that of three hours in the future; a door that, when opened with one particular key, leads to a different room from than all the other keys.
These can also be artefacts in their own right; a coin that always lands heads up, except when tossed by a time traveller; a power-strip that delivers power even when not plugged in; a water bottle that looks and feels empty but when opened is always full, et cetera.
Hope this helps.