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Section D

Rotational Motion

  1. Another type of motion that is permitted by the postulates is rotation. Before such a motion can take place, however, there must exist something that can rotate; that is, there must be some identifiable unit that can be distinguished from the general progression. The photon is the only primary unit that meets this requirement, and simple rotation is therefore a rotation of the photon.
  2. Rotation is motion in which there is a continuous change in vectorial direction. Unlike the situation in simple harmonic motion, however, the scalar direction of the simple rotation remains constant. To illustrate this point, let us return to the automobile analogy, and this time let us assume that the car is operating on a circular track. The vectorial direction of this car is continually changing as it moves around the circle, but its scalar direction is constant. If the car starts moving forward, it continues to move forward.
  3. Inasmuch as vectorial directoin is not an inherent property of a motion, rotation cannot be distinguished from translation on the natural basis. Adding a unit of rotational motion in the positive scalar direction (the direction of the normal progression) to the photon would therefore result in a continuation of the progression, rather than an actual rotation. Thus, the photon can rotate only in the negative scalar direction. In the automobile analogy, the equivalent statement would be that for some reason the car can only run backward around the circle.
  4. A rotating photon is thus traveling backward along the line of progression, moving inward in space (or time).
  5. The vectorial direction corresponding to this inward (negative) scalar direction, like the vectorial direction of the non-rotating photon, is a result of viewing the motion in the context of an arbitrary reference system, rather than an inherent property of the motion itself. The vectorial direction is therefore determined entirely by chance in both cases. However, the non-rotating photon remains in the same absolute location permanently (unless acted upon by an outside agency) and the direction determined at the time of emission is therefore permanent. The rotating photon, on the other hand, is continually moving from one absolute location to another as it travels back along the line of progression, and each time it enters a new location, the vectorial direction is redetermined by the chance proess. Inasmuch as all directions are equally probable, the motion will be distributed uniformly over all directions in the long run. A rotating photon will therefore move inward toward all space (or time) locations other than the one that it happens to occupy momentarily.
  6. Since space and time locations cannot be identified by observation, neither inward nor outward motion can be recognized as such. It is possible, however, to observe the changes in the relations between the moving units and other physical objects. The photons of radiation, for instance, are observed to be moving outward from the emitting objects. Similarly, each rotating photon is moving toward all other rotating photons, by reason of the inward motion in space (or time) in which all participate, and the change in relative position in space can be observed. This second class of identifiable objects in the theoretical universe thus manifests itself to observation as a number of individual units which continually move inward toward each other.
  7. As in the case of the photon, the identification is obvious. The rotating photons are atoms. Collectively they constitute matter, and the inward motion in all directions is gravitation.
  8. In three-dimensional space, the fraction of the inward motion directed toward a unit area at distance d from an atom of matter is inversely proportional to the total area at that distance; that is, to the surface of a sphere of radius d. The effective portion of the total inward motion is therefore inversely proportional to dē. This is the inverse square law to which gravitation conforms.
  9. On the basis of the foregoing, gravitation in the theoretical universe being developed from the postulates is not an action of one aggregate of matter on another. Each atom and each aggregate of atoms is pursuing its own course independently of all others, but because each observable unit is moving inward in space, it is moving toward all others, and this gives the appearance of a mutual interaction. However, if we examine the characteristics of the force that each atom or aggregate appears to be exerting upon the others, we find that this is a force of a very peculiar nature. The gravitational "force" acts instantaneously, without an intervening medium, and in such a manner that it cannot be screened off or modified in any way. These observed characteristics are so difficult to explain theoretically that most theorists have taken the rather unscientific stand that the observations must, for some reason, be wrong, and that notwithstanding the observational evidence to the countrary, the gravitational effect must be propagated through a medium, or something with the properties of a medium, at a finite velocity. It is particularly significant, therefore, that the theoretical characteristics of gravitation, as derived from the postulates, are in full agreement with the observations. Motions which are totally independent of each other will necessarily have just the kind of characteristics that are observed in gravitation.
  10. In the foregoing paragraphs, it has been noted parenthetically that the gravitational motion may be regarded as a force. The relation between the two concepts can be illustrated by a simple example. Let us assume a motion x existing coincidentally with an equal and oppositely directed motion, y. In this case, we can either take the position that both motions exist and that one neutralizes the other, or we can say that there are two forces tending to cause motion, but that no motion results because the forces counterbalance each other.
  11. As noted in items 5 and 6, gravitation may take place either in space or in time. When it acts in space, the atoms of matter continue to occupy random locations in time, and vice versa. In an observable aggregate of matter the atoms are therefore widely dispersed in time even though they are are continguous in space. The inverse type of aggregate in which the atoms are continguous in time, but widely dispersed in space, is unobservable.
  12. In dealing with the magnitude of the gravitational effect, we will need to take into account this point that spatial locations have no independent existence. A spatial location is merely one aspect of a space-time location. Gravitation therefore moves the atoms of matter toward all space-time locations, even though the inward movement is limited to space. Because of the random locations in time, an aggregate of n units of motion occupies n widely dispersed locations in space-time. In the apparent interaction of an aggregate of n effective units of motion with one of m effective units, each of the n units is moving toward each of the m units, and the magnitude of the gravitational effect at unit distance will therefore be nm. The factors that necessitate the use of the term “effective” in the foregoing statement will make their appearance later in the development.
  13. All matter is subject to gravitation by reason of the same thing that makes it matter; that is, the rotational motion of the atoms. Gravitation is therefore the second of the basic motions (or forces) that determine the course of physical events.
  14. Each atom of matter is carried outward by one of these motions, the progression of the absolute location that it occupies, while coincidentally it is moving inward by reason of the other basic motion, the scalar effect of its rotation. The net resultant of the two opposing motions is determined by their relative magnitude. At the shorter distances, gravitation predominates, and in the realm of ordinary experience, all aggregates of matter are subject to net gravitational motions (or forces). But the motion of the progression is constant at unit speed, while the opposing gravitational motion is attenuated by distance in accordance with the inverse square law. At some distance, the gravitational limit of the aggregate of matter under consideration, the motions reach equality. Beyond this point, the net movement is outward, increasing toward the speed of light as the gravitational effect continues to decrease.
  15. All aggregates of matter smaller than the largest existing units are under the gravitational control of larger aggregates; that is, they are within the gravitational limits of these larger units. Consequently they are not able to continue the outward movement that would take place in the absence of the larger bodies. The largest existing aggregates are not limited in this manner, and according to item 14, any two such aggregates that are outside their mutual gravitational limits will recede from each other at speeds increasing with distance. In the observed physical universe, the largest aggregates of matter are galaxies, and the behavior of these galaxies is in full agreement with the theoretical behavior of the largest aggregates of matter in the theoretical universe. Current scientific opinion explains the observed recession of the distant galaxies by the ad hoc assumption of a gigantic explosion which hurled the galaxies out into space at their present velocities. The necessity for any such highly questionable assumption, with its accompaniment of difficult questions of a collateral nature, such as what caused the explosion, is eliminated by the theoretical finding that the galactic recession is a natural and logical result of the most basic properties of matter.
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