I have a question.
Imagine a graviton shielded box, that is, a box that shields its contents from the force/effect/emergent-feature of gravity itself. When considering all the related relative effects that disassociating oneself from the geometry of spacetime may entail, what, if anything, might happen to onions (or other objects) placed inside? Once the box holds something that has mass but no longer interacts normally with spacetime, what properties might the box now possess? For the purposes of this question we can assume the box is indestructible. Thanks in advance.
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brb Monkhouse Stampede, Tue 16 Jan 2024, 22:25,
Reply)
I did the only thing possible when faced with such a question.
I asked Google's bot.....
The concept of a graviton shielded box, while fascinating, delves into realms of theoretical physics where our current understanding is still evolving. There are different ways to approach this thought experiment, each with its own set of intriguing possibilities:
Effects on objects inside the box:
Time Dilation: If the box truly disassociates itself from spacetime, time inside could pass at a different rate than outside. Onions placed inside might age slower or faster, depending on the relative time dilation.
Inertial Isolation: Objects within the box would be free from the influence of external gravitational forces. They wouldn't fall or experience weight, though any internal forces (like the onion's own structural cohesion) would still operate.
Quantum Uncertainty: Since gravity plays a role in collapsing wave functions, removing an object from the influence of gravity might lead to increased quantum uncertainty within the box. Onions inside might exist in a superposition of multiple states simultaneously.
Exotic Phenomena: Depending on the specific mechanism of the shielding, exotic effects like antigravity or even repulsive spacetime distortions could occur within the box, potentially altering the physical properties of the onions or even causing them to disintegrate or rearrange in unusual ways.
Properties of the box itself:
Mass and Inertia: If the box truly holds something with mass but no longer interacts with spacetime, it might violate fundamental principles of physics like the equivalence principle. This could lead to paradoxes or inconsistencies in how the box interacts with the surrounding universe.
Motion and Spacetime Curvature: The box itself might become completely invisible or undetectable, as it wouldn't interact with light or gravitational waves. Additionally, its movement wouldn't cause any spacetime curvature, effectively making it a "ghost" in the fabric of reality.
Energy Requirements and Stability: Maintaining such a shield against the fundamental force of gravity would likely require enormous amounts of energy. The source and sustainability of this energy would be a significant challenge. Additionally, the integrity of the shield against external forces or internal instabilities would be a major concern.
It's important to remember that the concept of a graviton shielded box pushes the boundaries of our current scientific understanding. While some of the proposed effects might be theoretically possible, they haven't been observed or experimentally verified. This thought experiment serves as a reminder of the vastness of the unknown and the ongoing quest to explore the mysteries of gravity and spacetime.
Ultimately, the true nature of what might happen to onions or the box itself within a graviton shielded enclosure remains a realm of fascinating speculation and a testament to the power of human imagination in exploring the frontiers of physics.
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TBL I posted this on, Wed 17 Jan 2024, 13:20,
Reply)
In the future we roll our eyes
at the notion of gravitons and aether. Turns out it's merely a function of spacetime compression and proximity. The equivalence principle (gravitational and inertial mass) was the big clue, iirc.
(, Wed 17 Jan 2024, 23:53, Reply)
The contents would appear to simply vanish, leaving a vacuum
Gravity and time are so deeply linked that you have imagined a box where time does not proceed inside it, but the box proceeds through time. The contents stay where they are (in time), yet the box moves forwards, so the box would appear to become empty.
Of course, as soon as the box moves forwards it no longer protects the contents, which would then start to experience time and gravity again, just not in the same moment as they used to. It will never catch up with the moment we are in, as that would require it to move faster than C.
I adhere to the theory that our universe was formed from a black hole in a previous universe, and as such 'forwards in time' is 'inwards, away from the event horizon', which would appear infinitely hot and dense, as we observe. Thus, time itself is caused by gravity and so if you eliminate gravity affecting an object, you stop time affecting the object and the universe would move on without it.
This is, of course, impossible.
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My Name was saying these words inside your head on, Sat 20 Jan 2024, 17:13,
Reply)
So you imagine the box as a kind of hole
that cancels the speed/velocity/momentum/inertia relative to the universe of objects dropped into it. I can get behind that.
The vanishing part doesn't seem to work for me though. Light experiences no time, yet there's tonnes of the stuff all over the place, it has energetic properties we can measure, it doesn't vanish by virtue of being massless and timeless.
My magic box is indestructible, so how are the objects escaping?
If there's no time in the box, wouldn't objects placed inside be frozen in time (like they're inside a scifi stasis field)?
I think the moment the onions are secured in the box, they stay forever fresh and either 'propel' the box (by virtue of rejecting/exiting the local/universal reference frame) at a decent percentage of C, or bestow antigravity and/or other properties of exotic matter to the box, or both.
Or they explode.
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brb Monkhouse Stampede, Sat 20 Jan 2024, 17:59,
Reply)
No
That's not what I imagine, I imagine time to be the same as proposed by Einstein. In that theory, we all constantly move forwards through time at the speed of light, but this motion is a vector shared by our speed through space, so the faster you move through space, the slower you move through time (to an external observer).
Your question is a category error because in essence it is 'imagine an impossible thing, what would happen in the real world if this impossible thing existed'. My answer is that there would be something akin to an event horizon inside the box, just like happens in the only place we know of in the real world where time stops, at the edge of a black hole. The contents would vanish and never interact with our universe again.
Your 'magic box' is only sealed in 3 dimensions, there are quite a few more than that. There is also more than one way to conceptualise time stopping. One is how you imagine it, where you continue to move forwards through time at the speed of light, but your internal clock stops. The other way is that your internal clock does not stop, but you do not move forwards through time while the rest of the universe does.
Imagine it this way, you have created a volume where anything placed in it remains at the point in time and space where+when it was placed inside. When we move on, and it is now 1 second later, where is the onion? It exists 1 second ago, and we cannot see it, to us, it simply vanishes.
Mind your fingers putting the onion in.
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My Name was saying these words inside your head on, Sun 21 Jan 2024, 10:47,
Reply)