Relativity / Spacetime / Action -> Reaction? Scientific Law by Carter Svensson

Introduction

To start off with, picture me flipping a coin up in the air, catching it, and then covering it up immediately. One of two outcomes is possible - either the coin turned up heads or it turned up tails. However, the only way to prove this is by removing my hand and revealing what side the coin turned up on (a point of reference). If I decide not to remove my hand and keep the coin hidden, then both outcomes remain possible. Because neither outcome is proven, both events (heads flipping up or tails flipping up) occur simultaneously.

This example introduces the idea that actions have consequences only when a point of reference is present. With any action, there is always a reaction; however, in order to prove a reaction, a point of reference is needed. Without a point of reference, any and all possible outcomes occur simultaneously.

I now want to give you a background on a few different things. First of all:

Electromagnetism
The electromagnetic force is the one responsible for practically all the phenomena encountered in daily life, with the exception of gravity. All the forces involved in interactions between atoms can be traced to the electromagnetic force acting on the electrically charged protons and electrons inside the atoms. This includes the forces we experience in "pushing" or "pulling" ordinary material objects, which come from the intermolecular forces between the individual molecules in our bodies and those in the objects. It also includes all forms of chemical phenomena, which arise from interactions between electron orbitals.


Newton’s Laws
First Law: "An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force" or "A body persists in a state of uniform motion or of rest unless acted upon by an external force."
Second Law: "Force equals mass times acceleration" or "F = ma."
Third Law: "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Interaction
Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect. A closely related term is interconnectivity, which deals with the interactions of interactions within systems: combinations of many simple interactions can lead to surprising emergent phenomena. Interaction has different tailored meanings in various sciences. All systems are related and interdependent. Every action has a consequence.
In physics, a fundamental interaction or fundamental force is a process by which elementary particles interact with each other. An interaction is often described as a physical field, and is mediated by the exchange of gauge bosons between particles. For example, the interaction of charged particles takes place through the mediation of electromagnetic fields, whereas beta decay occurs by means of the weak interaction. An interaction is fundamental when it cannot be described in terms of other interactions. There are four known fundamental interactions in Nature: The electromagnetic, strong, weak, and gravitational interactions. The weak and electromagnetic interactions are unified in electroweak theory, which is unified with the strong force in the Standard Model.
Example: If we were examining the effect of two variables, gender and premature birth, on health outcomes, we would describe any difference in health outcome scores between genders as a main effect. Similarly any difference in scores of full term/premature birth would be described as a main effect. The presence of an interaction effect implies that the effect of gender on health outcome varies as a function of premature birth status.

Length Contraction

In order to explain this, I’m going to make you picture the following two scenarios:

1. You are standing completely still at the side of a highway. A car passes you about 100ft away travelling at the speed of 10 miles per hour. You are able to see the car in full detail and can determine what you believe to be its general size (height, length, width) with respect to where you stand (still). The same car turns around at the end of the road and this time passes by you at the speed of light. This time, you are only able to witness the car for such a brief amount of time, that your perception of the car is that it shrunk considerably from the size it had been the last time you saw it. This is the general idea of length contraction – the appearance of an object relative to a still observer will contract depending on the speed at which the object travels past the observer.
2. You now are running parallel 100ft away from the car at the same speed of 10 miles per hour. The car remains unchanged in terms of how you perceive its height, length, and width. Now, both you and the car simultaneously speed up to the speed of light. Your perception of the car will not change – it will still remain (in your perception travelling parallel to it at light speed) the same height, length, and width.

The conclusion of these two scenarios you should have taken is this: Depending on how you are observing an object and how fast that object is moving relative to yourself, the size of the object will change (contract, expand, or remain unchanged).

Proper Time
In relativity, proper time is time measured by a single clock between events that occur at the same place as the clock. It depends not only on the events but also on the motion of the clock between the events. An accelerated clock will measure a proper time between two events that is shorter than the coordinate time measured by a non-accelerated (inertial) clock between the same events. The twin paradox is an example of this effect. By contrast, coordinate time is the time between two events as measured by a distant observer using that observer's own method of assigning a time to an event. In the special case of an inertial observer in special relativity, the time is measured using the observer's clock and the observer's definition of simultaneity. A Euclidean geometrical analogy is that coordinate time is like distance measured with a straight vertical ruler, whereas proper time is like distance measured with a tape measure. If the tape measure is taut and vertical it measu! res the same as the ruler, but if the tape measure is not taut, or taut but not vertical, it will not measure the same as the ruler.

Time Dilation

Now that you understand length contraction, the next part is time dilation. Consider the following:
Time dilation can arise from (1) relative velocity of motion between the observers, and (2) difference in their distance from gravitational mass.
(1) In the case that the observers are in relative uniform motion, and far away from any gravitational mass, the point of view of each will be that the other's (moving) clock is ticking at a slower rate than the local clock. The faster the relative velocity, the more is the rate of time dilation. This case is sometimes called special relativistic time dilation. It is often interpreted as time "slowing down" for the other (moving) clock. But that is only true from the physical point of view of the local observer, and of others at relative rest. The point of view of the other observer will be that again the local clock (this time the other clock) is correct, and it is the distant moving one that is slow. From a local perspective, time registered by clocks that are at rest with respect to the local frame of reference (and far from any gravitational mass) always appears to pass at the same rate.
(2) There is another case of time dilation, where both observers are differently situated in their distance from a significant gravitational mass, such as (for terrestrial observers) the Earth or the Sun. One may suppose for simplicity that the observers are at relative rest (which is not the case of two observers both rotating with the Earth -- an extra factor described below). In the simplified case, the general theory of relativity describes how, for both observers, the clock that is closer to the gravitational mass, i.e. deeper in its "gravity well", appears to go slower than the clock that is more distant from the mass (or higher in altitude away from the center of the gravitational mass). That does not mean that the two observers fully agree: each still makes the local clock to be correct; the observer more distant from the mass (higher in altitude) makes the other clock (closer to the mass, lower in altitude) to be slower than the local correct rate, and the observer ! situated closer to the mass (lower in altitude) makes the other clock (farther from the mass, higher in altitude) to be faster than the local correct rate. They agree at least that the clock nearer the mass is slower in rate, and on the ratio of the difference. This is gravitational time dilation.
Reference Frames
Relativity theory depends on "reference frames". The term reference frame as used here is an observational perspective in space at rest, or in uniform motion, from which a position can be measured along 3 spatial axes. In addition, a reference frame has the ability to determine measurements of the time of events using a 'clock' (any reference device with uniform periodicity).
An event is an occurrence that can be assigned a single unique time and location in space relative to a reference frame: it is a "point" in space-time. Since the speed of light is constant in relativity in each and every reference frame, pulses of light can be used to unambiguously measure distances and refer back the times that events occurred to the clock, even though light takes time to reach the clock after the event has transpired.



NOW WE CAN FINALLY BEGIN

Now that you have read the above, you probably are already starting to see the picture and don’t really need me to explain everything. But for those of you who are still a little confused, then here it is:

The island is a location separate from Earth, however, is nevertheless, located within Earth’s atmosphere and can obviously be inhabited. The inhabitants of the island, however, are subject to scientific laws different from those they would be subject to on Earth.

The island is, like I said, a single entity, however, can be influenced by Earth’s properties (gravity, etc.). The island possesses no reference frames typical to Earth. The lack of reference frames prevents any new life from being created (nothing can start without a starting point – logical huh??)

The island allows multiple events (occurrences / reactions / consequences) to occur, which would have otherwise not occurred on Earth due to Earth’s scientific laws. Think back to the coin toss scenario at the beginning of this theory explanation:

KEEP IN MIND: I have 1 coin throw only.

On Earth – I flip a coin and cover it up. Like I said before, both results are possible as long as I keep the coin covered. Once I lift up my hand and look at the result, I have thus confirmed 1 of the 2 possible outcomes and have prevented the other outcome from ever occurring.

On the Island – I flip a coin and cover it up. I lift my hand to see the result. Despite the fact that I have allowed one side to establish itself as the true result of the flip, the alternate outcome still remains possible because of the lack of any consistent reference point on the island. The alternate outcome occurs therefore simultaneously with the original result, yet at another point in space or time.

How it All Began

The island used to be connected to the rest of the Earth, but was detached during electromagnetism experiments conducted by the Dharma Initiative. It is capable of travelling anywhere with the only parameter being gravity.

The Others were part of the Dharma Initiative at its founding. They were present on the island when the electromagnetism experiment caused the island to detach itself from Earth. The rest of the Dharma Initiative was not able to find the island for quite some time. Those who were on the island at the time of the detachment began witnessing the new unique and remarkable properties the island had gained following the detachment. “The Others” stopped ageing, getting sick, or having any problems whatsoever. They soon realized though that they were not able to reproduce on the island because of the islands lack of any reference point in time. Determined to find a way to reproduce, they began digging deeper into the islands properties and trying to figure out how to harness its power.

The rest of the Dharma Initiative finally was able to find the island. “The Others” were not welcome to the rest of their group and did not want to share the island. Jacob, the leader of “The Others,” was determined to keep the rest of the Dharma Initiative from conducting experiments that could be harmful to the island. The head of the Dharma Initiative (from here on out will be referred to as The Head) at the time stood up to Jacob and a rivalry was born. Jacob vowed to keep the island safe and lead his people into the jungle to live. The Head began setting up the Dharma Initiative on the island and conducting experiments. The experiments caused the island to time travel, resulting in past generations being able to find the island and establish colonies. These past generations built statues, tombs, etc.

Jacob knew he had to gain control somehow and prevent The Head from harming the island. He found the largest energy source on the island and took control of it. The Head found out about what Jacob had control of and became determined to get it for himself. He found out though that the energy that Jacob now held prevented The Head from killing him. The Head vowed to kill Jacob once he figured out how.

Everything Else

I cannot go through everything that has happened so far in Lost and explain every detail. Instead, I think that the information I have put together will allow you to answer all of the questions you have.

How Will it End?

I think that the origin of the island will be shown in the final few episodes. We will be shown how it started, how the island travelled throughout time, the people who lived on it, etc. We will also be shown some of the relationship between Jacob and The Head. We will see what really happened between them and find out why they acted like they did.

I think that the people we are following (Jack, Kate, Charlie, etc.) will continue only in the “Flash Sideways” format we have been introduced to in this final season. Their counter parts on the island will cease to exist through some explanation the writers will come up with.