X-Message-Number: 20544
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2002 06:55:44 -0500
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: CryoNet #20541 - #20543

Hi everyone!

So Yvan notices the possibility of time travel. I would add that
with the right restrictions, it wouldn't even violate relativity.
I did a brief discussion of it in an article I wrote for ANALOG
some years ago. Imagine 2 places moving at different velocities.
If the velocities are close enough, then travel between those
2 locations can be fast enough to seem almost instantaneous to
both parties. Other people at other places, moving at a fast
velocity in relation to the first two, would see this passage
as a passage into the past in one direction, and a very rapid
passage into the future in the other direction. And given that
the connection exists only between these two places, no causality
problems occur.

With a bit more work you can work out that a network of connections
will have the same effect. "velocity" in the whole network is
lowered the faster one element of it moves relative to the others;
if that element moves fast enough, it's barely above the speed of
light c.

In the 8 November SCIENCE (298(2002), 1166-1167) there is an 
interesting discussion of one way to reconcile quantum theory 
with relativity. Basically it assumes that space consists of
lots of small space bits (quantum sized) tied together in 
(guess what!) a network. I was only speculating in my ANALOG
article, but perhaps it might lead someplace real.
        
            Best wishes and long long life for all,

                    Thomas Donaldson

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