# The Concept of Time: A Grand Unified Reaction Platform

H. Simchi<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Department of Physics, Iran University of
Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran 16844, Iran  Semiconductor Technology
Center, P.O. Box 19575-199, Tehran, Iran

###### Abstract

The universe is things which change and called events. The events are matter
and field. A boundary divides a system to things and environment. The things
belong to the environment have no significant effect on the things belong to
the system. The physical observables are the variations of things and it is
always assumed that the conscious thing is placed in environment because the
science cannot explain consciousness. There is not only an obligated minimum
boundary between things (space) but also between past and future (present).
The gravitational field has significant effect on these obligated minimums,
especially at Planck scale. By using the above concept we introduce a grand
unified reaction platform for categorizing the current physical paradigms and
possible future explanation of the universe as a whole.

##  1 Introduction

From many years ago, people have been familiar with the concepts of matter and
field. Einstein have explored the relativistic mechanics and shown that matter
can convert to energy and vice versa. By exploring the quantum field theory,
people had attributed specific quanta to each field. During the last century,
people had tried to unify the existed different physical theories. Standard
model unifies the matter and all known different fields, except gravitational
field. Some scientists believe that abortiveness in adding the gravitational
field to standard model is referred to the concept of time [1, 2]. Nowadays,
there are two different answers to the question about the reality of time. We
chose some important statements of each answer and rewritten them as follows:

\- Professor Barbour’s answer [1]

“The world does not contain things, it is things….All that exists are things
that change……Things do not change in time; the change of things is time……Time
is simply a complex of rules that govern the change. Time is inferred from
things…..The instant is not in time. Time is in the instant……The only possible
candidates for the fundamental things from which the framework is to be
constructed are configurations of the universe: Now or “instants of
time”…….World is a collection of all possible nows…….Consciousness is the
ultimate mystery.”

\- Professor Smolin’s answer [2]

“Time is the most real aspect of our perception of the world. Everything that
is true and real is such in a moment that is one of a succession of moments……
Space is emergent and approximate………Laws of nature evolve in time and may be
explained by their history……..The future is not totally predictable, hence
partly open…….The universe is spatially finite. Probabilities are ordinary
relative frequencies…….Our universe is a stage in a succession of eras of the
universe…….The universe naturally self-organizes to increasing levels of
complexity……..The problem of consciousness is an aspect of the question of
what the world really is. We can only observe the interaction between things
and thereby describe their relational properties. Perhaps everything has
external and internal aspects. The external properties are those that science
can capture and describe through interaction, in terms of relationships. The
internal aspect is the intrinsic; it is reality that is not expressible in the
language of interactions and relations. Consciousness, whatever it is, is an
aspect of the intrinsic essence of brains.”

However, Marchesini have evaluated the Barbour’s and Smolin’s answers through
the lens of Henri Bergson’s metaphysics of time [3]. He has explained how both
ideas encounter with some paradoxes and in consequence run into dead ends [3].
The some chosen statements of Bergson’s idea are as follows [3, 4, and 5]:

\- Professor Bergson’s metaphysics of time

“Things precede nothingness…….Creative order precedes disorder ……..Movement
and change precede inertia and immobility ……..Time must not be confused with
space; to pass from one to the other one had only to change a single word:
juxtaposition was replaced by succession……..Change is, like movement,
continuous and indivisible……Our states of consciousness are continuous,
indivisible, and interpenetrate one another. They constitute a succession that
is not an addition and does not culminate in sum……The whole of the universe
moves and changes much like our conscious. Movement and change are therefore
indivisible and happens “in one stroke”……..Each stage of time always contains
what is needed for the appearance of new living species in the next stage. As
time passes, existence is merely added to what was already possible……There is
a vital impetus that struggles with matter to produce novelty. This vital
impetus creates divergent lines of evolution, each finding solutions for
certain problem.”

In this paper, we review some current different concepts of time. We explain
how a conceptual shift paradigm is happen when we consider the universe as a
whole instead of a part of the universe. Also, we explain how some specific
concepts, such as the level of awareness (LoA), obligated minimum boundary
between things and obligated minimum boundary between past and future can help
us in planning a grand unified reaction platform (GURP) for explaining the
different concepts of time and thinking about the different physical
paradigms. The structure of article as follows: in section II, the different
current concepts of time are reviewed. The concept of the grand unified
reaction platform is explained in section III. The summary is provided in
section IV.

##  2 Different concepts of time

There are different explanations about the concept of time. In below, we
choose and review the most important ones.

###  2.1 Classical concept of time

If we assume that the world contains things and time ($t$) flows in the world
then we can conclude that things change in time, have volume and occupy the
space ($\overrightarrow{x}$). Therefore, time and space are different
concepts. Since, the time is considered as a flux, we should divide the time
axis to three different sections, called past, present (now), and future. Now,
if $\ \mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{)}$ stands for the
state of a thing; its variation in time (its evolution) i.e.,$\mathrm{\
}\mathrm{\Delta}\mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{)/}\mathrm{\Delta}t$
will provide us the future state of the thing. If we know the past of a thing
(called boundary conditions or history in general) we will able to find its
future. It means that we receive the information from the past of things and
in consequence we called $\mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{)}$
the retarded state of things. It means that we receive the information with
some delays. Therefore, the world is like a big mechanical machine which works
deterministically, based on the classical laws. It should be noted that if one
knows the future state
($\mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{))}$; he/she will able to
find its past by reversing the axis of time and solving the deterministic
classical equations (of course, if dissipative terms do not exist). It means
that the future information is built by the past information. In this case, we
called $\mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{)}$ the advanced
state of things. It means that the future information comes from the past. In
the point of view, the evolution of things is absolute and is not
relativistic.

But, we can rewrite the above scenario in a new style. We can assume that the
world contains things and they move along their world line,$\ \gamma$, in the
world. The world lines are made by the existence of the thing, their
interaction with gravitational field and their relative evolution. They fill
the entire world. Therefore the state of thing
($\mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{,t))}$ is confined to
change on its world line. Here, the time ($t$) has no physical meaning and can
be changed, freely but things occupy the spacetime ($\overrightarrow{x},t$).
For calculating the time one should study the state of a clock (thing) when it
moves along its world line. In the point of view, the evolution of things is
relativistic and is not absolute. It means that there is no difference between
present, past, and future [2]. It should be noted that since the time ($t$)
can be changed freely, one is able to disappear it from the classical
Hamiltonian – Jacobi formulation and find a time independent equation such as
Wheeler- Dewitt (WdW) equation. Therefore, WdW equation does not describe a
frozen world [6].

Finally it can be concluded that, all other observable quantities change in
space by passing the time or change in spacetime. Basically in the above both
point of views, the world contains things and they change absolutely or
relative to each other. It means that the other physical concepts are defined
(confined) by the concept of time and space.

###  2.2 Quantum concept of time

Although, the Schrödinger equation is a quantum mechanical equation but it
evolves in classical space when time is considered as a flux. Dirac and Kelin-
Gordon equations have been found by using the relativistic laws but both
evolve in spacetime. On the right-hand side of the Heisenberg uncertainty
relation between space coordinate and momentum of a particle, the time
parameter ($t$) does not appear. It means that the priority is not important.
Therefore, we encounter the classical concept of time or spacetime (called
background dependent). By considering the Schrodinger, Dirac, Klein-
Gordon,Yang-Mills and so on as a field function
($\mathrm{\Psi}\mathrm{(}\overrightarrow{x}\mathrm{,t))}$ and quantizing them
by using the second quantization methods, the term $\delta(t-t^{\prime})$
appears on the right-hand side of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation [7].
Therefore, the priority is important. But similar to the previous case, we
encounter the background dependent case, again.

Also, we know that there is an uncertainty relation between energy and time in
quantum mechanics. It means that the change in time is connected to the change
in energy [2]. For understanding the relation let us consider an experiment.
An electron, which is in its ground state, is excited to a higher energy level
and after passing sometimes it comes back to the ground state. It can be shown
that the staying time in the excited state ($\Delta t$) is proportional to the
inverse of the energy difference between the excited and ground states
($\Delta E$) [8]. But, we are in the classical atmosphere of time else. Also,
we can consider a particle with mass $M$ and energy$\ \ E=Mc^{2}$, where $c$
is the velocity of light. We can localize the particle in a sphere with
radius$\ R\sim MG/c^{2}$ where$\ G$ is the gravitational constant. Using the
Heisenberg uncertainty principle, it can be shown that it is not possible to
localize anything with a precision better than the Planck length which is
equal to ${10}^{-33}$cm [9, 10]. It means that anything smaller than the
Planck length is hidden inside its on mini-black hole [10]. This is called the
length (Planck) scale. By using the Planck length, the minimum time can be
calculated and called the Planck time which is equal to ${10}^{-44}$ seconds.
These are the granules of quantum gravity [11]. Since, the quantum spacetime
is a physical object and fluctuates; it can be in a superposition of different
configurations (spacetime) [11]. Of course, due to the relational aspect of
quantum physical variables, the quantum gravitational field does not have
determined values until it interacts with something else [11].By ignoring the
microscopic details of the world, a blurring is seen i.e., it is produced by
the intrinsic quantum indeterminacy of things [11]. The time of physics is the
expression of our ignorance of the world i.e., time is ignorance [11].

Based on the quantum methodology, for finding the quants of space and area we
should define the volume and area operators [9, 10]. It can be shown that
there is a kinematical Hilbert space ${\mathcal{K}}_{Diff}$ which admits a
basis of states in which certain area and volume operators are diagonal. It
means that there is a spin network state which describes a quantized three-
geometry [9, 10].It should be noted that a spin network state is not in space
but it is space [9, 10]. Therefore, it introduces a background independent
physics and in consequence we are in quantum atmosphere of space. It is well
known that, the quantum dynamics of a particle is entirely described by the
transition probability amplitudes
$W\left(x,t,x^{\prime},t^{\prime}\right)=\left\langle
x\mathrel{\left|\vphantom{xe^{-\frac{i}{\hbar}H_{0}(t-t^{\prime})}x^{\prime}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}e^{-\frac{i}{\hbar}H_{0}(t-t^{\prime})}\mathrel{\left|\vphantom{xe^{-\frac{i}{\hbar}H_{0}(t-t^{\prime})}x^{\prime}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}x^{\prime}\right\rangle=\left\langle
x,t\mathrel{\left|\vphantom{x,tx^{\prime},t^{\prime}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}x^{\prime},t^{\prime}\right\rangle$
which depend on two events $(x,t)$ and $(x^{\prime},t^{\prime})$ that bound a
finite portion of a classical trajectory [9]. It should be noted that the
argument of $W$ is the eigenstate of the corresponding Hamiltonian operator,
$H_{0}$. Similarly, we can consider a spin network as the argument of $\ W$
which represents the possible outcome of a measurement of the gravitational
field (or the geometry) on a closed three dimensional surface [9]. By defining
a suitable scalar product, it can be shown that the transition amplitude
between two states is simply their scalar product [9]. Here, H acts on the
node of spin network and in consequence spinfoam is constructed [9, 10]. The
transition amplitudes $W\left(s,s^{\prime}\right)\ $do not depend explicitly
on time and in consequence introduces a new concept called the physic without
time. It means that the theory allows us to calculate the relation between
observables which is what we see and does not give us their evolution in terms
of an unobservable quantity which is called time in classical physics. In the
other words, there are no good clocks at the Planck scale [9]. The world is a
network of events and is not things [11]. In classical physics time exists
with many determinations and here the main concept is: things happen [11].The
difference between things and events is that things persist in time but events
have a limited duration [11].

Finally it can be concluded that, the spin network is space, and its evolution
by acting the Hamiltonian, constructs the spinfoam. But, it is not clear that
how other observable quantities change in the spin network. For example, how
can we study the quantum transport of a particle in a spin network and find
its spinfoam? What may be the general laws and rules? Whether, the above
explained theory can be only used for studying the some specific problems of
quantum gravity and the structure of spacetime at Planck scale [12]? It means
that we do not know how the other physical concepts are defined (confined) by
the concept of the spin network.

###  2.3 Biological concept of time

Three types of time can be defined in biology as follow:

  1. 1.

The number of complete cycles per unit time such as heart rate and metabolic
rate

  2. 2.

Aging due to the cell dividing(splicing) process

  3. 3.

Internal clock of body

Many Biological variables can be defined as the product of three power
function as below

$\left[Y\right]=[M^{\alpha}\ .\ L^{\beta}\ .\ T^{\gamma}]$ (1)

where, $M$, $L$, and $T$ stand for mass, length, and time, respectively [13].
For comparing the empirical findings with calculated values, the biological
variable $Y$ can be expressed as

$Y={\mathrm{log}a+b\ .{\mathrm{log}M\ }\ \ }$ (2)

which is called Huxley’s allometric equation [13, 14]. Using the dimensional
analysis, one can investigate the influence of earth’s gravity on heart rate
and metabolic rate. It can be shown that there are two solutions for
allometric coefficient $b$ as below [13, 15]

$b_{M}=\alpha+\frac{1}{3}\beta+\frac{1}{4}\gamma$ (3)

and

$b_{W}=\frac{5}{6}\alpha+\frac{1}{3}\beta+\frac{1}{4}\gamma\ $ (4)

where, $b_{M}$ and $b_{W}\ are\ $body mass and body weight coefficients,
respectively [13, 15]. As an example, for metabolic rate $b_{M}=0.91$ and
$b_{W}=0.75$ the difference $\Delta b=0.17$ which is referred to the influence
of the gravity [13]. It should be noted that the predominance of the cyclic
nature of almost all functions leads to the granulation of time. It appears as
flicker-fusion-frequency in neurophysiological realm, heart rate, respiratory
rate, and specific metabolic rate in organ physiology [13].

One of the strange natural phenomena is frozen wood frogs which have been seen
in Alaska [16]:

“The hearts of the frogs stop beating and their blood no longer flows. The
freezing patterns help the frogs convert more of the glycogen stored in their
liver into glucose. It is the high levels of glucose in the cell of frogs that
keep them alive through the long, cold winter. The main function of the
glucose is to keep water inside the cell. By making the cells super sweet with
glucose, the frogs keep the water from leaving their cells. It should be noted
that, they do not freeze totally solid, but they do freeze mostly solid. Two-
thirds of their body water turns to ice.”

Therefore, under very special and critical thermo dynamical conditions, the
cyclical character of the biological time can be changed such as the heart
beating of wood frogs in Alaska and in consequence can be set in laboratory.

There are two different ideas about whether ageing is a disease or not [17].
Aging can be considered as a natural process and consequently it is not a
disease [17, 18, 19]. They believe that aging constitute a natural and
universal process, while diseases are seen as deviation from normal state.
Some other scientists believe that aging has specific causes, each of which
can be reduced to a cellular and molecular level, and has recognizable signs
and symptoms [17, 20]. However it is well known that, certain genes and
pathways that regulate splicing factors play a key role in the aging process
[21]:

“The ERK and AKT pathways are repeatedly activated throughout life, through
aspects of aging including stockticker DNA damage and the chronic inflammation
of aging. By using specific inhibitors which are already used as cancer drugs
in clinics, it is possible the activity of the ERK and stockticker ATK
pathways are stopped and in consequence an increment in splicing factor is
seen. It means that a better communication happen between protein and genes.
It can cause a reduction in the number of senescent cells and reverse many of
their features which have been linked to the aging process and in consequence
leading to a rejuvenation of cells.”

Some scientists plan to rejuvenate dogs using gene therapy. They plan to make
animals younger by adding new stockticker DNA instructions to their bodies
[22]. Also, the eroding effects of aging can be controlled by making a complex
and protective shield which is made by combination of stem cell with anti-
aging gene [23]. Therefore, the ageing character of the biological time can be
changed and set in laboratory.

Another biological concept of time is referred to the body clock [24]:

“People belong to each time zone of the earth have a specific rhythms which is
in sync with the day-night cycle of the zone. The rhythms dictate times for
eating, sleeping, hormone regulation, body temperature variations and other
functions. The rhythms have been changed by rapid long-distance trans-meridian
(east-west or west-east) travel. The adjustment speed of jet lagged body
depends on the individual as well as the direction of travel. It has been
shown that the jet lag is a chronobiological problem.”

Therefore, it can be concluded that the body clock is some kind of complete
cycles per day which is adjusted by some specific duration and depends on
individual and travel direction.

###  2.4  Cosmological concept of time

If the universe (world) is the variable things, a thing divides the world to
two main parts which are called system (thing) and environment (here,
background). Of course one can consider a set of things as a system and calls
the remained part of the universe as its environment. Therefore, there is a
boundary between system and its environment. By adding more things to the
system, the system inflates and its environment condensates (respect to its
previous condition). The boundary can be defined as: “things which are placed
outside the boundary have negligible effect on the system and the effect of
things which are placed inside the boundary should be considered when we want
to study the specific characteristics of the system. Outside a boundary
contains enviroment i.e., other things”. For example, a confined gas in a
region (box) can be considered as a system. By attaching a thermometer on the
outside boundary of the system (walls of the box), one can measure the
temperature (kinetic energy of gas molecules) of the box. By setting a clock
outside the box, it is possible to study the time variation of the temperature
when the boundary of system (the volume of the box) increases or decreases.
Also we can calculate the entropy of the system. Conlon has defined the
entropy of an object as a measure of its number of degrees of freedom i.e.,
“the total number of ways to rearrange its internals while keeping its
external unaltered”. For example, the entropy of gas is a measure of the total
number of way the gas molecules can arrange themselves within box” [12]. It
means that by increasing the number of rearrangement the entropy increases and
in consequence the system is more stable than before. Smolin has defined the
entropy as: “how many microstates could give the same macrostate. The entropy
of a building is the measure of the number of different ways to put the parts
together to realize the drawing of the architect”[2]. Of course, the entropy
is proportional to information, inversely. For example, one can use four small
equilateral triangles (case No.1) or three small isosceles triangles (case
No.2) and make a bigger equilateral triangle by using them. Also, it is
possible one make an equilateral triangle by using three triangles and one
parallelogram (case No.3) (Fig.1). It is obvious that for manufacturing the
case No.3 we need more information respect to the case No.2 and for
manufacturing case No.1 we need less information respect to the case No.2.
Also, the case No.3 is more orderless than case No.2 and the case No.1 is more
order than case No.2. However, we can set the small triangles of Fig.1 (a) in
many different ways and find the big triangle. But the number of setting the
small triangles of Fig.1 (b) for finding the big triangle is less than Fig.1
(a) (i.e., we need more information). Similarly, the number of setting the
small triangles of Fig.1 (b) for finding the big triangle is more than Fig.1
(c) (i.e., we need less information). Therefore, the information is
proportional to the orderless (entropy), inversely. But it should be noted
that in both Conlon’s and Smolin’s point of view, there is a boundary which
separates the system from its environment.

Figure 1: (Color online) A equilateral triangle composed by (a) four
equilateral triangles, (b) three isosceles triangles, and (c) three triangles
and one parallelogram

The biggest problem about the universe as whole is: how can we define the
boundary of the universe? If there is not an environment (the existence of
other things which have not serious effects on the universe) how can we define
a clock outside the universe and measure the time? How can we put a
thermometer outside the universe and measure its temperature? How can we
define the order or orderless, entropy and information when we are not able to
define the environment (outside) of the universe? How can we define the
inflation or condensation? It should be noted that, we cannot put a clock
outside the universe and in consequence its time is zero and the energy of the
universe is equal to zero too, based on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the universe is frozen [2, 11]. Is it a
correct conclusion when we can not put a clock outside the universe?

When we consider the universe as a whole, we encounter a conceptual paradigm
shift. Time (using a clock outside the system), temperature (using a
thermometer outside the system), entropy (the total number of ways to
rearrange the internals of the system while keeping its external unaltered)
and information (the degree of order) has been defined for a system which has
boundary with the remained part of the universe.

When, we consider the universe as whole, a conceptual paradigm shift happen.
Here, we should define new concepts for time, temperature, entropy, order
(orderless), information and so on and pay enough attention to using the
concepts which belong to a system and its environment. If we use these old
concepts and laws which have satisfied for system and its environment and not
the universe as a whole, we will find that the universe is frozen and we need
a Big Bang or Big Bounce for describing the current measured experimental data
[2, 11]. Of course in next section, we will explain how we need the Big Bang
and or Big Bounce based on our definition of obligated minimum boundary
between things and obligated minimum boundary between past and future.

##  3 Ground Unified Reaction Platform

Using the explanations in section II, we consider the below principles
(axioms):

  1. 1.

The world is things which change i.e., it is variable things (events).

  2. 2.

Things interact with each other and their interactions and variations make the
observables of the universe.

  3. 3.

A system is composed by variable things and boundaries.

  4. 4.

A boundary is the border of system which separates system from its environment
(background).

  5. 5.

All things which are placed outside the boundary have negligible effects on
the observables of the system while all things inside the boundary have mutual
significant effects on each other.

  6. 6.

A system composed by things is completely and conceptually different from the
universe as a whole.

  7. 7.

When we shift from a system to universe, a conceptual paradigm shift happen.
During the usage of the concepts (such as time, temperature, entropy,
information, …) and laws (second law of thermodynamic, relativity, quantum
physics …) belong to a system when we deal with the universe as a whole, we
should be very careful and pay enough attention to the conceptual paradigm
shift. It may be necessary; we redefine the concepts (e.g. time) and extract
the laws (e.g. quantum gravity) again with compatibility with the definition
of the universe.

  8. 8.

There are two main interactions between things belong to a system. One is
based on the biological conscious and other is based on quantum field theory
including gravity or not.

  9. 9.

The entangled interaction is a kind of conscious which can be called pre-
conscious because the organism aware that a specific relation exist between
other parts of the system before doing any experiment. Here, the different
outcomes of the experiment can be determined with equal probability before
doing the experiment (such as, half and half occurrence probability between
entangled spin up and spin down electrons).

  10. 10.

If the occurring probability (based on the quantum physics) is very high (such
as classical physics limit) due to any reason (such as interactions between
things of a system or interaction between system and its environment) and an
organism is a part of the system, the conscious is the past-conscious since
before doing the experiment one can guess the final results, deterministically
(such as falling a ball from top of a tower).

In continuing, we try to introduce a new concept which is called grand unified
reaction platform (GURP) by considering the above axioms. Before doing that,
we should review the concept of consciousness. The variable things of the
universe can be categorized in two different branches which are organism and
non-organism things. Organism things have the consciousness capability while
the non-organism things have not. Here, the capability is composed by two
concepts which are capable and ability. For example, a health two years old
child has a hidden inherent learning aptitude for learning the science but
he/she should passes the different scientific courses for learning the
science. It means that the emergence of each capability needs two main
elements which are inherent aptitude and programing for maturing and improving
the aptitude. Organism has the experience capability. Organism is
experimenting every day through his/her five main senses which are seeing,
hearing, touching, tasting, olfaction and emotion. It should be noted that
[25, 26]:

“We usually explain what a thing does, how it changes and how it is put
together, in science. But, an explanation of consciousness i,e., answering the
question: why is it conscious (awake)?; goes beyond the method of science”.

Sometimes, our experience does not coincide with external reality. Let us to
do an experiment by using two light emitting diodes (LED) in green and red
colors. An observer who is not aware of these LEDs sees the flash of red LED
for only 20 milliseconds (ms) followed immediately by the flash of green LED
for 20 ms duration. What, he/she will report, is seeing a flash of yellow
light [13]. It means that his/her central nervous system (SNC) integrates the
two successive processes and in consequence he/she reports seeing the yellow
color because there is a period of time during which he/she is aware of an
event or an entity. It is called the duration of the present [13, 27]. In
biology, time has physiological periodicities where future passes to past
though the present (an infinitely thin boundary) [13].

For understanding and explaining the behavior of a system (not universe as
whole) composed by non-organism variable things; an organism should interact
with it. There are three cases as below:

  1. 1.

The organism is placed outside the boundary and its consciousness, which is
emerged through its interaction with the system, coincides with the reality.
Under the condition, he/she is able to explore the physical laws which govern
over the system and inside its boundary. Here, his/her level of awareness
(LoA) is complete. The observer is able to specify (guess) the output of
his/her experiment deterministically (probabilistically). We prefer to call
the LoA as past-awareness (pre-awareness and/or non-deterministic).

  2. 2.

The organism is placed outside the boundary and its consciousness does not
coincide with the reality. Since, he/she is not aware about his/her mistake
the explored laws will be considered as govern physical laws over the system
and inside its boundary. Here, his/he level of awareness (LoA) is not complete
but the probability of his/her awareness about own mistake is not always zero
and someday he/she will be aware and try to find the correct physical law.
From the point of view, sometimes it seems that the physical laws have been
changed by increasing his/her LoA.

  3. 3.

Sometime the system and organism are not separable and in consequence the
organism is placed inside the boundary of the system. Since, the explaining
the consciousness goes beyond the method of science [25, 26], he/she is not
able to explore the physical laws which govern over the system and inside its
boundary. The situation is out of the scope of science.

Now, let us to review the credibility border of current physical paradigms
based on the above categorizations. By putting the organism outside the
boundary of a system (not universe as a whole), we assume that the velocity of
object is shown by $v$ and the velocity of light ($c$), the Planck constant
($\hbar$) and the gravity constant (G) stand for the special relativity
effects, quantum physic effects, and gravity effects, respectively. Of course,
the symbols only use for showing the paradigm shift. For both $(v/c)$ and
$\hbar\rightarrow 0$ , the Newtonian physics, for only $\hbar\rightarrow 0$ ,
the relativistic physics and for only $(v/c)\rightarrow 0$, the quantum
physics satisfies inside the boundary of the system. Also, for both $(v/c)$
and $\hbar\nrightarrow 0$ , the quantum field theory satisfies inside the
boundary. Of course in the above four cases, it is assumed that the gravity
has no significant effect on the system (i.e., $G\rightarrow 0$ ) and in
consequence it is placed outside their boundaries. Also in Newtonian and
relativistic physics, the LoA is past-awareness and the observables follow the
deterministic laws but in quantum physics and quantum field theory the LoA is
pre-awareness and/or non-deterministic. In consequence, the observables do not
follow the deterministic laws. It should be noted that, the pre-awareness
about the observables causes the entanglement between them but does not remove
their probabilistic behavior before doing the measurement, although by
measuring one observable, the organism is able to specify its entangled
observable with certainty i.e., deterministically (Fig. 2). When the system is
not the universe of a whole, each physical law satisfies inside own boundary
and credibility border. Therefore, in a part of the universe (not a universe
as a whole) by changing the credibility border of laws, the laws change due to
the change of LoA. Smolin has claimed that by considering the universe as a
whole it seems that the laws have changed by passing the time[2].

Figure 2: (Color online)The creditability border of different physical
theories. Here,

${\bm{\ }\bm{S}}_{\bm{NP}}\bm{:}\bm{Both}\bm{\ }\bm{v/c}\bm{\ }\bm{\&\
}\bm{\hbar}\bm{\to}\bm{0}\bm{\ }\bm{and}\bm{\ }\bm{G}\bm{\to}\bm{0}\bm{\ }$,
${\bm{S}}_{\bm{RP}}\bm{:}\bm{Both}\bm{\ }\bm{G}\bm{\ \&\
}\bm{\hbar}\bm{\to}\bm{0}\bm{\ }$, ${\bm{S}}_{\bm{QP}}\bm{:}\bm{Both}\bm{\
}\bm{G}\bm{\ \&\ }\bm{v/c}\bm{\to}\bm{0}\bm{\ }$,
${\bm{S}}_{\bm{QFT}}\bm{:}\bm{Both}\bm{\ }\bm{v/c}\bm{\ \&\
}\bm{\hbar}\bm{\nrightarrow}\bm{0}\bm{\ }\bm{and}\bm{\ }\bm{G}\bm{\to}\bm{0}$,
and ${\bm{S}}_{\bm{GQFT}}\bm{:}\bm{Both}\bm{\ }\bm{v/c}\bm{\ \&\
}\bm{\hbar}\bm{\nrightarrow}\bm{0}\bm{\ }\bm{and}\bm{\
}\bm{G}\bm{\nrightarrow}\bm{0}$. Here, S and E stand foe system and
environment, respectively. Also, NP, RP, QP, QFT, and GQFT are abbreviation of
Newtonian physics, relativistic physics, quantum physics, quantum field
theory, and gravitational quantum field theory, respectively.

But, what’s about the universe as a whole? Before discussing about the
subject, let us to review the biological immortality. Wikipedia says:

“ Biological immortality is a state in which the rate of mortality from
senescence is stable or decreasing, thus decoupling it from chronological age.
Various unicellular and multicellular species, including some vertebrates,
achieve this state either through their existence or after living long enough.
A biologically immortal living being can still die from means other than
senescence, such as through injury, disease, or lack of available
resources….Biologists chose the word immortal to designate cell that are not
subject to the Hayflick limit, the point at which cells can no longer divide
due to DNA damage or shortened telomeres.”

and also it says:

“ Turritopsis nutricula is a small hydrozoan that once reaching adulthood, can
transfer its cells back to childhood. …Hydrozoans have two distinct stages in
their life, a polyp stage and a medusa stage……..Generally in hydrozoa the
medusa develops from the asexual budding of the polyp and the polyp results
from sexual reproduction of medusa…… Turritopsis nutricula in any point of the
medusa stage has the ability to transfer back into its polyp stage.”

Of course, the authors of references 30 and 31 have discussed about the
Turritopsis nutricula and reversing the life cycle, respectively.

Now let us to assume that the universe is a Turritopsis nutricula (thing) plus
a conscious observer (organism) whose presence has no significant effect on
the thing. What will be the observer’s report about the changes in the thing?
Depends on the observation conditions, he/she will report a cyclic change
between polyp stage and medusa stage of the thing or will report that the
thing is always juvenile. In the other word, when the measurement is always
done at polyp stage i.e., at times, $=nT_{0}$ , where $T_{0}$ is the cyclic
time and $n=1,2,3,\dots$, the observer see a frozen universe while when the
measurement is always done at medusa stage i.e., at times,
$(n-1)T_{0}<t<nT_{0}$, the observer see a universe that changes. When the
measurement is done at infinitely thin boundary between medusa stage (future)
and polyp stage (past) the observer see a cyclic change. The simple example
has the below lessons for us:

  1. 1.

The remained things are separated from other things and conscious observer
(organism) by a specific boundary which divides the universe to system
(remained things) and its environment (other things and organism). The
obligated smallest dimension of boundary (OSDB) between things under the
observation conditions is called the “quanta of space” $\mathrm{\\{}$Fig.
3(a)$\mathrm{\\}}$.

  2. 2.

The changes of things are observable. If no change is observed the thing is
frozen.

  3. 3.

The observed changes of things depend on the observation conditions.

  4. 4.

Based on the observation conditions, the changes of things can be classified
in three categories called past, present, and future.

  5. 5.

If an observation is always done at “polyp sate” of the thing (past), the
observer sees no changes and reports a frozen state of thing. But, if an
observation is always done at “medusa state” of thing (future), the observer
sees changes and reports a variable (non- frozen) thing.

  6. 6.

There is always an infinitely thin boundary between future and past which is
called present. The duration of present (i.e., the width of the thin boundary)
depends on the obligated smallest time duration (OSTD) under the observation
conditions. The smallest time duration is called the “quanta of time”
$\mathrm{\\{}$Fig.3 (b)$\mathrm{\\}}$.

  7. 7.

For better understanding the concept of the present stage we should pay much
attention to a cyclic change. In a cyclic change, the future passes to the
past though the present $\mathrm{\\{}$Fig. 3(c)$\mathrm{\\}}$.

Figure 3: Fig. 3 (Color online) (a) The quanta of space, (b) the quanta of
time, and (c) a cyclic evolution

Now let us to mix the concepts of Fig2 with the concepts of Fig.3. In
Newtonian universe since $(v/c)\to 0$, there is an obligated broad boundary
between past and future. In consequence, the assumption of continues time (a
stream of time) is meaningful. But, by increasing the ratio $(v/c)$ , the
width of the obligated boundary becomes thinner. When the ratio is equal or
greater than a critical value, the width of the boundary approached to zero
and past touches the future at a point which can be called the Dirac point. It
is a singular point and in consequence we are not able to define an abstract
time. After touching past with future the correct physical theory is
relativistic theory. However, not only in Newtonian physics but also in
relativistic physics, we can recognize A-thing from B-thing with very high
accuracy and without perturbing them and in consequence we can imagine that
the universe contains things. It means that there is an obligated broad
boundary not only between things but also between observer and observable in
these theories. But by decreasing the width of the boundary, which can be
shown mathematically as $\hbar\rightarrow 0$, the separation between them and
also their non-perturbing interaction disappears gradually and we reach to the
atomic scale. Here, the quantum physics is true theory which can be non-
relativistic or relativistic. Therefore, the Planck constant $\hbar$ can be
proportional to the bench mark of the obligated smallest dimension of the
boundary between things (minimum space).

But, some questions can be asked. What are the nature of the obligated minimum
boundary between things (minimum space) and the obligated minimum boundary
between past and future (present)? Whether they are things if things are
matter and fields? Whether the boundaries are made by the gravitational field?
Based on the general relativity theory, the spacetime is gravitational field
and the standard model, which is a non-gravitational quantum field theory, has
unified mater with fields except gravitational field. Therefore, for all
mentioned cases in the previous paragraph, the bench mark of gravitational
field approaches to zero i.e., $G\rightarrow 0$ . But, if we accept (or
assume) the boundaries are made by the gravitational filed what is about the
case $G\nrightarrow 0$? At the beginning of the section, we assume that the
universe is variable things as a whole, and in consequence it is not possible
we consider other things (such as clock and, thermometer) outside it. It means
that the state of things change and in consequence a set of data is generated.
The content of the set depends on the existence of other things, the
interaction between them, and their interaction with the gravitational field,
if $G\nrightarrow 0$. Generally, based on the quantum physics, we first
prepare the necessary conditions for doing a specific measurement and then
measure the observables. Therefore, there are two different states which are
state- prepared and state- measured [9, 10]. Now, if the system is not frozen
and the observer (organism) has no significant on the system, each pair of
events include state-prepared and state-measured. The state of the pairs i.e.,
the space of data set is shown by $\mathfrak{H}$. It should be noted that, the
space $\mathfrak{H}$ includes not only the data of observable variation but
also the variations of gravitational field. In The other word, when
$G\nrightarrow 0$ , we should not only measure the distance of the parts of
the measurement apparatus and the time lapsed between them but also the
variation of the physical observable [9, 10]. But for $G\nrightarrow 0$, it is
not possible we separate the change of spacetime from the change of
observables. In the other words, for $G\nrightarrow 0$ ($G\to 0$) we deal with
one (two) measurement(s) because the mentioned two measurements are on the
same ground [9, 10].

Also based on the quantum physics, the transition probability amplitude can be
shown as $W(s_{out},s_{in})$ where $s_{out}(s_{in})$ stands for state-measured
(prepared) [9, 10]. However, if we can define a suitable inner scalar product
then $W(s_{out},s_{in})$ will be equal to the inner scalar product between
$s_{out}$ and $s_{in}$ i.e., their correlations ,$\
W\left(s_{out},s_{in}\right)=\left\langle
s_{out}{\left|\vphantom{s_{out}s_{in}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}s_{in}\right\rangle$.
Of course, for calculating the dynamic of the system, we should find (define)
the Hamiltonian as a function on ${H}$. For example, if operator $P$ stands
for projection on the space including the solution of the WdW –equation, the
transition amplitude will be $W\left(s_{out},s_{in}\right)=\left\langle
s_{out}{\left|\vphantom{s_{out}Ps_{in}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}P{\left|\vphantom{s_{out}Ps_{in}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}s_{in}\right\rangle$
and the dynamic of the system is explained by a function on $\mathfrak{H}$
which is called Hamilton (not Hamiltonian) [9, 10]. Therefore, we can
summarize the differences between physical paradigmsas what is shown in table
1.

Table 1: The differences between physical paradigms. GQFT, QFT, RQP, QP, RM, and NM are abbreviations of gravitational quantum field theory, quantum field theory, relativistic quantum physics, quantum physics, relativistic mechanics, and Newtonian mechanics, respectively. Paradigm |  Data space ($\mathfrak{H}$) |  Transition amplitude |  Hamiltonian |  OSDB |  OSTD
---|---|---|---|---|---
GQFT |  Collection of both state-prepared and state-measured |  $W\left(s_{out},s_{in}\right)=\left\langle s_{out}\mathrel{\left|\vphantom{s_{out}s_{in}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}s_{in}\right\rangle$ |  Hamilton function is defined on $\mathfrak{H}$ [9, 10] |  There is a minimum gap between things |  There is a minimum gap between past and future
QFT (RQP) |  Collection of state-measured at specific points of spacetime |  $W\left(s_{out},s_{in}\right)=\left\langle s_{out}\mathrel{\left|\vphantom{s_{out}Ps_{in}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}P\mathrel{\left|\vphantom{s_{out}Ps_{in}}\right.\kern-1.2pt}s_{in}\right\rangle$
$P$ stands for projection on the space including the solution of the special
equation [9, 11]
|  Hamiltonian function is defined on $\mathfrak{H}$ |  Gravitational field has no significant effect |  Future touches the past at Dirac point
QP |  Collection of state-measured at specific points for specific times |  Same as QFT |  Same as QFT |  A continuous space is considered. |  A stream of time is considered
RM |  Same as QFT |  Things change deterministically |  Can be defined [9, 10] |  A continuous spacetime is considered |  Future touches the past at Dirac point
NM |  Same as QP |  Things change deterministically |  Can be defined [9, 10] |  The world contain things |  A stream of time is considered

Based on our best current knowledge, the universe is things which are matter,
fields of standard model plus gravitational field. Some important subjects
about our current knowledge are:

  1. 1.

We measure the observables of the universe by using the equipment and tools
which have been made by using the current physical theories and they work
based on them. The theories are satisfied over a part of the universe and on
the specific conditions. In the other words, they satisfy over a region of
universe which is separated from the remained part of the universe by some
boundaries.

  2. 2.

Since the gravitational field is a part of the universe, the data set include
state-prepared and state-measured. Therefore, there is not only an obligated
minimums boundary between things but also an obligated minimum boundary
between past and future (future does not touch past at Dirac point) when the
effect of the gravitational field is significant on the boundaries.

  3. 3.

We are a part of the universe and it seems that we stand on the future when we
measure the cosmological radiations which belong to our past, i.e., they have
traveled a long distance in the cosmos. Therefore, the universe as a whole is
at its “medusa stage” now and we see the universe as variable things. It
should have a beginning point (Big Bang). As we see, the govern laws on Big
Bang conditions differ from govern laws on sometimes after Big Bang( such as
our current conditions) since things, the interactions between them and with
gravitational filed had changed. The interaction between things and between
things and gravitational field create new things (mater and or fields) in the
world and in consequence it is expected that the govern laws on the universe
change by changing the universe (set of data i.e. state-prepared plus state-
measured). Then it seems that a flow of time exist in the universe which
separates the future from the fast. Under our current situation we are trying
to repeat the Big Bang condition (e.g., Long Hadronic Collider (LHC) set up)
and find the suitable gravitational quantum field theories.

  4. 4.

If universe as a whole is at its “polyp stage” it means that it is always in
past i.e., it is frozen. The frozen universe may be explained by a correct
developed version of WdW-equation probably.

  5. 5.

If universe has a cyclic evolution, the future passes through the past and in
consequence we should have a Big Bounce instead of Big Bang. If it is true
there is thin boundary between past and future and the experimentalists should
find some cyclic phenomena and their rhythms at the scale of whole universe.

Anyhow, it seems that a reaction platform can be made by using the below
materials:

  1. 1.

Events (variable and interacting things) which are mater, fields of standard
model and gravitational field

  2. 2.

A boundary separates system (things inside the boundary) from its environment
(means things outside the boundary). The outside things have no significant
effect on the inside things.

  3. 3.

An obligated boundary between things exists and its minimum can be effected by
the gravitational field (specially at Planck scale).

  4. 4.

An obligated boundary between past and future exists and its minimum can be
effected by the gravitational field (specially at Planck scale).

  5. 5.

A conscious organism (observable) which has no significant effect on data set
(state-prepared plus state-measured) is placed outside the system.

  6. 6.

The observables are variation of things and their interactions.

  7. 7.

If a conscious organism is placed inside the boundary the science cannot
explain the system due to its inability to explain the consciousness.

How the above materials are used and what are their preconditions will specify
the type of physical theory under the used condition. When the gravitational
filed has significant effect the reaction platform is called Grand Unified
Reaction Platform (GURP). Fig. 4 shows the GURP and its different branches.

The grand unified reaction platform suggest us to think about a new theory
based on the above mentioned principles which can categorize different
physical paradigms based on their differences in the obligated minimum
boundary between things, between past and future and between things and
conscious organism. We prefer to call the new theory as ”Boundaries Theory”.
In boundaries theory we should show how the different physical paradigms can
be extracted, the gravitational filed acts on the boundaries and how the
different boundaries can be transferred to each other using a suitable
transformation.

Figure 4: Fig.4 (Color online) The Grand Unified Reaction Platform for
building a physical theory for universe

##  4 Summary

Universe is variable things. The observables are variation of things and their
interactions. Organism is a conscious thing. Science can explain conscious but
cannot explain the consciousness. A boundary divides a system to two parts
called things and environment. The things which are placed outside the
boundary has no significant effect on the inside things. If organism is placed
inside the boundary the science cannot explain the system due to its inability
to explaining the consciousness. The boundary between things has an obligated
minimum value which is called minimum space. The obligated minimum boundary
between past and future is called present. The gravitational field has
significant effect on the present and the obligated minimum boundary between
things in Planck scale. They are the necessary material for manufacturing a
reaction platform for explaining the current situation of different physical
paradigms respect to each other. We hope that the article can motivate the
mathematical physicists to work on the subject and provide the necessary
infrastructure for next physical followers .

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