STUFF
AND STYLE OF THE UNIVERSE
By
C.
Radhakrishnan
Click here to read the condensed
version
for
HARMONY
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
1)
THE PUZZLES
2)
THE WORLD OF PULSES
3)
THE MARCHING ORDER
4)
THE PACKAGES FAIR
5)
OF FORCES AND FIELDS
6)
IN COMMON INTEREST
7)
THE PULSE OF LIFE
8)
WHERE WE ARE
This
picture of the universe was pieced together by 1987. I placed it that year
before a gathering of teachers and students of the Physics Department of the
Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT). In 1988 I prepared an
8-page monograph entitled ‘Unity of Space-Matter Manifestations’, mailed it to
some people working in areas of field physics and quantum-gravity and initiated
discussions with those who reacted. The posers some of the veterans were kind
enough to mail back helped immensely. My grateful salutations
to them.
One of the suggestions that came up was that a more comprehensive description of the concept would not be out of place.
Taking a cue from the three layers of reality of the universe as propounded by Advaita Vedanta and presented in the Bhagavad Gita - the kshara (perishable), the akshara (imperishable) and aksharatheetha (the ultimate force) – a simple physical model of a universe pervaded by the medium of akshara is outlined. Dual nature of matter, action-at-a-distance, quantization of radiation and other riddles in physics vanish and fundamental forces reveal their unity. Also, basic nature of various physical phenomena gets clarified and existing laws of physics acquire better rationale.
This is not an attempt to salvage the good old concept of ether. What is visualized here is a totally different medium. It is a substrate from which all matter emerges. It therefore matters a lot more than all the matter in the universe together.
Verses from the Bhagavad Gita outlining the ancient eastern concept of the Stuff (Brahma)
The fundamentals of Advaita philosophy, with a study of the concept of Brahma or the Stuff
The work proves that 1). A substrate-medium with unique characteristics is plausible without contradicting any of the fundamental theorems in physics. 2). And that such a substrate-medium can explain the enigmas in physics.
The author makes no claim that this way of deriving the fundamental forces, particles, fields and radiation from this substrate-medium represent the last word on the subject. Researchers in the various fields are welcome to elaborate and improve on the idea.
1
The Puzzles
Physics is clean, trim, open and transparent and it amply satisfies reason, at
least to begin with. Ask a tricky question and get a happy answer that leads to
a trickier question, a happier answer and so on. The hitch is that the process
thus merrily begun often fails to reach a joyous end. After a while there are
no sure answers and one ends up chewing the questions and the many answers to
each of them, too sweet to give up and too bitter to swallow.
Even an ordinary billiard ball spoils one’s sleep in the end whether one wins the game or loses it. The primary laws that govern the ball’s behavior are simple. They fully explain the way it moves, rolls, bounces and interacts with other balls. Then one is told that the ball is in fact not a ball half the time but a wave instead. One takes this apparently funny twist with a pinch of salt consoling oneself that it is perhaps all in the game and tries to learn all about how waves behave, hoping to play a better game next time with the extra advantage of this additional knowledge. But then it is disclosed that there is no way to know which mode prevails when. Better consider it to be both at the same time, one is advised.
How can x also be y at the same time? If anything appears to behave that way, does that not mean that the thing is in fact neither x nor y? If neither, then what is it? Of course, the game of billiards would remain the same whatever it actually was. Only when the ball shrank to the size of an electron would it ‘magically’ pass through two adjacent openings at the same time. And as long as it did that, the game of electronics too would remain the same. But no one could ever honestly say he understood the mischievous ball-wave or wave-ball thing well enough.
The puzzle of action-at-a-distance is even more baffling. Any billiard ball, irrespective of whether it is as small as a fundamental particle of matter or as big as a star, exerts a pull on every other ball, small or big. This works like a magical ‘hook without a string’ even at great distances. No one knows exactly how.
James Clerk Maxwell’s success in combining electricity and magnetism to form the two-legged electromagnetic wave doing ‘hop-step-and-jump’ across ‘empty’ space did not help much to ease the discomfort generally felt regarding the concept of the ‘magical’ action-at-a-distance. If space was ‘empty’ how could a magnetic force exist in it in the first place? How could this magnetic force create its electric counterpart some distance away from itself (in what?) and again how could that give rise to a magnetic reincarnation of itself farther away? Could any medium capable of supporting such drama be ‘empty’?
Maxwell stipulated that all electromagnetic waves went with the same speed. If the waves were to carry greater energies they had to do it in terms of higher frequencies. This again pointed to ‘flapping of wings faster’ in some kind of ‘air’, in other words, the existence of a medium propagating these waves.
But
physics confronted practical difficulties in accepting the existence of any
such medium. If an elastic medium was to help propagate a disturbance in it at
this high a velocity it would have to be so tough that no planet or body could
ever twist, turn or wiggle in it, much less move (in orbits) at enormous
speeds. Even an imaginary cousin of it, ether, endowed with a ‘special’ kind of
elasticity failed to qualify. (Bodies moving in it would experience a wind of
it. The velocity of electromagnetic waves measured in this direction would
therefore be more than their velocity in a direction perpendicular to that. In 1887
a very careful experiment to test this was carried out at the Case School of
Applied Sciences in
Among the guessing games put forth during the next eighteen years to surmount this impasse, the most notable came from the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz who thought in terms of objects contracting as they moved. But it was the hitherto unknown clerk in the Swiss patent office, Albert Einstein, who enlarged upon such ideas and argued that everything was relative except the velocity of light, the ultimate speed permitted anywhere, a universal constant.
Even
this did not fully exonerate the idea of ‘instant action-at-a-distance’ supposed
to have been postulated by
From then on the picture of the universe has progressively become more and more incomprehensible. However, ‘warping’, folding or curving of space-time has not fully erased much of the lurking reservations about ‘empty’ space transmitting wave packets. Moreover, how does ‘nothing’ get warped, curved and folded on itself?
One other puzzle that remains to be fully explained is in relation to radiation of energy. As long as there is water in an overhead tank, all taps connected to it should run nonstop. Lord Rayleigh and Sir James Jeans themselves were worried about overhead radiation tanks like the sun and the stars going prematurely dry if energy continuously flowed out of them uniformly. So in 1900 Max Plank put the quanta-restriction tap on all radiation emitters. No explanation was offered as to exactly what inhibited the outflow and restricted the emission.
Does the emitter intermittently turn ‘wise’ and regulate the loss all by itself? Or, is the medium that carries away the emission the rationing officer? Or, is the act of restriction a combined workout? (Would something like the following interaction justify the inference that stammering is the most natural way of speaking? ‘Do you always stammer?’/ ‘No, only when I speak.’/ ‘Do you stammer always when you speak?’/ ‘No, only when I am not able to speak.’)
The general theory of relativity which alone succeeds in describing the macrocosm cannot be reconciled with the quantum theory which alone explains the microcosm. The quantum theory in turn cannot be made to accommodate relativity. These facts confound the confusion.
In fact, the more physics progressed, the more complicated became the portrait of the universe. The perceived part of the universe is beautiful, therefore the whole of it has to be more so. The universe ought to be the biggest manifestation of the best kind of beauty. At what point did physics veer away, if at all, from the path of simplicity is a question that can no longer be shelved.
Upto
If the whole of the universe is considered an action-reaction phenomenon on a dialectical platform, what is all the matter in the universe reacting with? Besides, isn’t it well known that all the ‘matter’ in the universe put together is not ‘enough’ to raise the average ‘density’ of the universe up to the critical value needed to halt the ‘expansion’ of the universe?
If
one goes back to the world of Newtonian mechanics, the magical nature of
gravitational attraction together with the equally perplexing problem of fixing
up the gravitational centre of the universe has to be dealt with. Going further
back is of no use as that will only yield a very primitive picture of the
universe. Two steps backward from
Suppose we deviate a little - let us assume that akshara (also known as sath or brahma) (let us denote this stuff by S) permeates the entire universe. It is continuous, unbreakable, indestructible, non-transportable, immeasurable and unobservable (avyaktha). The word brahma literally means ‘expansive’ or ‘swelling’. It is assumed to be constituted in such a way that it can expand or contract only in volume-spiral fashion.
A series of thought-experiments have been performed to help piece together a new physical model of the universe. Now let us take a look into how this simplest of simple explanations covers the entire horde of enigmas plaguing physics.
It
does not contradict any fundamental theorem in vogue. It only enlarges upon
them. However, it certainly puts severe limits on mapping the universe by
‘extrapolation’ of ‘local’ conditions. (Extrapolations may occasionally lead to
‘unforgettable’ consequences. Once a researcher in agricultural meteorology
prepared a paper in which he asserted that sugarcane could grow as high as a
hundred metres in ideal conditions of temperature, pressure,
humidity, etc. This result was obtained by extending the graph plotted with
observed growth of sugarcane against an index of beneficial weather conditions.
The paper was returned to the researcher by Dr. P. R. Pisharody,
one of
2
The World of Pulses
In the world of packages of S, space is composed of S, the material
that goes into the making of all materials, the ultimate state of everything.
It's characteristics are - It is everywhere in the universe. It is continuous, non-transportable, unbreakable and indestructible. It is impossible to describe it in established terms as every object we see anywhere, including yardsticks, physical balances and clocks, as well as any other equipment anyone can ever think of, can be no other than configurations of itself. So it cannot be measured or diagnosed with any imaginable tool. Why, human beings themselves are its ‘products’. So we cannot see, touch, smell, taste or hear it.
It is assumed that S encompasses the universe as a continuous web and S is pliable in its own way so that at any time at any given point it is either Tough or Humble or Flat. If tough (T), it has the urge to spread out. If humble (H), it will shrink when left to itself. If flat (F), it will do neither, it will remain idle.
A guideline of definitions will then read as follows:
1) Flat S is S in which the effort needed to shrink any part of it by any margin is equal to that needed to spread the same part of it by the same margin.
2) Toughness (T) of S at any place is R/r where R is the radius of the spherical equivalent of the volume that will be occupied by a volume v of radius r of S if allowed free play till it reaches Flat state. If r is unity, T=R.
3) Humility (H) of S is the inverse of its toughness (T), 1/T.
4) The Vigour (V) of S, its readiness to react, is T/H or T/1/T = T square = R square.
These definitions do not mean that the considerations are about to go mathematical. They are there just to help visualize things straight and easy.
It
is also assumed that any spreading or shrinking of S always takes place in
spherical spirals. It is 
not very difficult to conceive a
cross-section of this sort of activity in S. The picture resembles the
balance-strap of a vintage wristwatch. (Fig. 1)
Let there be a small volume (v) of S with toughness (T) surrounded by S of toughness t (both values above unity). If T > t, S in v is ‘more’ than that in an equal volume of S around it. The difference will be v times (T – t). Let this be denoted by D. (Fig. 2)
Given
a chance, the influence D would create in S around it will depend also on the vigour of
surrounding S which has been defined as the
square of toughness of S. Therefore D is capable of making D times t square
amount of ‘trouble’.
What kind of freedom of play does the additional toughness of S in v have under the situation? Is v free to spread out till T equals t? Lessons learned from one’s own experience of a crowd too thick for comfort may come in handy here. Does a super-thick crowd in the usual course take kindly to elbowing by a group of near-stampeded people within it? What are the chances of their success in gaining breathing space? The rest of the crowd, wary of getting more hemmed in than it already is, resists and pushes back. But, the trapped people cannot afford to keep quiet. They struggle again and again.
In terms of the S of toughness T in volume v, what are the options the S in v can enjoy? It may persist in its pressure tactics to spread out, succeed and slowly even out with the surroundings. Or it can go into explosive expansion inviting counteraction from all around. It may even reach an ‘understanding’ with the ‘host’ and end up playing a game of ‘resonance’. The outcome depends on the degree and measure of the extra toughness that has gone into its making in the first place.
The outcome of the encounter depends on T and D values of the S in v. S in v may fragment itself explosively (if T and/or D are that high). S in v may even itself out with its surroundings through repeated spread-and-shrink efforts (if T and/or D are manageable enough). S in v may establish resonance with its surroundings and stay ‘pulsing’ (if T and/or D are conducive to that). Thus a sustainable pulse is born.
It
is obvious that to take recourse to the third option, T and D must have a
certain combination value or a multiple fraction (harmonic) of that ‘ideal’
value with respect to the vigour of S around. For any
given surrounding S of vigour v, such resonance slots
will fall on either side of a point of maximum stability (combination values in
excess of the ideal to one side of this point, values less than the ideal to
the other). Pulses in resonance progressively become more and more
‘short-lived’ as this combination value gets more and more ‘out of tune’. The
longevity of a resonating ‘pulse’ depends on harmony with its surroundings.
However, a loop of thread around a rod or a dancing troupe on level ground is
not good enough analogy for this ‘pulse’. The dancers are on two-dimensional
ground, so is the plane of the loop of thread. The pulse under consideration is
a three-dimensional one, naturally a sphere because that is the shape that can
contain the maximum of any stuff in a given volume. Moreover, the content of
the pulse is basically the same material as around it, its continuity with the
surroundings not broken.
A particle of matter is assumed to be a 'pulse' of S. It is the simplest sustainable form – a closed loop, spreading and shrinking. S may be called empty when it is devoid of pulses.
The
resonating pulse is the outcome of a certain measure of extra toughness in
tough S (a T-in-T
pulse) trying its best to even out with its
surroundings and ending up resonating with it. While pulsing, what different
stages does it go through?
1) The extra toughness spirals out to the extent it can, pushing against the tough wall of surrounding S, finally forming a very tough border ‘shell’ of its own at the culmination of this cycle of its action. (Fig. 3) The measure of S ‘hemmed out’ by this act of ‘expansion’ meanwhile accumulates into a matching shell of toughness just outside. At the same time the toughness at the centre of the pulse has fallen.
2)
Pressure from the tough border outside and pull from the depleted centre
together initiate a ‘reverse’ cycle that culminates in a very tough ‘core’ at
the 
centre of the pulse. (Fig. 4)
3) As the reverse cycle progresses, surrounding S, being tough, ‘enthusiastically’ caves in to occupy the ‘vacancy’ available. This ‘rushing-in’ causes a gradient of declining toughness in S around. The moment the core-maximum of high toughness is reached, the expansion cycle begins again. (Fig. 5)
4) During the expansion cycle, the ‘implosion’ of S
around is ‘undone’ with ‘much ado’ as S, already tough, is very ‘willing’ to
spread but very ‘reluctant’ to shrink back. (Fig. 6)
If the expansion cycle is watched closely,
some interesting aspects come to light. At the pinnacle of this cycle, almost
all of the ‘content’ of the pulse is assembled as a super-tough shell just
inside the boundary. The toughness of this shell is the highest next to the
boundary line and rapidly falls as one moves away from
that line towards the centre of the pulse. The ‘measure’ of surrounding S
progressively ‘hemmed out’ has meanwhile become a
super-tough shell to match,
just outside the borderline. This has a gradient away from that line. This
gradient too is sharp. It is sharp or short-range because surrounding S is
already tough and it ‘does not take kindly’ to any additional toughness
spreading in it. The formidable ‘wall’ created by the two gradients ‘seems’ to
repel any similar wall coming close to it because the S in between does not
‘want’ to go any tougher by any such ‘romancing’ in it. The
greater the D and/or T of the pulses tending to come close, the stronger the
‘repulsion’.
What
takes place during the reverse cycle of the pulse is even more interesting. Now
the pulse is
shrinking in a reverse spiral. S around it
is tough and therefore ‘impatient’ to spread into whatever ‘vacancy’ it chances
upon. The result is an ‘implosion’.
As pulsing goes on, the ‘ripple’ generated by successive pulsing spreads far and wide from the pulse as a ‘jerking-in-and-slowly-leveling-up’ phenomenon. (Fig. 7) This is not a sweet and soothing this-way-that-way cradle-sway. At any point in S around the pulse, it is felt as a fast decline of toughness in the general direction of the pulse, amounting to a momentary ‘pull’ towards it. Ideally, the ripple reaches out to the outer ‘limits’ of S.
Fig. 12 gives an approximate representation of the pulse in 3D.
Various kinds of pulsing give rise to ripples of differing natures. For instance, in Humble S any pulse generates a ripple of the opposite sway and therefore it repels. The ripples in Flat S neither attract nor repel. But a tough-in-tough pulse, if it is real tough and quite large, or a humble-in-tough one with ‘enough of humility’ can generate a ripple mighty enough to pull in and swallow up everything around, thus appearing as a ‘hole’ very black. It goes without saying that pulses on one side of flat S will be mirror images of similar events on the other side of it.
Various classes of pulses are possible. The S in which a pulse exists and with which it resonates may be Tough, Flat or Humble. Also, in each of these three cases pulse-content may be any one of the three different natures of S. A total of nine different major classes are thus possible. Then there are the ‘induced’ varieties and several other types that will have to be dealt with. The spectrum of pulses is indeed wide.
Suppose
a T-in-T pulse ‘lands’ in a region of S of lesser vigour,
or the S where the pulse is ‘declines’ in vigour.
1) The pulse now ‘resides’ in S of a different set of resonance specifics.
2)
Of the two ‘shells’ on the two sides of the borderline of the pulse at the
pinnacle of its
expansion cycle, the core is the pulse’s ‘own’
property, so its ultimate toughness remains the same in the ‘new country’. But
the outer counterpart of it ‘hemmed out’ by the expansion ‘sweep’ by the pulse
does not ‘match’ this toughness as the S encompassed by this action is of
lesser vigour. So the ‘stronger’
shell ‘pushes’ out further. This ‘additional’ exercise ‘stands’ separate
because the S involved in it has vigour different
from the one that went into the making of the ‘mother-pulse’. A different vigour means a different degree of ‘readiness to react’ and
different set of resonance specifics. (Fig. 8)
Two outer shells form one after another during its expansion cycle. The
outermost wall is therefore ‘thinner’ than the one the mother-pulse originally
had.
5)
During implosion, the surrounding S is not able to ‘adequately catch up’ with
the vacancy because of the ‘delayed return’ of the S
involved in the secondary. This results in the formation of another
‘secondary’ of nature ‘opposite’ to the expansive one. (Fig. 9) At the peak of
the reverse cycle of the mother-pulse, there is a ‘gap’ between the implosion
front and the ‘withdrawal to core’ by the ‘content’ of the mother-pulse. This
‘paucity’, at the peak of the reverse cycle, is worst
towards the core of
the mother-pulse. The ‘gap’ gives birth to a secondary pulse-let that in effect
‘forces’ the implosion further ‘down’. It
manifests itself at the close of the reverse cycle of the mother-pulse and
‘vanishes’ soon after the mother’s expansion cycle begins. However what it does
while serving the ‘mother’ is ‘extension of rarefaction further on’.
3) After a
critical stage the extra exercises become an additional pulse-let around the
mother. This is by releasing a part of its content to act out of phase with
itself so that the two together can manage to achieve better resonance.
The mother-pulse is a two-in-one
now. Let this
extra pulse-let be called a secondary pulse-let, or a
negative pulse-let. It has inherent affinity for the mother for total resonance.
The mother has an equal affinity for the negative pulse-let, expressed as a
matching pulse-let residing within itself. This can be christened a
primary pulse-let, or a positive pulse-let. These are the ‘charges’.
4) The ‘pull’ exerted by the implosion, after ‘shock-absorption’ by the secondary pulse-let, is weaker.
If the ‘gap’ is large, the secondary pulse-let gets ‘laminated’ into various quanta occupying appropriate resonance slots permitted by the new vigour. Once ‘released’ its expansion cycle means the development of a core of rarefaction and reverse cycle is just the filling up of this void. For all practical purposes the total extent of S involved in this is the same as in its counterpart. The only difference in the two cycles is that it is ‘driven’ to induce rarefaction whereas the other is ‘driven’ to induce toughness.
Pulses being results of resonance, their wellbeing depends on the degree of perfection of the resonance achieved. Even when the resonance is perfect, there is unavoidable loss of ‘action-capability’ in the long run. At every beat, what goes into the ‘maintenance’ of the ripple is a little less than what is returned to the pulse by the ripple. Therefore, however well balanced, no pulse is eternal.
Though
pulses in general can be classified on the lines envisaged above, pulses of the
same class and type may, at the individual level, represent minute deviations
from the ‘general’ resonance ‘value’ of its class and type due to various
factors we shall soon examine. Suffice it to say that every single pulse has
the chance to have its ‘individuality’
3
The Marching Order
Apparently, nothing ever stays put anywhere in the universe. Every particle and
every galactic cluster is on the move. ‘Keep moving’ seems to be the unwritten
law. What makes all bodies perennially restless? Why can’t everything remain
where it is? What gives everything the irresistible ‘urge’ to go?
What makes a pulse of any kind shift position? Attraction by another pulse is one reason, the opposite of it, another. Body impact is yet another. When there are many bodies, each venturing to influence every other in any one or more of these ways at the same time, it becomes well nigh impossible to say exactly where anything goes next - the many-body-problem.
A great deal of effort has been made to better understand the rules of this game so that the movements of the players can be explained in stricter terms. This has not been in vain, but success has remained limited. So, why not study the terrain of the ‘playground’ for a change? Brushing aside for the moment the notion that matter alone is all that matters, let us see what role, if any, S plays in the act of ‘bodies’ moving in it.
Any
pulse is an integral part of its surroundings. When a pulse 'moves',
the
spiral of toughness develops an additional direction or vector component in its
pulsing. Fig. 14 shows an example of the
movement of the pulse in S.
The pulsing action alone is what shifts when a pulse moves. The event also can be viewed as an adjacent location of S claiming the action. What takes place may be called propagation of the pulse through S.
Obviously the movement of the pulse can occur in any direction depending on the force applied to it. (Fig. 15)
It is not difficult to visualize
movement of the three-dimensional pulse. By the time the pulse
has reached the contraction phase from the expansion phase, the pulsing action
has shifted to the adjacent portion of S. In other words, the pulse has been
‘conducted’. The pulse has
transferred its act to an equal volume of S next to
its original position. It is the mode of movement in a
continuous substrate, as the pulse is part and parcel of S. It is
similar to a whirlpool moving in water, where the adjacent water molecules take
up the 'whirlpool-ness'.
Another example is what takes place when one loops a thread around a rod and
pulls at one end of the thread. The loop remains the same even after the length
of thread making the loop has changed. Thus this is the only medium which does not
contradict the findings of Michelson-Morley experiment.
If the pulse shifts once, it goes on shifting because
the pulse has picked up an additional mode of pulsing while getting rid of the
deformity imposed on it by the force applied on it, as can be inferred from the
figures. Only the associations that the pulses in a body have come to establish
among themselves remain. The additional act of pulsing is kept on till it is
undone by encounter with an equal and opposite force. If not, the pulse goes on
doing rectification-pulsing in addition to its original heartbeat.
At the atomic level the expansion and contraction cycles contribute to another very interesting phenomenon. When the pulse reaches the end of the expansion cycle, the S outside is exerting an action opposing the direction of the expansion spiral. But in the contraction phase the S outside is encouraging the implosion in that direction of the spiral. This gives a torque to the pulse itself, and finally overcomes the inertia to make it spin in the direction of its contraction phase. The loops of the spiral appear less in number during the expansion phase than during the contraction phase. The distance traveled by the pulse in unit time remains the same. The spin helps the pulse to stabilize in the resonance slot. The rate of spin is decided by the degree of instability created by the in-jerking S. So the speed of the spin is again determined by the vigour of S. When toughness of S increases, the spin also increases. The energy required for the spin comes from the toughness of S or its vigour, not from the pulse.
Any ‘persuasion’ is, naturally, in the form of a force. When a pulse is subjected to a force, there are just two ways in which the force can act on the pulse - either directly to the body or through a ‘field’ in S. As the pulse is ‘spherical’, the force, if applied bodily, acts at a point on it. This in effect becomes an obvious attempt to ‘deform’ it so as to ‘interfere with its internal affairs’. The pulse cannot help reacting to this ‘nuisance’. It is busy doing its own act. There is no moment to spare. Naturally, it ‘puts up’ with the bother as far as it can ‘afford to’. If and when the bother proves ‘unbearable’, the pulse ‘decides’ to get rid of the ‘hindrance’ and ‘moves’ away from ‘contact’ with the force by ‘transferring its act’ to an equal volume of S next to it.
The pulse goes on 'shifting', though the force that made it move in the first instance has disappeared. This is because the pulse now has an additional mode of pulsing while getting rid of the ‘deformity’ imposed on it by the force applied. This mode becomes a ‘habit’, a part of the ‘way of life’ of the pulse. This additional act of pulsing is kept on till it is undone by encounter with an equal and opposite force. Otherwise the pulse goes on doing this act of ‘rectification pulsing’ in addition to its ‘original’ heartbeat.
What determines the limit of the pulse’s ‘patience’ towards a force tending to ‘disturb’ it from its position? In other words, what decides the critical value of the force needed to move a pulse? There are only two factors to be taken into account here. The ‘bulk’ of the pulse and the ‘smoothness’ of the terrain ie, S. The ‘bulk’ in this context only means the T-and-D that has gone into the making of the pulse. If the nature of the terrain remains the same, this alone decides the minimum of ‘insinuation’ needed to move the pulse. The more the ‘content’, the greater the force needed to overcome the ‘inertia’, in direct proportion. But this is only as long as the terrain remains the same. In S of a different vigour, the ‘critical’ dose of force needed to shift the same pulse will be different. The higher the vigour of S, the readier it is to react and, therefore, moving a pulse therein has got to be ‘easier’.
As the pulsing action alone is what shifts when a pulse moves from one place to another, the ‘content’ of S in the pulse after transfer is entirely ‘different’. The event also can be viewed as a different location of S ‘claiming’ the ‘action’.
If the force applied on the pulse persists even after the pulse gives in and starts moving, the force inflicts the ‘deformity’ over and over again after every rectification beat the pulse makes. The frequency of ‘rectification pulsing’ goes on increasing accordingly. The pulse is ‘accelerated’. Well, how high can that frequency go? That is, how fast can the pulse move ultimately?
As speed increases, the ‘rectification’ effort amounts to greater and greater ‘strain’ on the part of the pulse vis-à-vis its ‘primary’ act. A stage is gradually reached where the frequency of the additional mode of pulsing begins to seriously interfere with its primary pulsing. As the limit of its ‘tolerance’ is thus approached the pulse ‘demands’ greater and greater amounts of force to make every equal increment in its speed. A ‘survival battle’ between the primary pulsing of the pulse and the external force begins. If and when the frequency of ‘rectification pulsing’ reaches the ‘critical’ value, the pulse demands ‘infinite’ force for any further increase in speed. This fast and no faster please, it seems to say.
What exactly is the nature of this limit? One does not have to go far to find. The pulse is composed of S and exists in S. Any part of it cannot react faster than the limit warranted by the vigour of S. So no pulsing-frequency can move faster than the strict upper limit prescribed by the vigour of S in which the pulsing takes place. For instance, the vigour of flat S, by definition, is unity. Therefore nothing in there can ever be made to move in any hurry. On the other hand, high velocities are possible in tough and humble regions because the vigour of S is greater.
Any pulse on which a force sufficient to overcome its ‘inertia’ is applied moves along what is known as a ‘straight’ line. Why not a ‘curved’ line? What stops it from changing direction at random?
The ‘body’ of the pulse is not the whole of the pulse. It is not any ‘better’ half of it either. Whether ‘normal’ or ‘rectification’, pulsing is the same kind of happening. Any pulsing has a ‘ripple’ around it extending to ‘infinite’ distances from it. The ripple is also conducted in the direction at production. Once a pulsing mode comes into existence, the ‘ripple’ of it too comes into being. The ‘ripple’ is the ‘other half’ of the pulse, an integral part of it. The ripple is also propagated in the direction of production.
When the direction of motion of a pulse is established, the pattern of changes this implies in the ‘ripple’ generated by the pulse too is established. A new ‘convention’ in the form of a new correlation of functions within and without the pulse comes into force. The pulse does not veer away from the ‘direction’ determined by and already thus physically encoded in the ‘whole’ of its being unless of course another force is applied to create yet another mode of pulsing so as to bring about changes in the co-ordinates of this ‘commitment’.
The war between modes of ‘rectification pulsing’ raging in a droplet of water on the rim of a flywheel illustrates the intricacies of the dilemma. At every point on its journey the droplet ‘wants’ to fly away from the wheel at a tangent. But the surface tension of the liquid holds it back to its earlier ‘commitment’ by overpowering the fresh allurement. As the wheel picks up speed, the drop gets more and more ‘shaky’. What actually happens is that the rectification pulse associated with the ‘straight-line-velocity’ imparted to the droplet is, at every point, checkmated by the rectification pulse associated with the force of surface tension of water. The outcome depends on which of the two modes of rectification outlives the other by what margin.
The number of different modes of ‘rectification pulsing’ taken upon itself by every pulse in the universe, in whatever association it is with other pulses, is, to say the least, quite baffling. For instance, in daily life everyone keeps moving most of the time (walking, cycling, driving, swimming, sailing, flying or even orbiting). While caught in a traffic jam or awaiting the blink of the signal at a traffic junction (doesn’t it look like ages), one feels one is halted. The truth is, at the very same moment, one is moving very fast with the rotation of the surface of the Earth, orbiting with the Earth, flying with the solar system, taking part in the journey of the Milky Way and no one knows what else. And none of these movements is in a straight line. There are ever so many forces acting on everybody’s body at every point of time so that every pulse in everyone performs, in addition to its primary pulsing, a plethora of very complicated acts of rectification-pulsing. And these go on changing every second.
With the innumerable modes of pulsing a given pulse takes upon itself at the same time and all the time, no wonder it resembles a wave. But it also behaves a ‘solid particle’ at least at certain ‘points’ of its existence. So why bother to call it either? Strictly speaking, it is not any of the two. It is just a pulse and no other. What if it ‘appears’ to be something different ‘occasionally’ and something else again after a while, ‘transitorily’? The clown in the circus is far from the real person putting up the act. He is not the real ‘him’ even when, after the show, he puts up a sad face before the manager of the circus, asking for a raise. He is a man like everyone else though he rarely gets the chance to be just that.
Forces can also be indirectly applied on pulses. The billiard ball makes a direct hit and imparts movement to two or more balls in as many directions. Direction of impact and the force of it together decide the outcome. This is force that acts through direct contact. It is applied on the thing itself. The influence is physically brought about. The ‘hit’ contributes a different mode of ‘rectification pulsing’ to the group of pulses that makes each recipient.
What happens when a ‘field’ — electric, magnetic, electromagnetic, gravitational, weak-nuclear, strong-nuclear or whatever — is applied on a pulse? There is no ‘direct’ contact with the target. The force does not come into play at any ‘point’ on it. What goes on instead is that the ‘other’ part of the pulse, the ripple, is ‘deformed’. This deformity in turn ‘feeds back’ to the pulse, deforming it accordingly, and the pulse reacts by transforming this ‘experience’ into a mode of ‘rectification’ pulsing. The crocodile is now taken by its tail. Sure, it tries to wriggle out but gives in if the hold is firm enough.
Now, what about the pulses that always travel at a certain speed ‘bordering on recklessness’ and also insist on always going ‘straight’? Electromagnetic radiation is no easy ‘subject’ for any force attempting to push it into a diversion. Why does no ordinary ‘law-enforcement agency’ on earth appear capable of making it reduce speed or deviate from its relentlessly straight path? Why does it commit suicide the moment it is ‘arrested’? Answers to these questions can be elucidated only from the genesis of pulses in general.
To the next
page (Chapters 4 and 5)
To the concluding chapters (Chapters 6,7 and 8)
Verses from the Bhagavad Gita outlining the ancient eastern concept of the Stuff (Brahma)
The fundamentals of Advaita philosophy, with a study of the concept of Brahma or the Stuff
Click here to
read the condensed version
Stuff
and Style of the Universe
First published Nov. 2002 by Hi-Tech Books
Copyright with Hi-Tech Books, Kochi, India
|
|