Absolute movement relative to time now. The formation of Newton's substantial concept of space and time

The ontological status of space and time has become the subject of philosophical and scientific analysis in the substantial and relational concepts, which consider the relationship between time, space and matter.

AT substantial(from lat. substantia - what is the basis; essence), the concepts of space and time were interpreted as independent phenomena that exist along with matter and independently of it. Accordingly, the relationship between space, time and matter was presented as a relationship between types of independent substances. This led to the conclusion that the properties of space and time are independent of the nature of the material processes occurring in them.

The ancestor of the substantial approach is considered to be Democritus, who believed that only atoms and emptiness exist, which he identifies with space.

The substantial concept of space and time received its comprehensive development and completion in I. Newton and in classical physics as a whole.

The concepts of space and time developed in classical physics are the result of theoretical analysis mechanical movement. Newton clearly distinguished two types of time and space - absolute and relative.

The concepts of "space" and "time" were defined by I. Newton in strict accordance with the methodological setting that was adopted by the emerging experimental science of the New Age, namely, the knowledge of the essence (laws of nature) through phenomena. He clearly distinguished two types of time and space - absolute and relative, and gave them the following definitions.

"Absolute, true, mathematical time in itself and in its essence, without any relation to anything external, flows evenly and is otherwise called duration.

Relative, apparent, or ordinary, time there is either an exact or changeable, comprehended by the senses, external measure of duration, used in everyday life instead of true mathematical time, such as: hour, day, month, year.

Absolute space in its essence, regardless of anything external, it always remains the same and motionless.

Relative space there is a measure or some limited movable part, which is determined by our senses according to its position relative to certain bodies, and which in everyday life is taken for an immovable space.

What caused this distinction?

First of all, it is connected with the peculiarities of the theoretical and empirical levels of cognition of space and time.

At the empirical level, space and time appear as relative, i.e. related to specific physical processes and their perception at the level of feelings.

At the theoretical level, absolute space and time are idealized objects, which have only one characteristic: for time - to be "pure duration", and for space to be "pure extension".

Newton's concepts of absolute space and absolute time are the necessary theoretical basis for the laws of motion. Later they were ontologized, i.e. endowed with being outside the theoretical system of mechanics, and began to be regarded as independent entities, independent of each other or of matter.

AT relational(from lat. relationship - relation) concepts of space and time are understood not as independent entities, but as systems of relations formed by interacting material objects. Outside this system of interactions, space and time were considered non-existent. In this concept, space and time act as general forms of coordination of material objects and their states. Accordingly, the dependence of the properties of space and time on the nature of the interaction of material systems was also allowed. In philosophy, the relational concept of time in Antiquity was developed by Aristotle, and in modern times by G. Leibniz, who believed that space and time have exclusively relative character and are: space - in order coexistence of fragments of reality, and time - sequence coexistence of fragments of reality.

In physics, the relational concept of space and time was introduced to the special theory of relativity (1905) and general theory Relativity (1916).

A. Einstein in developing his theory, he relied on the ideas of a physicist G. A. Lorentz(1853–1928), physics and mathematics A. Poincare(1854–1912), mathematics G. Minkowski(1864–1909). If in Newton's mechanics space and time were not interconnected and had an absolute character, i.e. were unchanged in different frames of reference, then in the special theory of relativity they become relative (depend on the frame of reference) and interconnected, forming a space-time continuum, or a single four-dimensional space-time.

The general theory of relativity was developed by A. Einstein in 1907–1916. In his theory, he came to the conclusion that real space is non-Euclidean, that in the presence of bodies creating gravitational fields, the quantitative characteristics of space and time become different than in the absence of bodies and the fields they create. Space-time is inhomogeneous, its properties change with the change in the gravitational field. In the general theory of relativity, the gravitational field has taken the place of absolute space, thus "empty space, i.e. space without a field, does not exist, space-time does not exist by itself, but only as a structural property of the field" . In the general theory of relativity, not only space and time separately, but also the space-time continuum is deprived of absoluteness. According to the conclusions of the general theory of relativity, the metric of space and time is determined by the distribution of gravitational masses in the Universe.

In Marxist-Leninist philosophy, it was believed that the main philosophical significance of the theory of relativity is as follows.

• 1. The theory of relativity excluded from science the concepts of absolute space and absolute time, thereby revealing the inconsistency of the substantial interpretation of space and time as independent forms of being, independent of matter.
• 2. She showed the dependence of space-time properties on the nature of the movement and interaction of material systems, confirmed the correctness of the interpretation of space and time as the main forms of the existence of matter, the content of which is moving matter.

Considering the philosophical conclusions drawn on the basis of the theory of relativity, the following should be kept in mind. Physics, like any other science, gives a description of the world, relying only on the knowledge and ideas that it can generalize at this stage. Both the substantial and relativistic concepts of space and time, developed in classical mechanics and the theory of relativity, belong to the physical theories of space and time. These scientific theories present conceptual models of space and time, and, as some scientists point out, time in the theory of relativity turned out to be "spatial", its specificity in comparison with space was not disclosed, and the "space-time" of the theory of relativity is an artificially combined continuum .

Scientific disputes around the theory of relativity arose immediately upon its creation and have not subsided to the present.

As stated in the special scientific literature, there is currently no convincing experimental verification of the general theory of relativity. Moreover, there is no experimental confirmation of the initial assumptions of the general theory of relativity. For example, it has not yet been confirmed that the speed of propagation of a gravitational perturbation is equal to the speed of light in vacuum. Only an experiment can give an answer to the question, what is the actual speed of propagation of gravity.

Physicists agree that a thorough discussion of the physical foundations of the theory of relativity and the establishment of the limits of its applicability are necessary. Contemporary estimates philosophical conclusions of the theory of relativity are more balanced. From the point of view of recognizing the objectivity of space and time, both of these concepts are equivalent. Despite the differences, these concepts reflect the same real space and time, so philosophy cannot completely exclude any of the models, categorically recognizing it as absolutely unacceptable.

A well-known Russian astrophysicist proposed his own version of the nature of time N. A. Kozyrev(1908–1983). His concept of time is substantive, i.e. time is considered as an independent phenomenon of nature, existing along with matter and physical fields and affecting the objects of our world and the processes taking place in it.

Kozyrev proceeded from the idea that time is not just "pure duration", the distance from one event to another, but something material that has physical properties. We can say that time has two types of properties: passive, related to the geometry of our world (they are studied by the theory of relativity), and active, depending on its internal "arrangement". This is the subject of Kozyrev's theory.

At the end of the XX century. a number of versions of understanding the essence of time appeared, detailed analysis which can be found in the book of V. V. Kryukov. Analyzing new approaches to the understanding of time and noting their prospects for further development of the problem of time, V.V. activity matter, whatever the nature of that activity. In turn, the activity of matter can be described in two interrelated aspects: topological and metric, those. as a sequence of events and as their duration.

The relationship of time with the internal energy of material bodies is considered in the concept of A. N. Beach

Absolute space is three-dimensional, homogeneous, isotropic Euclidean space.

This statement means that absolute space has the following properties:

1) it has three independent linear measurements, these are independent measurements in three linearly independent directions;

2) space does not depend on the movement and change of matter in it("homogeneity"); it has the same properties for all material objects (regardless of their nature);

3) the change in the properties of the movements of material objects in all directions is the same("isotropy");

4) in space Euclid's geometry applies.

1.2 . Absolute time

Absolute time- this is:

- continuously changing quantity;

- its change occurs from the "past" to the "future";

- homogeneous quantity(in the sense that it does not depend on the movement and change of matter and is the same at all points in space).

1.3 .The connection between "absolute space" and
"absolute time"

In classical mechanics it is postulated that

absolute space and absolute time have nothing to do with each other

(in contrast to the model of space and time in the general theory of relativity, where these concepts are interdependent).

1.4 .Units of measurement (in space and time)

The unit of length in space is 1 meter (m)

(the standard is in Paris in the Chamber of Weights and Measures).

The unit of time is 1 second (s).

She is integral part days:.

1s.=1/86400 [days].

[day] is the average solar day,

determined by astronomical observations and being an integral part of the tropical year.

The solar average day is calculated in a tropical year using the formula:

1[day]=1/365.2422 [tropical year].

The tropical year is determined from astronomical observations as

the period of time between two successive passages of the "Spring" point by the center of the solar disk on the Greenwich meridian.

However, due to the uneven rotation of the Earth around its axis and the nutation oscillations of this axis, the duration of the tropical year changes. This entails changing the time standard (seconds).

In 1967, by decision of the XIII General Conference of Weights and Measures per unit of time, the atomic second was adopted as an experiment, which was used in the calculations of some astronomical parameters.

With the introduction of this unit of time:

a periodic process of oscillations of the radiation of the cesium atom and the period of these oscillations as a component of the duration of one second were used.

The atomic time scale was built using highly stable molecular and atomic frequency standards to adjust quartz clocks. It was distinguished by almost perfect uniformity and did not depend on the rotation of the Earth.

This scale of atomic time was formed on the basis of the use of several atomic clocks.

One atomic second on this scale corresponds to the duration:

9 billion 192 million 631 thousand 770

periods of oscillations of the radiation of the cesium-133 atom.

Therefore, since 2002 The atomic second was adopted as the unit of time in international system SI units.

Time is indicated by the letter . Its range of values ​​is defined as follows.

Some event is fixed as the beginning of the countdown. The point in time when this event occurred is assigned a value equal to zero.

All events that occurred before the fixed one are assigned negative meaning time (they happened "in the past"), and all events that will occur after the fixed one are assigned positive value time .

The value will be equal to the length of the time interval from a fixed event to the event that has happened or will happen.

2º. Starting point. Reference system

2.1. The concept of the radius vector of a geometric point and
its provisions

Before giving the concept of reference point and frame of reference, let us recall some definitions from the geometry of Euclidean space.

We fix two geometric points in space - a point and a point (see Fig. B.2.1).

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As noted above, in order to construct mechanics, it was necessary to introduce the concept of a frame of reference, because one can speak of motion only when there is a frame of reference. Newton proceeded from the fact that nature is inherent in an absolutely motionless frame of reference in the form of an absolute (homogeneous and motionless) space, acting as a receptacle for all bodies, as well as absolute time that flows by itself, regardless of any processes (Newton called it duration ). Thus, in Newton's concept, space and time are separated from material bodies and real processes.

Newtonian space and time are absolute and universal - they do not change from what happens in it with material bodies. Newton considered space as an independent substance. Under certain conditions, space can act on matter, but matter cannot act on space. Any object has a certain position and orientation in space, the distance between two events is precisely defined. Events taking place in different points at the same time, simultaneously.

There are no markings in space. The position of an object in space can be determined relative to another object. How fast is the object moving? What is rest? After all, everything in the universe moves. Movement can be felt if it is uneven. It is impossible to feel movement at a constant speed. If two systems move uniformly, but with different speeds, then no experience can show that one system is at rest and the other is in motion. The only thing that can be said about them is that they are in a state of uniform motion relative to each other. Thus, all uniform motions in Newtonian mechanics are relative. In contrast, accelerated movements are absolutely. Let's say, if the train slows down, things will move under the influence of inertia. Uniform motion for Newton is natural state tel. The accelerated motion is caused by some causes, which Newton called forces. Where do the forces of inertia come from? Newton attributed them to the space in which the acceleration takes place. Thus, Newton can be called a substantialist in his understanding of space and time.

The principles of mechanics that we have outlined were partly seen by Newton in the works of Galileo, and partly formulated by him. We are primarily indebted to Newton for definitions and laws in such general form that they appear to be independent of terrestrial experiments and applicable to events in astronomical space.

In deriving these laws, Newton had to prefer specific mechanical principles, which required certain ideas about space and time. Without such definitions, even simplest law mechanics - the law of inertia. According to this law, a body, on which no forces act, moves uniformly and in a straight line. Let us turn again to the table on which the experiments with rolling balls were carried out. When a ball rolls along a table along a straight line, an observer following its trajectory from some other planet is forced to assert that the path of the ball, from his point of view, is not rectilinear, since the Earth itself rotates, and the movement, which appears to be rectilinear, rotates together with the Earth to an observer, just because the ball leaves a straight track on the table, should appear curvilinear to another observer not participating in the rotation of the Earth. This can be illustrated by the following crude example.

round disc white cardboard fixed on the axis so that it can be rotated with a handle. A ruler is fixed above the plane of the disk. We will now rotate the disc as uniformly as possible and at the same time try to draw a pencil along the ruler at a constant speed so that it traces its trajectory on the cardboard. The trajectory of a pencil on cardboard will, of course, not be a straight line, but a curved line, which will even close into a loop if rotary motion disk will be fast enough. So, the same motion, which the observer connected to the ruler calls uniform and rectilinear, will be called by the observer connected

with a disk that is curvilinear (and uneven). This movement can be built point by point, as shown in Fig. 32.

Our example clearly shows that the law of inertia, of course, makes sense only in cases where the space, or, more precisely, the frame of reference in which the motion is interpreted as rectilinear and uniform, is precisely given.

Fig. 32. The transition of a body from point A to point B with uniform motion over four time intervals - the motion is observed by an observer at rest. the moment the body is at the point the observer marks this point with an asterisk, at - the moment the position of the body is determined by the point, which is also marked with an asterisk; disk, and together with the asterisk, marked in Fig. 32, b, turned at an angle - the observer continues to mark the position of the body in the same way as before. The broken line connecting the stars approximately describes the trajectory of the body along the moving disk.

The Copernican picture of the universe, of course, assumes that the reference frame for which the law of inertia is fulfilled is not the Earth, but a system somehow fixed in astronomical space. In experiments carried out on Earth, for example, in experiments with a ball moving on a table, the trajectory of a moving body is in fact not a straight line, but a slightly curved line. The fact that this escapes our attention is only due to the smallness of the path observed in our experiments compared to the size of the Earth. Here, as often happens in

science, the inaccuracy of observation leads to the discovery important fact. If Galileo had been able to make observations as precisely as he did in subsequent centuries, the intricate mixture of various phenomena would make the discovery of laws much more difficult. Perhaps Kepler would never have explained the motions of the planets if their orbits had been known to him as accurately as they are known today. After all, Kepler's ellipses are only approximations, from which the true orbits, when observed over a long period of time, differ significantly. A similar case occurred in modern physics with the regularities of spectra: the discovery of simple relationships turned out to be much more difficult and noticeably delayed due to an excess of experimental data.

So, Newton was faced with the task of finding a frame of reference in which the law of inertia and other laws of mechanics would be fulfilled. If he had chosen the Sun as his frame of reference, the question would not have been resolved, and his solution would only have been delayed, because it might turn out that the Sun is also moving, as it actually turned out at the time.

It is probably for such reasons that Newton came to the conclusion that empirical reference systems associated with material bodies can never serve as the basis of a law based on the concept of inertia. However, the law itself, due to its close connection with the Euclidean idea of ​​space, of which the straight line is an element, seems to be a natural starting point for the dynamics of astronomical space. Undoubtedly, it is in the law of inertia that Euclidean space manifests itself outside the narrow limits of the Earth. Similar circumstances take place in the case of time, the flow of which is expressed in uniform motion due to inertia. If, for example, the period of one revolution of the Earth were chosen as the unit of time, then the law of inertia would not be entirely fair, since there are some irregularities in the motion of the Earth.

Following similar reasoning, Newton came to the conclusion that there are absolute space and absolute time. It is best to convey the essence of the matter in the words of Newton himself (citations are given according to the translation of Newton's original Latin text). About time, Newton wrote:

“Absolute true or mathematical time in itself and by virtue of its inner nature flows in the same way, regardless of anything

external and otherwise called duration; relative, apparent or ordinary time is a kind of sensible or external (however exact or incomparable) measure of duration, determined by motion, which is usually used instead of true time; it's an hour, a day, a month, a year...

For the days in nature are not really equal to each other, although they are usually considered equal and used as a measure of time: astronomers correct these measures by making an accurate analysis of the celestial movements. Perhaps there is no such thing as a standard movement by which time can be accurately measured. All movements can be accelerated or slowed down, but the true, or standard, process of the passage of absolute time is not subject to any changes. The duration or age of the existence of things remains the same, whether the movements are fast or slow or not at all...”

Newton expressed a similar opinion about space. He wrote:

“Absolute space, by virtue of its nature, regardless of anything external, remains always the same and motionless. Relative space is some moving dimension or measure of absolute spaces; we define it with the help of our senses through the mutual arrangement of bodies, it is vulgarly interpreted as an immovable space ...

So, instead of absolute positions and movements, we use relative ones, and we do this without any inconvenience to our practical activities. But in philosophic inquiries we must abstract ourselves from our senses and consider things as such, independently of everything that is only the sensible measures of these phenomena. For, perhaps, there is no body truly at rest, relative to which all positions and all movements of other bodies could be counted ... "

The unambiguous statement, both in the case of the definition of absolute time and in the case of the definition of absolute space, that these two categories exist "regardless of any external object" seems strange in the mouth of a person like Newton, because he himself often emphasizes that he seeks to study only what actually exists, what can be confirmed by the observation "Hypotheses non fingo" - this is his short and definite expression. But what exists "regardless of any external object" cannot be confirmed by observation, and therefore it is not a fact. Here we are faced with a clear case of how subconscious representations are "applied imperceptibly to the concepts of the objective world. Later we will consider this issue in more detail.

Our task now is to describe how Newton interpreted the laws of the cosmos and how his ideas developed into modern concepts.

absolute space- absoliučioji erdvė statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: engl. absolute space vok. absoluter Raum, m rus. absolute space, n pranc. espace absolu, m … Fizikos terminų žodynas

A fundamental (along with time) concept of human thinking, reflecting the multiple nature of the existence of the world, its heterogeneity. A lot of objects, objects, given in human perception at the same time, forms a complex ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

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Would you like to improve this article?: Complete the article (the article is too short or contains only a dictionary definition). Absolute p ... Wikipedia

ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE- categories conjugated and opposite in meaning, expressing in their interconnection the measure of the manifestation of the eternal in the temporal, the perfect in the imperfect, the unconditional in the conditional, the substance in accidents, etc. Absolutus (lat.) means untied ... Modern Philosophical Dictionary

space- SPACE is a fundamental concept Everyday life and scientific knowledge. Its usual application is unproblematic in contrast to its theoretical explication, since the latter is connected with many other concepts and suggests ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

Categories denoting the main. forms of existence of matter. Right in (P.) expresses the order of coexistence otd. objects, time (B.) the order of change of phenomena. P. and c. main concepts of all branches of physics. They play ch. role on empiric. physical level. knowledge... Physical Encyclopedia

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- (lat. absolutus separated, released and lat. relativus referred to one place or another) opposite in meaning and conjugated philosophical categories. A. unconditional, independent, irrelevant, independent, immutable, existing in itself ... The latest philosophical dictionary

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