“Traversable Achronal Retrograde Domains In Spacetime”, written by physicists Ben Tippett and David Tsang (2013), suggests the TARDIS is scientifically possible.
Joshua Filmer (From Quarks to Quasars):
“In order for a TARDIS to function, it needs to exist in a universe where the construction of closed timelike curves (CTCs) is possible. A closed timelike curve is defined by instances where the time dimension curves back on itself creating a closed loop. Hypothetically speaking, you could get in this loop (or build one around yourself) and travel forward and backwards in time at will.”
I can’t even pretend to understand that. Hoping the summmary straight from the authors (Cornell University Library, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology) is better. Take it away, Benjamin K. Tippett, David Tsang (Cornell University Library):
“The purpose of this paper is to propose such a spacetime geometry which emulates what a layperson would describe as a time machine. In our geometry, a bubble of curvature travels along a closed trajectory. The inside of the bubble is Rindler spacetime, and the exterior is Minkowski spacetime. Accelerating observers inside of the bubble travel along closed timelike curves. The walls of the bubble are generated with matter which violates the classical energy conditions. We refer to such a bubble as a Traversable Achronal Retrograde Domain In Spacetime.”
Hmmm…maybe the brighter Whovians can make sense of this.
Here is a link to both the actual research paper: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Farxiv-web3.library.cornell.edu%2Fpdf%2F1310.7985v1.pdf&h=XAQHhjzY_
And to a paper the two entitled The Blue Box White Paper, which is a lay person’s version of the above research paper: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Farxiv.org%2Fpdf%2F1310.7983v1.pdf&h=DAQHJHBI6
“Claiming to work at the Gallifrey Polytechnic Institute and the Gallifrey Institute of Technology, the two are actually employed as theoretical physicists at Earth-bound institutions. Tsang earned his degree at Cornell and currently works at McGill University, while Tippett teaches at the University of British Columbia. Together, they named their time-travel paper “Traversable Achronal Retrograde Domains In Spacetime,” which, despite the intentional nod, refers to their concept of spacetime curves.” The Inquisitor — 2014.
I did a research paper on this last year and the way the TARDIS works is it goes into the time vortex which surrounds our universe which is, visually, more or less a light cone, the point being the hypothetical big bang or beginning of our universe. You would needs to travel faster than the speed of light to enter the time vortex which spirals around the said light cone and could go in either direction to move forward or backward in time then pop back into the light cone at the designated time and place. Basically, it requires speeds that surpass that of light and with our technology, is not possible.
Interesting topic. I think not only should we be studying the forces of physics but also how our minds work and how we perceive the commotion going on around us. What we feel to be the truth out there will never be verified. We will only get an idea of how things work by studying what we possibly can observe. Everything else is part of the answer that we can never piece together. For there is no answer. Laws change Infinitely as we reach a limit of observation. Imagine how large an atom would be without any one there to observe it. The very fact that we exist and give things size and label things is part of the problem.
You, Lord Rassilon (“The End of Time”) and Davros (Genesis of the Daleks, “Stolen Earth”) share the same view on the burden of existence, Katsuhiro. Like!
I came to my conclusions based on a lot of research based more in writers explanations of the show. I am currently a senior in high school and wrote my paper last year, so a lot of the technical math is beyond me, however I worked with as much as I could. This was for a paper for my Philosophy of Space and Time class so it works with a lot of the thing we discussed there as well as my own explorations into General Relativity and the curvature of spacetime. So I got my final conclusions from research about the show itself, what has been said in the show, what writers themselves have said, and actual theories and philosophies involved. I just really love space and spacetime and I wanted to combine that with my love for Doctor Who in one of my papers for class.
Interesting Cassandra — thank you for sharing. . .would love to read your paper if you care to share it! I am adding a link to a lecture with Seth Lloyd, Quantum mechanic from MIT — a lead researcher on the topic of time travel. You, and all who are interested in a working TARDIS may be interested in listening (scroll down for video): http://www.geek.com/science/quantum-physics-just-solved-one-of-the-great-paradoxes-of-time-travel-1603503/