Why Is Einstein / Minkowski Space Bending Not Real?
Everybody heard about Einstein’s theory of our world being not straight (Euclidian) 3-dimensional, but a curved 3-dimensional layer in 4-dimensional spacetime. Minkowski, Einstein’s math teacher, advised Einstein to combine space and time into 4-dimensional surrogate to simplify his math by using tools like Pythagorean theorem (to combine time projection and space projection) and Lorentz transformation (transforming coordinates between different observers). Now to the problem:
Einstein’s math results match observations very well, that gave the impression that we actually live in such a world: a 3-dimensional curved layer in 4-dimensional spacetime. But do we?
For example, Einstein accurately predicted the change in stars’ observations near the Sun, caused by time slowing down and “our world bending” near the Sun:
Now, what is real and what is not:
1) Time slowing down near massive objects is real;
2) Space bending is an illusion only.
1) Time slowing down near massive objects was verified accurately near the Earth: second (time unit) is about nanosecond dilated (longer) near the Earth than away from the Earth. Even in GPS satellites that use atomic clocks for geolocation, such clocks are almost half a nanosecond per second faster on the orbit than the same atomic clocks on the Earth. (And it is not because GPS satellites move fast: contrary to time slowing down inside fast-moving objects, time in GPS satellites speeds up because they are on high orbit.)
2) Time dilation causes two interesting optical effects: refraction (change in light beam direction) and redshifting (change in light color — wavelength change). Here we need refraction only: light beam bends when travelling in space where time speed varies, literally by the same Snell’s law that we learned in school:
Here is Snell’s law simple proof for a light beam crossing timezones border where time speed changes (time dilates):
Such refraction already explains the change in stars’ line-of-sight near the Sun. We cannot ignore such refraction, which is an outcome of time dilation, because time dilation is significant near the Sun, a very massive object. Snell’s law for time dilation is a recent result, unknown to Einstein. Einstein’s predictions (based on Einstein’s space bending) for stars’ line-of-sight deviations are (and acknowledged as) very accurate, but these predictions do not take into account the refraction effect. If Einstein’s space bending is real, then now we still need to apply the inevitable Snell’s refraction. And that will give wrong results.
What does that mean? Einstein’s model just replaces refraction by space bending math that gives accurate results, despite ignoring unavoidable refraction. In other words, BOTH space bending and refraction cannot be real (otherwise the combined result is wrong), and since refraction is inevitable (by the above simple Snell’s law), space bending cannot be real. Space bending is just an illusion caused by refraction, and Einstein’s math is accurate in describing this illusion in terms of Minkowski space.
P.S. Besides that, the time speed difference between time now and time in the past causes a concave refraction effect: remote galaxies appear to us smaller and closer than they really are.
Astronomers, analyzing JWST, Hubble, and Euclid space telescope observations, are still not aware that remote galaxies are farther and larger than they seem. (Concave lensing is opposite to known gravitational convex lensing.)
P.P.S. About redshift, another optical effect of time dilation that we mentioned here, check “Time Matters” (free eBook, also available on Google and Amazon) explaining Hubble redshift without (Doppler effect of) space expansion.
P.P.P.S. Check All We Know about Physics of Time in 4 Pages digest on physical nature and mechanical effects of time.
