Time Travel & Gravitational Time Dilation Function

In summary, the conversation discusses the concept of a "time travel function" in relation to the gravitational time dilation function for non-rotating spherical bodies. The discussion concludes that there is no way to travel back in time using this function, as it does not account for the effects of being inside a black hole's horizon.
  • #1
Invutil
24
0
If you square both sides of the gravitational time dilation function for non-rotating spherical bodies, do you not get a "time travel function" that allows you to travel back in time with a massive enough body like a black hole?
 
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  • #2
Invutil said:
If you square both sides of the gravitational time dilation function for non-rotating spherical bodies, do you not get a "time travel function" that allows you to travel back in time with a massive enough body like a black hole?

I don't understand what you mean by a "time travel function", but there's nothing that happens in the neighborhood of a non-rotating spherical black hole that allows you to travel back in time.
 
  • #3
I must be not understanding something then. If 0 < 2GM/rc2 < 1 or 0 < r0/r < 1, then time in the gravity well is less than time at an arbitrarily far distance from it. For 0<x<1, 0<sqrt(x)<1, when (1-2GM/rc2) < 1 or (1-r0/r) < 1. The greater the mass M, the smaller the distance from center r, the farther the observer is in the past (t0). Might the value inside the square root become negative even, if 2GM/rc2 > 1 or r0/r > 1, (at a black hole?) and go to a higher dimension? Does it make sense? Since it's inside a square root, might it become a complex number and still make sense that way? Then, maybe the effect can be repeated to return back to real numbers (going through another black hole, assuming that doesn't totally annihalate whatever is pulled in)? This seems really amazing to me.
 
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  • #4
Invutil said:
I must be not understanding something then. If 0 < 2GM/rc2 < 1 or 0 < r0/r < 1, then time in the gravity well is less than time at an arbitrarily far distance from it.

No. For this range of the radial coordinate, you are inside the black hole's horizon, and there are no static observers there--i.e., no observers that "hover" at a constant ##r## (doing this inside the horizon would require moving faster than light). So there's no way to make the comparison of "time" that you are trying to make here.

Invutil said:
The greater the mass M, the smaller the distance from center r, the farther the observer is in the past (t0).

t0 doesn't appear anywhere in what you said. What is t0?
 

What is time travel?

Time travel is a theoretical concept that involves moving between different points in time. It is still a subject of debate and has not been scientifically proven to be possible.

Can time travel occur naturally?

There is no evidence to suggest that time travel can occur naturally. The laws of physics, as we currently understand them, do not allow for it. However, some theories, such as the theory of relativity, suggest that it may be possible under certain conditions.

What is the theory of relativity?

The theory of relativity, proposed by Albert Einstein, is a fundamental concept in physics that explains how time, space, and gravity are interconnected. It includes the concept of gravitational time dilation, which states that time moves slower in areas with stronger gravitational pull.

What is gravitational time dilation?

Gravitational time dilation is the phenomenon where time moves slower in areas with stronger gravitational pull. This is due to the warping of space-time by massive objects, such as planets and stars. This effect has been observed and measured by scientists using atomic clocks.

Can time travel cause paradoxes?

The concept of time travel can lead to paradoxes, such as the grandfather paradox, where a person travels back in time and accidentally prevents their own existence. However, these paradoxes are purely theoretical and do not have a scientific basis. The laws of physics, as we currently understand them, do not allow for paradoxes to occur.

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