Abstract

A non-local hidden-variable (NLHV) design called the Cordus conjecture is applied to address the ontological question: What is time? A novel multi-level concept emerges for time, and the origin of the arrow is also explained. According to this theory, time at the fundamental level consists of the frequency oscillations of matter particules, and thus time is locally generated and a property of matter. At the next level up, that of the assembly of matter particles via bonds and fields, the interconnectedness creates a patchwork of temporal cause-and-effect, and hence a coarser time. Entropy, classical mechanics, the arrow, and our perception of time are shown to all arise at the transition from coherence to decoherence. Time at the macroscopic level is therefore a series of delayed irreversible interactions (temporal ratchets) between sub-microscopic domains of matter, not a dimension that can be traversed in both directions. The theory extends to time at the level of organic life. It explains how the human-perception of time arises at the cognitive level, and why we perceive time as universal. This theory suggests that time is all of particle-based vs. spacetime, relative vs. absolute, local vs. universal, depending on the level of assembly being considered. However it is also none of those things individually.

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