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C00002 00002	hypert[s88,jmc]		Notes on the hypertime hypothesis
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hypert[s88,jmc]		Notes on the hypertime hypothesis

1. Consider steady supersonic flow past an obstacle.  The differential
equations are hyperbolic, so the streamline direction can be taken as
time, and we can have evolution in that direction.  In a suitable
generalization, life and then civilization could evolve and then
scientific curiosity.

2. Problem: determine what hyperbolic systems (non-linear) admit
evolution of complexity and  not mere chaos.

3. Now suppose the flow not quite steady.  In principle, the evolving
civilization notices nothing.  The external observer notices
that their whole history changes.  However, if the external observer
is not merely an observer but a manipulator, the civilization may
be able to understand their world better by postulating an
external manipulator, i.e. a god,  with a certain method to
his madness.  For example, he could make astrology work.

4. By analogy we can imagine that our universe changes in ``hypertime''.
We don't notice hypertime.  A change in hypertime changes our whole
history.  The hypertime hypothesis, or rather possible hypertime
hypotheses, would represent radical changes in the fundamentals of
physics.  There is no present evidence for hypertime.  However,
hypertime hypotheses represent one more possibility that might
be explored in our efforts to account for phenomena.  For example,
perhaps the least action principle or its quantum mechanical
versions might be regarded as the result of the system reaching
a potential minimum in hypertime.

5. Suppose the system is evolving slowly in hypertime.  If it stays
close to equilibrium, we still have civilization  evolving in time,
and the internal observers won't directly notice hypertime.  If it
evolves faster,  time and hypertime will mix.

6. Query: Can the difference between weak and strong interactions
be given such an interpretation?  Weak time is hyper w/r strong time
and doesn't obey strong conservation laws.  

7. Query: Can the violations of causality in relativistic quantum
mechanics be ascribed to hypertime processes?  Seems doubtful.

8. The most immediate possibility for research is to try to discover
what class of differential equations admit a time-hypertime
interpretation.  Can the integral of action somehow be interpreted
as an energy being minimized in hypertime?  Perhaps we have to average
it over all trajectories.