General Theory of Relativity and the problem of Singularity

Isaac Newton gave the first mathematical model for time and space in his Principia Mathematica. In Newton’s model, time and space were the background in which events took place but the events didn’t affect space and time. Furthermore, time was separated from space. The interval of space between two events was not absolute although the length of an object was invariant. For example, the horizontal distance moved by a cricket ball after being dropped from a passenger’s hand and before it hits the floor of a moving train is not the same for an observer within the moving train and another outside the train. On the other hand, time is absolute in the Newtonian framework. Observers inside and outside the train will agree on the time required by the ball to fall on the floor of the train.

Einstein gave a completely new model for space and time in his special theory of relativity in the year 1905.

His theory is based on two important axioms:

1. The laws of science should be the same for all freely moving observers (observers in different inertial frames of reference).

2. The speed of light through a vacuum is the same for all observers in inertial frames of reference. This was experimentally shown by Michel son Morley.

From these axioms, Einstein showed that the time interval and the space interval between two events measured in one inertial (freely moving, non-accelerating) frame of reference would not be the same in another inertial frame of reference.

In the framework of the special theory of relativity, space-time (described by four coordinates) was the background in which the event took place, and space time was not affected by events just like in the Newtonian framework. Another major outcome of the special theory of relativity was that the mass and energy became convertible to each other and a small mass is equivalent to an enormous amount of energy (E=mc2).

Now, the General Theory of Relativity (GTR) had some thing more interesting. Einstein showed that gravitation as a consequence of space time curvature and thus an inseparable aspect of space time. To appreciate this point, let us compare the electric force with the gravitational force. Depending on the charge (positive or negative) of a particle, the electric field around it can be repulsive or attractive. Electric fields, due to positive and negative charges, can cancel each other out. For example, a neutron atom, which consists of an equal number of electrons and protons, will not exert electric force at a distance. So, we will find regions in space where an electric field is absent. But this is not the case with gravitational force or field. It will be present everywhere and is always attractive in nature. Einstein argued that because of its permanence, gravitation must be a feature of space-time. He made the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not like other forces. A mass does not create a force field around it that will cause another mass to accelerate. Instead, it distorts the structure of space-time around it.

Let us describe the phenomenon of the earth moving in an elliptical path around the sun in both Newtonian as well as the GTR frame works. In the Newtonian framework, one would say that the earth is constantly attracted by the sun. But in the GTR framework, we would say that the sun has influenced the structure of space time in its vicinity. It has distorted the space-time in its vicinity and the earth freely moves along a geodesic in this curved space-time. The light rays, too, must follow the geodesic path and thus bending of light is expected near a massive object like the sun, which was verified experimentally in 1919.

A very significant scientific revolution that took place towards the beginning of the 20th century is the emergence of quantum mechanics. In the classical framework, if the state of a particle is known at a given time, it can be, in principle, predicted precisely for all subsequent times. However, in the framework of quantum mechanics, one can only predict the set of probable states (a state is defined by position and velocity) in which the particle could be found. Thus, in quantum mechanics, the state of a particle implies the entire set of position-velocity combination that the particle could be found along with the probability of each combination. Also, the act of measurement affects the quantum state. Thus, within the quantum framework, nature doesn’t follow deterministic laws. Quantum mechanics was successful in describing the sub-atomic phenomenon and it evolved over a long period of time (Standard Model) to describe interactions of all elementary particles.

Scientists have estimated that for the small duration of time beginning from the Big Bang and extending up to 10 to the -43 power seconds after the Big Bang (referred to as Planck time) a quantum mechanical description of cosmology will be indispensable. However, it should be noted that the Big Bang theory is already facing the problem of singularity as described in a previous article. With quantum mechanics entering into the arena of the Big Bang, things will become even more di fficult, since quantum mechanics is in contradiction to GTR. The challenge, therefore, is to find a theory of quantum gravity,which is a unified theory of quantum mechanics and GTR. In this regard, J.V. Narlikar points out, “At the present time, the goal of having a working theory of quantum gravity seems far away.”

As stated above, the scientific description of the Big Bang would require a unified theory that will satisfactorily account for gravity as well as the quantum nature of the very early universe. This amounts to the development of a unified theory known as quantum gravity.

Ignoring gravity, many scientists have tried to explain different phenomena involving matter,radiation,the interaction between matter and radiation, and the interaction amongst particles due to electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces using the Standard Model, which is a quantum mechanical model. Within the framework of the Standard Model are the following fundamental particles:

1.Ma er particles (Fermions):These are the particles that constitute ma er, and can be divided into two classes:(a)Quarks and (b) Leptons. Each class has six particles and six corresponding antiparticles.

2. Force Carrier particles (Bosons):These are the particles which carry force or interaction between matter particles. The force carrier particles are:(a)Gluons; (b) Photons; and (c) W and Z Bosons. These force carrier particles are thought to be responsible for strong, electromagnetic, and weak interactions, respectively.

However, the Standard Model is not the final theory for describing the Big Bang because it does not take into account gravity, which is indispensable for a scientific description of the Big Bang. Also, although the Standard Model describes the above listed fundamental particles, one cannot guarantee that there will be no more fundamental particles at much higher energies than we have experimentally achieved so far. This is signi ficant from the Big Bang point of view, as the energy involved in the Big Bang is considered to be extremely high.

Similarly, Charles Townes indicates the possibility that there may be forces other than the four forces known in science. He says, “It is unreasonable to think that we already know enough about the natural world to be con fident about the totality of forces."

Vedantic Conception of Life, Its Meaning and Purpose

Introduction

Life is a mystery. The best minds in the fields of natural sciences and philosophy have been trying to understand life from the dawn of civilization. However, they have been unable to come up with any clear definition and understanding of life. Even after three centuries of tremendous success which scientists have experienced in their scientific investigation, they still can’t identify on exactly what it is that which separates a living organism from other types of physical objects.

The Vedanta speaks of fivefold tattvas, truths or realities. These are, (1) Isvara or God; (2) Life, Jiva or Soul; (3) Prakrti or Matter; (4) Kala or Time; and (5) Karma or Action. The author will try to briefly focus on the difference between life and matter. Vedantic thesis, in a nutshell, is as follows:

Life and Matter: Vedanta proclaims that life and matter are two distinct categories of reality. Besides the physical bodies shaped by genome, there is a spiritual particle of life or soul or spiriton in every living being. Our conscious experience or consciousness and free will are the properties of spiriton. Matter, however complex it maybe, can never be conscious. Life and matter can interact under the influence of time resulting in what we call embodied or biological life. God, is the origin of both. Matter is the insentient energy whereas life is the sentient or conscious energy of God. He is beyond the perception of the material senses.

Evolution of Consciousness: There are 8.4 x 106 varieties of life (microorganisms, plants, aquatics, birds, reptiles, animals, humanoids and human beings) and conscious self (or soul or spiriton) passes from a form of less conscious state to a form of a higher conscious state according to the subtle laws of karma (cause and effect), until it reaches the human form. In human form of life, consciousness is fully developed and one can inquire about the higher meaning and purpose of life.

What is life?

As indicated earlier, life according to Vedanta can be described in the following representation: Living Being = Genome + Mind, Intelligence & False Ego + Spiriton

(This means a living being or organism consists of physical matter, subtle matter and the spiritual life particle.)

According to Vedanta, the topmost scientific and philosophi- cal treatise of Indian spiritual and cultural heritage, all living beings are animated by the presence of a non-chemical or non-molecular fundamental spiritual particle—“spiriton” (called atman in Vedantic terminology).

In Vedanta there are two aspects of reality—the spiritual nature and the material nature. It should be noted that the activities of the living beings are not simply physical. Many scientists face great difficulty explaining human behavior only in mechanical or material terms and feel such limitations intuitively. James Watson, the codiscover of double helix model of DNA structure, says, “There are still very major problems to solve on how information is stored and retrieved and used in the brain. It’s a bigger problem than DNA,
and more a difficult one. . . . we still don’t know how the brain works. . . .” Recently, Stephen Hawking also expressed in a lecture, “As Dirac remarked, Maxwell’s equations of light, and the relativistic wave equation . . . govern most of physics, and all of chemistry and biology. So in principle, we ought to be able to predict human behavior, though I can’t say I have had much success myself. The trouble is that the human brain contains far too many particles, for us to be able to solve the equations.”

According to Vedanta, the brain in developed living beings is an important organ of the body machinery in which the symptom of consciousness is transmitted. The conscious energy is transmitted from the spiritual soul or ‘spiriton’.

In biology textbooks, life or living beings are generally defined as having potential to grow, reproduce, move, respond to such stimuli as light, heat and sound and are sustained 

by the processes of nutrition, respiration and excretion. But what makes these living systems grow? Biologically, we explain that growth is due to multiplication of cells through various types of divisions like mitosis or meiosis. But why does any cell start dividing in the first place?

Why does a fertilized egg (after the sperm cell unites with egg cell) undergo divisions which result in the formation of the whole body? Vedanta describes that it is due to the presence of ‘spiriton’ that the body is animated and active and undergoes six types of transformations. It takes birth, lives for some time, grows, produces some offspring, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion.

It is just like the analogy of a car and the driver inside. When the driver goes away, the car cannot move. Similarly, when the spirit soul, spiriton, goes away or what we call death, the body can no longer be animated in spite of the fact that all the molecular machineries that make up the body are still intact. Srimad Bhagavad-Gita mentions about ‘spiriton’ being different from matter as follows:

bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha
apareyam itas tv anyam prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat

Translation: “Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My (Lord Krishna’s) separated material energies. Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities (spiritons) who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.”

According to Vedanta, the science of the soul or spiriton (atman) is the sublime essence of spirituality. The Bhagavad-Gita refers to this science as—raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam pratyaksavagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum avyayam, meaning, “This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” According to Vedanta,
the ultimate purpose of human life is to find our real spiritual identity and our relationship with the Supreme. Thus, Vedanta strictly deals with life from a spiritual perspective and gives it preeminence over non-sentient matter.

Inquiry into the Prime Duty of the Human Soul

The first aphorism of Vedanta states: athato brahma jijnasa, meaning in the human form of life, one must inquire about the Ultimate Reality. In the human form of life, the consciousness (cetana), intelligence (buddhi), mind (manas), senses (indriyas) are fully developed. Thus, human being is totally equipped to make the deepest jijnasa (inquiry), the spiritual inquiry. A similar message echoes in the statement of Albert Einstein who states that knowing the plan of God is most important and the rest are details. By this inquiry, sambandha, the relationship between the self and God will be established and the pure spiritual knowledge of the self will be understood. Isa Upanisad further declares, isavasyamidam sarvam, everything belongs to the Supreme Lord. Therefore, everything should be used, including the works of the scientists and all the leaders of the world in the service of the Supreme Lord.

In a nutshell, this is the view of Vedanta regarding the prime duty of humanity. Inquiry, jijnasa, is the fundamental quality of life. Everyone inquires about something or the other. In the course of life, one experiences different phases like old age, disease and many kinds of sufferings. Therefore, we want to find out the solution to these problems. Every research work is a kind of inquiry. Unless a person is awakened to the position of questioning his sufferings, he is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one’s mind. Therefore, inquiry forms the most important process of acquiring knowledge. We want to know about things that are beyond what we can see conventionally. We invent electron microscope, telescope, etc., to satisfy our curiosity. But this is not enough. Our senses and extended senses are still very limited.

Can a bird inquire about the meaning of its existence? Innocent and ordinary living beings like birds and animals inquire only of bodily needs. They inquire, ‘where is water?, where is food?, where is shelter?’, and so on. However, they do not have the capacity to inquire about the deeper purpose and meaning of life. But in the human form of life, one is endowed with the unique ability to inquire beyond these bodily needs. This is the special and unique qualification of the human form of life. When a child is growing up, he inquires from his parents about many things around him, such as ‘What is this?’, ‘What is that?’, etc. In this way, the child gathers knowledge from his parents. Since the conscious intelligence is including the deeper questions about life. The most important inquiry of human life should be to find out about the Absolute Truth, jivasya tattvajijnasa. Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.10) states:

kamasya nendriyapritirlabho jiveta yavata
jivasya tattvajijnasa nartho yasceha karmabhih

Translation: “Life’s desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or selfpreservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal for one’s works.”

The ability to inquire about the ultimate truth of life makes the human being uniquely different from all other forms of life.

The Beginning of Life

Biological issues arise when interaction between life and matter begins. It is very interesting to note that there is a significant description about the science of embryology in Vedantic literatures.

 Srimad Bhagavatam, Third Canto mentions a brief description of human embryology.
Garbhopanishad, one of the ancient Upanishads, also serves as a brief treatise on embryology. These are very relevant to modern science and technology.

According to Vedanta the manifestation of life begins from the moment of conception. Life first enters the semen of the male and is injected into the womb of a woman. Dr. Jerome Lejeune, known as "The Father of Modern Genetics," also echoed, “Life is present from the moment of conception” before the Louisiana Legislature's House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice on June 7, 1990. He explained that within three to seven days after fertilization we can determine if the new human being is a boy or a girl. "At no time," Dr. Lejeune said, "is the human being a blob of protoplasm. As far as your nature is concerned, I see no difference between the early person that you were at conception and the late person which you are now. You were, and are, a human being." He pointed out that each human being is unique – different from the mother – from the moment of conception. A detailed description of the beginning of life and embryology is available in the ancient literature called Srimad Bhagvatam, the cream of Vedanta.

Thus, since according to Vedanta, material life begins at the moment of conception, and life is sacred and human life is very rarely obtained, discarding the embryos at any stage after the moment of conception, in whatever form, is prohibited. The absence of bone, skin, heart, liver etc., in zygote does not imply that it is lifeless. Life is a divine gift and it should be protected and guarded under all circumstances.