The natural motion in physics The natural motion in physics, (Aristotle, Newton, Einstein) George Mpantes

Aristotle: heaven, first mover Newton: absolute space, vis insita Einstein: space time, metrical field

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The natural motions. Throughout the history of physics, the source of natural motion was an active intangible, a metaphysical assumption in the scene of motions. What is a natural motion? It is an unforced motion. In physics it was described by the laws of motion, as referred to tracks of unconstrained bodies. In Aristotle every physical body has a natural place to which it naturally moves and in which it naturally rests. Natural motion is an inherent element of the body, its form. A strai ht motion from the center of the !niverse was ascribed to the elements air and fire. A strai ht motion towards the center was iven to the elements earth and water, and a circular motion around the same center was attributed to ethereal heaven. It was uniform, circular and eternal. In Newtonian mechanics and special relativity the natural motion was a uniform rectilinear motion, followin it"s first law of motion (inertia, no force actin on it#. In eneral relativity a natural motion may be linear or curved dependin on which frame we take our description. $ere the natural motion of a body is the eodesic motion, where eodesic is the shortest path between two events, in terms of space%time interval. &o the 'strai ht line' referred to inertial motion is automatically included when described in terms of eodesic interval.

George Mpantes mathematics teacher

Aristotle s heaven .
in one way we call heaven the essence of the ultimate circulation of the universe.to another way we call heaven the body which is in continuity with the ultimate circulation of the universe to which the sun and moon and some of the stars are contained. .Again in another way we call heaven the body which is comprehended by the last circulation.(On the heaven chapter V) .

Amon the natural motions , Aristotle noticed one that was different from the others. It was the motion of the celestial spheres, ie the stars. &o the idea that the motion of material bodies could be described as a motion of bodies as seekin their natural place (Aristotle, hysics #, could not be applied to the stars , whose movement is clearly cyclical and eternal . )ut different natural motions means different bodies and thus Aristotle stated that as their motions are ruled by principles other than those of bodies in the sublunary sphere, so the heavenly bodies and the heaven, on which the stars are considered fi*ed , are not composed of the four elements, earth , water, air, fire, but a fifth element the ether, ( from the verb aitho meanin burn # whose natural motion was circular and eternal, with all the +ualities that he had discovered in the circular motion. ,hese properties will determine the heavens ontolo ically. ( -n the heaven ./0 b 1 #. Accordin to Aristotle, this essence (pemptousia, the ether, the fifth (pempto# essence#, is the material that constitutes the transparent concentric celestial spheres on which are located the stars, and e*hibits many properties: it is un-generated, un-aging, incorruptible, eternal, constant and
unchanging. All these are properties of absolute space, and space%time, the

later heavens. &o heavens and everythin in it, is immaterial forms. ( -n heavens

.23 b 1.#. Matter for Aristotle is the possibility of or ani4ation, the potentiality, and form, it"s actuality, these are the basic concepts of Aristotle"s ontolo y. . )ut what is a form without matter? It is like wei ht without body, wave

The natural motion in physics amplitude without wave , is an immaterial e!istence of properties without possi"ilities of change, a new entity. ,oday we should say: it is
mathematics# It seems that Aristotle did re ard them as livin bein s with a

rational soul as their form. &omethin like a mathematical space that can be Euclidean, elliptic, havin dimensions and properties but without bodies . )ut unlike the mathematical space, the heaven should be active as movin the stars , it is a pure Aristotelian form, one end of nature the other is pure (prime # matter, must be an active intan ible, operates without mechanisms, without the factor of physical necessity that characteri4es every other chan e . ,he concept of active intan ible returns in the physical space%time of eneral relativity that we will analy4e below, as in absolute space of Newton.

Aristotles first mover . What is the Aristotelian unmoved mover ? 5rom his considerations of the nature of motion (in physics "oo$ % # Aristotle concludes that there must be a lo ically first unmoved mover in order to e*plain all other motion. $e ar ues that the motion is eternal, motion is not imparted from nothin , but from some part of the whole that is already in motion. In such cases , the motion of the part that moves the other parts of a thin re+uires a mover. $e concluded (6hysics 3.7# that must there be somethin that imparts motion without itself bein moved. If there were no unmoved mover, there could be no motion , because a moved mover re+uires a cause of it"s own motion and no infinite re ress is possible. Aristotle determines that there is only one unmoved mover (6hysics .73b .1#. ,his is the first mover . What are 'natural' +ualities of this first mover? I ive the conclusions , because the discussion is very lon in book 3 in 6hysics.

George Mpantes mathematics teacher 1. ,here may be not somethin that moves itself . )ecause this would need a cause of it"s motion . 8oin ever backwards from effect to cause , the process would continue ad infinitum. &o the first mover is unmoved ( b 6hysics .73 7# .. . A first mover that moves everythin be rather attractive despite repellent . without movin itself should

9. un unmoved mover causin eternal motion must likewise be eternal :. it is also without ma nitude, since infinite force cannot reside in a finite ma nitude (and can be no infinite ma nitudes# 7. $avin no ma nitude means that the first mover is indivisible, havin no parts. ,he unmoved movers are finally, themselves, immaterial substances, (separate and individual bein s#, havin neither parts nor ma nitude. Where is located the first mover? In the first heaven, the outmost sphere of fi*ed stars, It is clear then that there is neither place, nor void, nor time, outside the heaven. $ence whatever is there, is of such a nature as not to occupy any place, nor does time a e it; nor is there any chan e in any of the thin s which lie beyond the outermost motion; they continue throu h their entire duration unalterable and unmodified. ,he first mover on heaven is a concept of the same epistemolo ical status with the absolute space of Newton. It is the immaterial source of natural motion in the world . . This immaterial form of activity must be intellectual in nature and it cannot be
contingent upon sensory perception if it is to remain uniform. What does this

mean? ,he hittin of the ball with the racket is the efficient cause of motion of the ball . )ut the milk in a dish causes the movement of the cat in another way . ,he cat moves aimin milk, which acts as a final cause rather than efficient . <ilk acts on the intelligence= of the cat, and cat responds to this action. All

The natural motion in physics

these seem mytholo y in modern physics . It is very ' natural' the snap%action of the ravitational force, without any intermediate, while the 'intelli ence' in motion seems unthinkable . &o the first mover is somethin that we define, somethin inconceivable, as if it was e*istin in nature, otherwise we can not et to the source of natural motion. It is the metaphysical assumption in the
interpretation of natural motion motion.

)ut such a mytholo y developed in eneral relativity in which space% time ( the heaven # determines the motion of bodies throu h the intan ible curvatures of the metric field, that faithfully correspond to the first mover . Is there a mechanism here? ,he space%time is filled with ' rooves ' into which bodies move. ,he rooves are not materials like furrows in the earth>s soil. ,hese are mental, rooved on eometric te*ture of space%time made by the masses who are nearby , but not mechanically, is a brain structure so the motion is like a mentally planned movement. " Space and time are not conditions
- conditions in which we live , but ways in which we thin of !instein Newtons heaven an& first mover .

Newton" heaven was his absolute space? It is the metaphysical assumption in Newton"s system. 'e analy(e& this concept in article )the space in physics*. The natural motion in Newtons system arises from his +irst law: !hen viewed in an inertial reference frame, an ob"ect either is at rest or moves at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an e#ternal force.
"his is the inertial motion, the natural motion for #e$ton. $ere , the motion of

planets is not a natural motion, there e*ist the ravitational forces. Into the absolute space of Newton>s, inertial motion corresponds to the absence of applied force, that is the real force due to interaction with other material bodies . )ut then what it"s cause of ? What causes it ? there is one possible answer : the absolute space .. since this is the only ' ob@ect' that is present in the material body ($rancois %alibar# It is confirmed here that the

George Mpantes mathematics teacher absolute space must be considered (Einstein# as a physical entity, it e*erts forces , in contrast with the space of eometry. &o we can assume that the effect of absolute space stems from a 'force ' of a different nature from the applied forces involved in the formula 5Am.a ,his is why Newton calls it vis
insita (often translated as inertial force , or as fantastic or hypothetical force#. Vis insita is the first mover.

,he vis insita of the absolute space of Newton enerates and sustains the inertial motion, the only >natural> motion of Newton"s world , as the first mover of Aristotle"s heaven enerates and sustains the natural movement of the stars . ,he a"solute space e*erts a Bpseudo%force= on bodies to make spurt the phenomenon of motion . ,his force, vis insita , is a force that doesn&t not cause acceleration' as the first mover that acts as a final cause on the Cintelli ences= of bodies. ,he two &escriptions are e,uivalent for the deep consciousness of man, for the %mind&s eye , both have emerged logically, changing only the 'uhnian paradigm. +inally, even though his physics (Newtons) capture& much of what we e!perience physically, the reality it &escri"es for heaven an& first mover turne& out not to "e the reality of our worl&. Especially when we tried to measure the relative velocity of the earth as to heaven, Newton"s heaven collapsed and was re@ected by physics. Now his metaphysical assumptions must be replaced by other metaphysical assumptions, this is the history of physics, ( article (hysics, metaphysics, Aristotle, )uhem* )ut, CThere is always a logical and conceivable principle of motion which is itself independent of the motion+. Dater, Einstein"s space%time with it"s metric field, was another paradi m of the two entities. Einsteins heaven- the space.time . ,his new reality was that space and time, as physical constructs, have to be combined into a new mathematicalEphysical entity called >space%time>, because the e+uations of relativity show that both the space and time coordinates of any event must et mi*ed to ether by the mathematics, in

The natural motion in physics order to accurately describe what we see. )ecause space consists of 9 dimensions, and time is 1%dimensional, space%time must, therefore, be a :% dimensional ob@ect. It is believed to be a >continuum> because so far as we know, there are no missin points in space or instants in time, and both can be subdivided without any apparent limit in si4e or duration. &o, physicists

now routinely consider our world to be embedded in this :%dimensional space% time continuum, and all events, places, moments in history, actions and so on are described in terms of their location in space%time. In space%time the world becomes a four.&imensional geometry. &o we solve eometric problems and then translate the solutions to spatial and temporal effects. When we e*amine a particular ob@ect from the stand point of its space%time representation, every particle is located alon its worl&.line. ,his is a line that stretches from the past to the future showin the spatial location of the particle at every instant in time. ,his world%line e*ists as a complete ob@ect which may be sliced here and there so that you can see where the particle is located in space at a particular instant. -nce you determine the complete world line of a particle from the forces actin upon it, you have >solved> for its complete history. ,his world%line does not chan e with time, but simply e*ists as a timeless ob@ect. &imilarly, in eneral relativity, when you solve e+uations for the shape of space%time (it"s metric field#, this shape does not chan e in time, but e*ists as a complete timeless ob@ect. Fou can slice it here and there to e*amine what the eometry of space looks like at a particular instant. E*aminin consecutive slices in time will let you see whether, for e*ample, the universe is e*pandin or not. General relativity . 8eneral relativity is the revolutionary assumption of Einstein that ravity is a conse+uence of the fact that space%time is not flat, as had been believed, but curved . It is the eometric version of ravity. 8eneral relativity puts two +uestions : 1. $ow the curvature of spacetime determines the natural motion of matter ? .. $ow the presence of matter affects the curvature of space%time ?

George Mpantes mathematics teacher The first answer is that the curvature defines the eometry and thus the 'strai ht line' in the area of space%time. ,he eodesic is a world line of particular importance to eneral relativity, since geodesic motion is considered here as 'pure motion' (inertial motion# in spacetime, free from any outside influence. It is the natural motion in space%time. ,he eodesic is the 'strai ht line' to curved spaces. It"s form ( the e+uation # is dependent on the curvature of the space and is iven in differential eometry. We emphasi4e that an accelerated rectilinear motion in space, is not pictured by a eodesic in space%line. ,he eodesic motion is the inertial motion for the flat space%time (Newton, special relativity# The secon& is Einstein>s field e+uations . ,hese are ten e+uations in which one member has the characteristics of matter and the other the curvature, in the form of the famous metric tensor gmn that determines the eometry of space%time, it"s metric and hence the well%known 6rinciple of Deast Action. &o the space Gtime is causally efficacious in the sense that space%time causes the distribution of matter and ener y in the universe which in turn affects the curvature of space%time. ,he metric field Cmakes= the space for bodies to be able to move , so C acts geometrically= on bodies, vi4 mentally, as the milk in the intelli ence of cat. ,his is a new active intan ible. ,he metaphysical assumption for the source of natural motion.
The new law of motion is that all free bodies follow eodesics of space%

eodesic.

,he eodesic e+uation and the field e+uations are associated with our

time , re ardless whether located in areas close to the masses or in remote locations, even in inter%stellar space. ,his is the generali(e& principle of
inertia . ,he motion close to the sun or in inter%stellar space is the same '

free'. ,he ravitational phenomena that seemed to determine the motion in heaven, are eometric phenomena. $ere are not e*istin ravitational forces. &o what is a natural motion? the unforced motion which takes place on the track of a eodesic. )ut a ain is an inherent element of the body (Aristotle#, as this same element installed it"s eodesics. $ere the idea of natural motion is closer to Aristotle than Newton? ,he metric field that corresponds to the first

The natural motion in physics

mover is Clocated= in space% time, as the first mover on heaven. ,he motion of planets is a ain a natural motion, as in Aristotle. The ontology of space.time . The ontological status of space /time is the same as Aristotles heaven an& Newtons a"solute space- it is a metaphysical assumption, an a"stract entity that help us to grasp the reality. )0. If there is not
something conceivable behind phenomena there is no science for nothing (ristotle )hysics

The heaven and first mover, the absolute space and vis insita , the space%time and it"s metric field, these are the sources of natural motion. ,hat is always, there is a lo ical and conceivable principle of motion which is itself independent of the motion. In Aristotelian world is a pure form. &o we see that Aristotle"s features permeate the whole story of the motion . All of them are an element of immateriality that human mind introduces in a material world. CH !hat moves the bodies lies within them, does not come from something e#ternal , and in the same time, bodies do not move themselves , but the nature, . )hysics *++ ( , In eneral relativity this Aristotelian picture of the motion is described in mathematical terms , where while the motion of bodies is seemingly shelfmotion in fact is a shelf-motion moving outside and where the chain " mover - moving " implies a " stationary mover " ,o move freely a body needs to know the metric tensor
mn

, ie the

eometry of space%time, to follow the eodesic, vi4. the tra@ectory of least action, the natural motion likes >co nitive> but the intelli ence is natural. What is the metric field of space%time ? Aristotle would say it is the first mover but with mathematical form . ,he curved space%time is not a body , it is Aristotelian form , and somethin unusual happens, as in heavens. !sually we attach forms in the bodies of our e*perience , now we rendered form where there was no body , it is somethin reco ni4able only by the human mind which physics has never included in it&s description . it is a pure form,

George Mpantes mathematics teacher

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pure mathematics for today. ,he same happened with Newton"s absolute space ,he curvature of the surface of curtain is a form attached to the curtain so it is reco ni4able by the mind, but in space%time curvature which is the curtain ? ,he characteristics of the first mover of Aristotle in what referred ? ,here is no body , nor there , nor here, only properties which are reco ni4ed there by the lo ic and here by mathematics. Everythin in space time as in heaven are immaterial forms. ,he effort of physics to attribute a physical e*istence to space%time, always loyal to e*ternal material reality, has not produced anythin re arded as packa es of distorted space%time, but particles that interpret the 6hysics : George Mpantes mathematics teacher 1ources . mpantes on scri"& . yet. (Aristotle would say that the form is not material #. It should then the bodies be ravitons, hypothetical ravitational interaction are massless, ... www. body

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The natural motion in physics

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