Chapter 1: Spacetime

The Cosmological Constant

The region of spacetime that became our cosmos ripped free of the void when the tension between its infinite and Euclidean poles exceeded its equilibrium value along the perimeter of the sphere. The infinite pole pulled out toward the void as the Euclidean pole pulled in toward the center. As a result, the total quantity of spacetime that constitutes a universe is a multiversal constant; all universes have the same mass. Any collapsing region tears away from the void at exactly the same point in its evolution. Moreover, the tension between adjacent points reflects the total quantity of spacetime in the region at the moment it was separated. As I argued earlier, the force of attraction between adjacent points is a function of their density. This force manifests itself, even to this day, as the coherence of spacetime, its inherent resistance to both excessive compression and decompression. If spacetime is stretched, its Euclidean pole pulls it back toward its equilibrium pressure. If, on the other hand, it is compressed, its infinite pole pushes out against whatever is compressing it. The exact value of this equilibrium pressure reflects the quantity of spacetime that broke away from the rest of the void. If there were more of it, the equilibrium pressure would be higher, reflective of the greater attractive force exerted by the additional spacetime points. If there were less, it would be lower, because infinity has no problem with points at greater separations. As we will see, the equilibrium pressure, the coherence, of spacetime dictates the behavior of everything in the universe. It is the fundamental force of nature, from which all the others are derived.

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