Time, Space, Matter & Energy
The complete physical universe
Missing dimensions: Observer, Information
Overview
This is the complete physical universe as the natural sciences describe it: matter and energy distributed through space and evolving through time. Every equation of physics, every law of chemistry, every cosmological model lives within this quadruplet. It is the most ambitious scientific picture ever constructed — unified by relativity at the large scale and quantum field theory at the small, governed by conservation laws that hold from the Big Bang to the final fate of the cosmos.
Central Tension
The quadruplet raises the question of whether the physical universe is self-subsistent and self-explanatory. Naturalism says yes: the universe just is these four dimensions and their lawful interactions, and asking for something beyond them is a category mistake. Theism says no: the laws themselves, the initial conditions, the fine-tuning of constants — all require a grounding outside the quadruplet. The missing dimension is the observer: is the universe "real" without one, or does reality require a mind to actualize it?
Key Philosophical Questions
- Is a universe of matter, energy, space, and time self-subsistent — or does it require a creating cause outside itself?
- Could a universe with these four dimensions but no observers ever be meaningfully said to exist?
- Do the laws governing this quadruplet explain themselves, or do they presuppose a mathematical or rational substrate?
- Does the fine-tuning of physical constants — which permits complex matter-energy structures to arise in space through time — demand an explanation beyond physics?
Schools of Thought
This quadruplet is all there is; the physical universe is self-subsistent and its laws are brute facts, not in need of external grounding.
Matter and energy in spacetime are constituted by quantum fields; the quadruplet is fundamental, but quantum indeterminacy means it is not classically deterministic.
All four dimensions exist independently and objectively; science progressively reveals their structure and relations.
The material-energetic state of spacetime at any moment fully determines all future states; the quadruplet is a closed causal system.
The quadruplet describes the created order; its existence, laws, and initial conditions depend entirely on God as the uncaused cause.
God creates and sustains all four dimensions; the universe's lawful structure is a reflection of God's rationality, not a self-sufficient fact.
Synthesis
The four physical dimensions — time, space, matter, and energy — constitute the universe of natural science in its completeness. Whether this universe is ultimately self-explanatory or points beyond itself to an observer, a creator, or a mathematical ground, it represents the most comprehensive empirical picture of reality ever achieved.
Related Dimension Triplets