Time, Matter & Energy
Transformation, entropy, and physical law
Overview
The domain of thermodynamics and physical chemistry: energy transforms matter through time. Combustion, nuclear fusion, radioactive decay, metabolism — all are instances of the triad at work. The laws governing this triad are among the best-confirmed in all of science: conservation of energy, the increase of entropy, and mass-energy equivalence. This is the triad that explains why the universe evolves, why stars burn, and why living organisms must eat.
Central Tension
Matter and energy are equivalent (E=mc²), yet they behave differently: matter is localized, persistent, and massive; energy is propagating, transformative, and massless in its "pure" forms. Time gives their relationship a direction — the second law of thermodynamics ensures that energy transformations are largely irreversible. Is this arrow of time imposed by the initial conditions of the universe, or is irreversibility fundamental to the nature of matter and energy?
Key Philosophical Questions
- Is matter ultimately just a stable, low-energy state — "frozen energy" — or is it genuinely distinct from energy?
- What does the inevitable increase of entropy imply for the long-term fate of matter in the universe?
- Are the conservation laws governing matter and energy necessary truths or contingent features of this universe?
- Can a universe of pure energy (no matter) exist, and could time proceed within it?
Schools of Thought
The triad of time, matter, and energy fully describes physical reality; all change is transformation of matter and energy through time according to natural law.
The material-energetic state at any moment fully determines all future states; the triad constitutes a closed deterministic system.
Energy and matter are abstractions from the underlying reality of temporal process; becoming is more fundamental than being.
At the quantum level, matter and energy are both excitations of quantum fields, and their temporal evolution is governed by probabilistic laws rather than strict determinism.
God created matter and energy and governs their transformations; conservation laws reflect his faithful sustaining of creation, not its independence from him.
Synthesis
Time, matter, and energy constitute the subject matter of physics and chemistry in their entirety. Their relationship — transformation, conservation, and irreversibility — reveals a universe that is neither static nor arbitrary but governed by deep regularities that connect the microscopic and the cosmic.
Related Dimension Pairs