The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

Preface . . . ix Part I: REALITY'S ARENA . . 1. Roads to Reality: Space, Time, and Why Things Are as They Are . . . 3 . . 2. The Universe and the Bucket: Is Space a Human Abstraction or a Physical Entity? . . . 23 . . 3. Relativity and the Absolute: Is Spacetimean Einsteinian Abstraction or a Physical Entity? . . . 39 . . 4. Entangling Space: What Does It Mean to Be Seperate in a Quantum Universe? . . . 77 Part II: TIME AND EXPERIENCE . . 5. The Frozen River: Does Time Flow? . . . 127 . . 6. Chance and the Arrow: Does Time Have a Direction? . . . 143 . . 7. Time and the Quantum: Insights into Time's Nature from the Quantum Realm . . . 177 Part III: SPACETIME AND COSMOLOGY . . 8. Of Snowflakes and Spacetime: Symmetry and the Evolution of the Cosmos . . . 219 9. Vaporizing the Vaccuum: Heat, Nothingness, and Unification . . . 251 10. Deconstructing the Bang: What Banged . . . 272 11. Quanta in the Sky with Diamonds: Inflation, Quantum Jitters, and the Arrow of Time . . . 304 Part IV: ORIGINS AND UNIFICATIONS 12: The World on a String: The Fabric According to String Theory . . . 327 13. The Universe on a Brane: Speculations on Space and Time in M-Theory . . . 376 Part V: REALITY AND IMAGINATION 14. Up in the Heavens and Down in the Earth: Experimenting with Space and Time . . . 415 15. Teleporters and Time Machines: Traveling Through Space and Time . . . 437 16. The Future of an Allusion: Prospects for Space and Time . . . 470 . . Notes . . . 495 . . Glossary . . . 537 . . Suggestions for Further Reading . . . 543 . . Index . . . 545