Time & mirrors

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Kozyrev: Possibility of Experimental Study of the Properties of Time (JPRS 45238)

What this document is

This is the source archive mirror of a translated Soviet research paper: N. A. Kozyrev, "Possibility of Experimental Study of the Properties of Time," dated September 1967 at Pulkovo and distributed in English as Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) report #45238, Arlington, Virginia, 2 May 1968. The paper is a two-part work: Part 1 sets out a theoretical framework Kozyrev calls "causal" or "asymmetrical" mechanics; Part II reports a long series of mechanical, thermal, electrical and astronomical experiments that he interprets as evidence for the framework.

The document belongs to the archive's "Time & mirrors" dossier. It is presented here as a historical account of what Kozyrev claimed and measured, not as established physics. No independent replication is reported anywhere in the paper; every result is the author's own.

The theoretical argument (Part 1)

Kozyrev's starting complaint is that exact science has reduced time to a coordinate-like interval in Minkowski four-space, which leaves mechanics time-symmetric: the equations cannot distinguish a cause from an effect. He proposes to restore that distinction by treating time as an active, directional physical agent that possesses energy and a rotation moment.

He builds the argument on three hypotheses or axioms:

• Axiom I — time possesses a quality that distinguishes causes from effects (directivity, or "pattern").
• Axiom II — causes and effects are always separated in space by an arbitrarily small but nonzero dx.
• Axiom III — causes and effects are separated in time by an arbitrarily small but nonzero dt of fixed sign.

From these he defines the ratio C₂ = dx/dt, argues that it must be a pseudo-scalar (changing sign under mirror reflection), and derives what he calls the basic theorem: a world with the opposite time pattern is equivalent to our world reflected in a mirror. He then models the time pattern by analogy with the relative rotation of an ideal gyroscope, predicts additional forces along the axis of a rotating body, and offers a dimensional estimate of the constant from Planck's constant and the elementary charge.

The paper's numbered relations, as printed in the translation:

(1)   dx / dt = C2
(1a)  C2 ( i dt ) = dx
(2)   Fo = F – dp1/dt = dp2/dt
(3)   dp2/dt = Fo
(4)   Fo = i C2 · | dp2 / dx |
(5)   Ro = - i C2 × | dp2 / dx |
(6)   ^F = F – Fo = + j u / C2 | Fo |
      ^R = R – Ro = - j u / C2 | Fo |
(7)   C2 = a e² / h = a · 350 km/sec
(8)   C2 = + 700 ± 50 km/sec   (in a left-hand system)
(9)   ^Q = −j(u′ − u)/C2 · |Q|
(10)  n = (b_S − b_N)/2a
(11)  Δl_s = (ΔQ_N/Q)·l
(12)  ΔQ_N/Q = 2.8 × 10⁻⁵ at L = 48°
(13)  a = (T² − T₀²)/(4π²)·(g/2l)·(ΔQs/Q)

A translator's note marks one missing line of text after Eq. (9).

Kozyrev cites H. Reichenbach and G. J. Whitrow on the tautology problem in defining time direction through causality, appeals to weak-interaction parity-violation experiments (the translation names "Lie and Young," evidently Lee and Yang) as consistent with time directivity, and reads Louis Pasteur's discovery of chemical asymmetry in protoplasm as evidence of the same theme. He also invokes Einstein, Mach, Leibniz, Kirchhoff and d'Alembert as intellectual context.

The experimental program (Part II)

The experiments began in the winter of 1951–1952 with graduate student V. G. Labeysh and were later conducted at the Pulkovo Observatory laboratory with engineer V. V. Nasonov, who is credited with imparting "a high degree of reliability" to the work. The instruments were aviation gyroscopes mounted on lever balances and pendulums.

Gyroscope and balance tests

• A gyroscope with rotor diameter D = 4.2 cm, weight Q = 250 g and peripheral speed u = 70 m/sec showed no weight change with a vertical axis at various speeds, to better than sixth-place precision — which Kozyrev reads as supporting momentum conservation.
• Under vibration, a gyroscope with D = 4.6 cm, Q = 90 g, u = 25 m/sec gave a weight difference of −8 mg for counterclockwise rotation (viewed from above); clockwise rotation gave 0; the horizontal-axis azimuth average was −4 mg.
• After establishing a new zero reading under vibration, counterclockwise rotation gave a weight reduction and clockwise rotation gave a uniform increase (+4 mg).
• From these data Kozyrev first derived C₂ = 550 km/sec, later refined to C₂ = +700 ± 50 km/sec in a left-hand system.
• A pendulum check with filament length l = 2 m, u = 25 m/sec, gave a deflection of 0.07 mm, a horizontal-force ratio of 3.5 × 10⁻⁵.

Reversing the cause

Kozyrev then redesigned the apparatus so that vibration was applied to the stationary mounting rather than the rotor. The sign of the measured weight change reversed relative to the earlier rotor-driven tests: counterclockwise rotation now increased weight. He reads this as a mechanical demonstration that cause and effect can be distinguished — relocating the cause flips the additional force.

• Pendulum with electromagnetic drive: l = 3.30 m, u = 40 m/sec, deflection 0.12 mm; rotor weight Q = 250 g, mounting correction a = 1.50 g.

Earth rotation, latitude and planetary asymmetry

Extending the argument to the Earth's rotation, Kozyrev derives a predicted northward force at the surface, a cardioid-shaped Earth, and a latitude at which the "forces of time" vanish.

• Earth-rotation force: ΔQ/Q = 2.8 × 10⁻⁵ at Pulkovo; horizontal component ΔQs/Q = 1.6 × 10⁻⁵ at l = 3.2 m (Δl = 0.052 mm); tan L = 1.75, stated to match Pulkovo's latitude.
• Claimed zero-force parallel at L = 73°05′; extrapolated pole value ΔQ/Q = 6.5 × 10⁻⁵, implying u′ ≈ 45 m/sec.
• The latitude agreement was reportedly reproduced at the higher-latitude site of Kirovsk.
• Planetary asymmetry: Jupiter n = +3 × 10⁻³ ± 0.6 × 10⁻³; Saturn n = 7 × 10⁻³ ± 3 × 10⁻³; terrestrial Δg/g ≈ 3 × 10⁻⁵. The Jupiter photographs were measured with D. O. Mokhnach.

Historical falling-body controversy

Kozyrev reframes the old dispute over the southward deflection of falling bodies as evidence for the time-pattern force.

• Reich's Freiburg mine-shaft measurements: l = 158 m, Δl_s = 4.4 mm south, Δl_o = 28.4 mm east; Eq. (12) gives ΔQ_N/Q = 2.8 × 10⁻⁵ at L = 48°.
• Robert Hooke's January 1680 falling-body experiments, performed at Newton's request.
• Hagen's Vatican Atwood-machine experiment (Ref. 7). Kozyrev argues Hagen's null southward result does not refute the effect, because on an Atwood machine the southward deflection should be reduced roughly 25-fold.

Electric current and heat variants

• Electric-current variant: 15 V, 0.03 A produced a jump-like 0.024 mm southward deflection (Δl/l = 0.85 × 10⁻⁵), about half a stage; reversed polarity gave a northward deflection. Kozyrev reads this as evidence that current is carried by negative charges.
• Heat variant: heating the suspension point gave a southward deflection; cooling with dry ice gave northward; cooling the pendulum body gave southward.

Torsion balance and the causal dipole

• Torsion balance: tungsten wire 35 µm diameter, about 10 cm long; l = 9.0 cm, T = 132 s, T₀ = 75 s, deflection 17.5°, giving ΔQs/Q = 1.8 × 10⁻⁵.
• Causal-dipole tests: the effect was strongest near the energy-absorbing pole, weakened near the motor pole, and vanished when the poles were close together. Falloff was reported as inverse first power; the effect was reportedly sensed at 2–3 m and was not shielded by a thick laboratory wall.
• Asymmetric torsion balance: main load about 300 g on a 1.5 m capron filament (0.15 mm), horizontal plate about 10 cm, small load about 10 g, oil damping; optimal test distance about 5 m, observable to 10–20 m.

The asymmetric torsion balance and its deflecting processes

The asymmetric torsion balance — designed to break the internal compensation that would otherwise cancel the effect — is reported as successful. The predicted turning angle was about 14°, observed deflections reached that value, and stable discrete states appeared at one-fourth of the full effect (3°5′).

Processes reported to deflect the balance:

• heating a body;
• burning an electric tube;
• cooling a previously heated body;
• an electrical battery closed through resistance;
• dissolving various salts in water;
• "even the movement of a man's head."

Nonstationary processes, such as a blinking electric bulb, were reported as particularly strong. The weights are described as behaving "very erratically," with a zero point that often shifts and interferes with observations.

Chiral shielding

Kozyrev reports that sugar (right-handed molecules) shields the balance "to a considerable extent," while turpentine (left-handed) "evidently" causes the opposite effect. No controls, quantities or geometry are stated.

Relaxation-time law

After vibration stops, the additional forces are said to persist and decay as e^(−t/t₀). Kozyrev claims t₀ is independent of mass and inversely proportional to the square root of density:

A described demonstration: a balance weight suspended on rubber, shaken about a minute, then replaced, is said to show gradual lightening consistent with t₀. The text notes the test sometimes works easily and on some days "cannot be accomplished at all."

Kozyrev's three general inferences

1. The causal axioms are confirmed by the tests; force fields transmitting influences should be regarded as discrete, non-overlapping points.
2. Effects through time exist, transmit no momentum, do not propagate but appear simultaneously, permitting momentary relationship and momentary information transmission.
3. Time has diverse qualities open to experiment; knowledge should teach how to penetrate and affect the world of time.

Astronomical claim

Kozyrev states that at the autumn 1966 session of the International Astronomical Union in Brussels he presented a report on physical features of double-star components, arguing that satellites come to resemble their primaries in brightness, spectral type and radius, and that this resemblance cannot be explained by force fields at such distances — it is instead, in his reading, an example of action through time.

Bibliography as printed

1. Reichenbach, H.: The Direction of Time; 1956, Berkeley.
2. Whitrow, G.J.: The Natural Philosophy of Ttime: 1961, London.
3. Gauss, C.F.: Gottingen Learned Review (1831), p. 635.
4. Kozyrev, N.A.: "Possible Asymmetry in Shapes of Planets"; Doklady Ak. Nauk SSSR 70: 389 (1950).
5. Kozyrev, N.A.: Izv. Krym. Astrofiz. Observatorii (Bull. of Crimean Astrophysical Observatory) vol 2, No. 1 (1948); ibid., vol 6, No. 54 (1950).
6. Reich: "Drop Tests Concerning Earth's Rotation" (1832).
7. Hagen, I.G.: "The Earth's Rotation: Its Ancient & Modern Mechanical Proofs"; Sp. Astr. Vaticana Second App., Rome, 1912.

Closing note: Ostrander, S. & Schroeder, L.: Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain, Chap. 13 (pp. 132–141); "Time — A New Frontier of the Mind" (Interview with Kozyrev).

Limitations and unresolved questions

• No independent replication or third-party verification is reported anywhere in the paper; all results are the author's own.
• The reported effects (ΔQ/Q ≈ 1.6–2.8 × 10⁻⁵) are of the same order as plausible vibration, thermal, electrostatic and air-current artifacts. The text itself concedes that vibration complicates measurement and that results were "not always successful."
• The derivation of C₂ from Planck's constant and charge is presented as a dimensional estimate, not a measurement.
• The chiral-shielding claim (sugar vs. turpentine) is asserted without stated controls, quantities or geometry.
• The t₀ density law rests on three materials and is hedged ("it is possible that").
• The rubber-band demonstration is explicitly described as sometimes failing, with no stated criterion for success.
• The seasonal and daily variability claim ("density of time") is asserted without a stated control procedure.
• The claimed inverse-first-power, unshieldable, instantaneous transmission is presented as a deduction from Kozyrev's premises, not as a measured law.
• The IAU 1966 Brussels report is cited only by Kozyrev's own account; no proceedings reference is given.
• The JPRS translation's fidelity and the original Russian publication venue remain unverified.
• The mirror page carries a portrait image and a site logo whose provenance and captions are not established by the text.

Related work in this archive

The paper's themes connect to other archive dossiers on claimed anomalous energy transfer and on instruments said to detect non-standard forces, including over-unity claims and the chronovisor claim. A dedicated assessment of the paper's claims against the evidence it supplies is at Kozyrev Claims vs. Evidence.