Can time dilation fields cut?

[StargateMillennium]

I don't know where to put this one so I'll put it here. But I was thinking about things.

Let's say you have a vertical cylinder, only a few millimeters in diameter and infinite height for argument's sake (basically a taut string). The cylinder is a time dilation field and anything inside that field experiences extreme time dilation (for argument's sake let's say that time inside the field boarders on completely stopped).

If someone were to walk through that cylinder or if an object passes through that cylinder, would it be cut in half? And if so, what would dictate what could or could not be cut.

I'm wondering if it can cut because let's say I slide an object into that field. At that moment, the molecules inside the field would age at a much slower rate than what they're attach to. Wouldn't that sever the bonds between them? Also, the object would maintain its velocity while the velocity of the material in the field would have a slower velocity relative to the world outside. I mean, inside the field it'd be the same velocity and KE. But the object will be done passing through while the molecules are still at the front of the field. Not to mention the molecules in the field will have more molecules trying to get shoved in after it.


I guess this can also extend to the time dilation field maze in SG1. Carter threw a rock and when it hit the field it just stayed there. But if something like that actually existed, wouldn't something else happen to that rock for the aforementioned reasons? I mean, as far as the field is concerned you just tried to fit a rock into something the depth of a few nanometers in the time of a few nanoseconds.

So if I had this field, would it cut or something else?

[NickEast]

Some real scientific thought has gone into this, since black holes have time dilation as well. And time dilation is a real phenomenon that exists right here right now. Due to relativity, the faster you travel the slower you age and the faster the universe around you seems to go. That's one of the problems for why FTL travel is deemed a physical impossibility. In fact, satellites in orbit of Earth need to be adjusted to compensate for time moving differently, which is especially a problem for GPS.

What I think is that time dilation fields are not like shields. They don't have very thin sharp barriers where the effect is instantly on. The closer you get to the center, the stronger the effect. There's undoubtedly some sort of a border where inside the effect is mostly stable, but then there would be a transition zone beyond that where the effect diminishes until the outer region where it's back to normal.

I think in "Unnatural Selection" with the planet, the field surrounds the planet like an atmosphere. On the planet's surface, the effect is stable, but starting at some higher altitude to mid orbit the effect gradually diminishes until it's back to normal.

Even for smaller fields the border doesn't have to be flat. In pretty much all cases (AFAI remember) the edge of the field isn't visible. The field could reshape around the object entering it, like a bubble, or some force could be exerted on the object causing it to be pushed out or pulled in depending on its velocity. A rock is a small object thrown at a high velocity.

That being said, I wouldn't say it's impossible for that to happen. I'll direct you to the remake of The Time Machine starring Guy Pearce:

Spoiler:

Near the climax of the movie the hero at first escapes in the time machine but pulls the villain into the machine's field. This field is a sharp bubble that surrounds the machine, and clearly visible. After a brief scuffle, the hero throws the villain out of the field with his arm still inside it grasping the hero. The part of the villain outside the field rapidly ages and disintegrates, cut exactly at the edge of the field.

[Annoyed]

"The 100", a now completed CW show addressed this briefly during its final season. Seems there was a planet where time ran at a different rate than others. Travel to this and other planets was accomplished by going through "anomalies". In one episode, a character goes through one in an improper manner, and is chided by another charaacter who warns her that she could have been cut in half or some such. Another traveler had one of her hands/arms aging at a different rate than the rest of her body as a result of such a trip.