Abstract

This paper argues the identity between space-time and physical substance’s extension following Descartes and Einstein. Field and particles’ distinct spatiotemporal attributes are derived from their different extension types. Through elucidating the continuous space-time of the field world, we can supersede the genesis of the universe by the beginning of the particle world. Given two proposals: any fundamental particle is finite but unbounded, a singularity is the only site for transformations of two extension types of physical substance, and then by the general theory of relativity, we determine the flexible intertwined structure of the cosmological time and its irreversibility. The thermodynamic entropy can only be applied in the particle world, which indicates that the thermodynamic time is a constituent part of the cosmological time. The indestructibility of physical substance reveals that the reciprocal transformations of two extension types of physical substance enable a self-sufficient universe.