Related papers: Requiem for an ideal clock
The recently introduced concept of an "ideal quantum clock" (IQC) is extended. Especially it is shown that the time operator of an IQC is canonically conjugated to the Hamiltonian of the IQC in a certain pre-Hilbert space. Further it is…
Several novel approaches have been proposed to resolve the problem of time by relating it to change. We argue using quantum information theory that the Hamiltonian constraint in quantum gravity cannot probe change, so it cannot be used to…
We consider a number of aspects of the problem of defining time observables in quantum theory. Time observables are interesting quantities in quantum theory because they often cannot be associated with self-adjoint operators. Their…
Inspired by quantum cosmology, in which the wave function of the universe is annihilated by the total Hamiltonian, we consider the internal dynamics of a simple particle system in an energy eigenstate. Such a system does not possess a…
We show that the Wheeler-DeWitt equation with a consistent boundary condition is only compatible with an arrow of time that formally reverses in a recollapsing universe. Consistency of these opposite arrows is facilitated by quantum effects…
The standard Wheeler-DeWitt approach to Quantum Cosmology leads to the problematic freeze of time. The reason is the enforcement of time re-parametrization invariance via the lapse function that is treated at least partially as an…
In order to perceive that a physical system evolves in time, two requirements must be met: (a) it must be possible to define a "clock" and (b) it must be possible to make a copy of the state of the system, that can be reliably retrieved to…
The basic tenet of the present work is the assumption of the lack of external and fixed time in the Universe. This assumption is best embodied by general relativity, which replaces the fixed space-time structure with the gravitational…
The method of decoherent histories allows probabilities to be assigned to sequences of quantum events in systems, such as the universe as a whole, where there is no external observer to make measurements. This paper applies the method of…
We analyze the nature and performance of clocks formed by stabilizing an oscillator to the phase difference between two paths of an atom interferometer. The phase evolution has been modeled as being driven by the proper-time difference…
Given the lack of an absolute time parameter in general relativistic systems, quantum cosmology often describes the expansion of the universe in terms of relational changes between two degrees of freedom, such as matter and geometry.…
In relational quantum dynamics, evolution emerges via the correlations between some system of interest and a clock system, which plays the role of a temporal reference frame. Their combined state satisfies a Wheeler-de Witt-like constraint…
The interval approach to computation of dynamics of celestial bodies in the planetary problem has been considered. It is based on the refusal from idealization of infinitely high resolving capacity of measuring tools, and forms an…
The equation for canonical gravity produced by Wheeler and DeWitt in the late 1960s still presents difficulties both in terms of its mathematical solution and its physical interpretation. One of these issues is, notoriously, the absence of…
We analyze the canonical quantum dynamics of the isotropic Universe in a metric approach by adopting a self-interacting scalar field as relational time. When the potential term is absent we are able to associate the the expanding and…
Developing our understanding of how correlations evolve during inflation is crucial if we are to extract information about the early Universe from our late-time observables. To that end, we revisit the time evolution of scalar field…
We apply a recent proposal for defining states and observables in quantum gravity to simple models. First, we consider a Klein-Gordon particle in an ex- ternal potential in Minkowski space and compare our proposal to the theory ob- tained…
Schroedinger's equation says that the Hamiltonian is the generator of time translations. This seems to imply that any reasonable definition of time operator must be conjugate to the Hamiltonian. Then both time and energy must have the same…
In this paper we provide an experimental illustration of Page and Wootters' quantum time mechanism that is able to describe two-time quantum correlation functions. This allows us to test a Leggett-Garg inequality, showing a violation from…
We present a general relativistic model of a spherical shell of matter with a perfect fluid on its surface coupled to an internal oscillator, which generalizes a model recently introduced by the authors to construct a self-gravitating…