Related papers: The clock ambiguity problem: extended or extinguis…
In the Contention Resolution problem $n$ parties each wish to have exclusive use of a shared resource for one unit of time. The problem has been studied since the early 1970s, under a variety of assumptions on feedback given to the parties,…
The paper is intended to clarify operational meaning of mass and time quantities as main characteristics of an atomic clock, which is considered a quantum oscillator in association with the de Broglie wave concept. The specification of the…
Time plays a fundamental role in our ability to make sense of the physical laws in the world around us. The nature of time has puzzled people -- from the ancient Greeks to the present day -- resulting in a long running debate between…
To admit a canonically conjugate time operator, the Hamiltonian has to be a generator of translations (like the momentum operator generates translations in space), so its spectrum must be unbounded. But the Hamiltonian governing our world…
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…
We present a relational framework in which temporal structure is not fundamental but emerges from correlations within a globally stationary quantum state. Each subsystem includes an internal clock, and conditional states evolve effectively…
Entanglement is at the core of quantum physics, playing a central role in quantum phenomena involving composite systems. According to the timeless picture of quantum dynamics, entanglement may also be essential for understanding the very…
We consider the conditioning of the timeless solution to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation by a predefined matter clock state in the simple scenario of de Sitter universe. The resulting evolution of the geometrodynamical degree of freedom with…
We consider a global quantum system (the "Universe") satisfying a double constraint, both on total energy and total momentum. Generalizing the Page and Wootters quantum clock formalism, we provide a model of 3+1 dimensional,…
The principle of invariance of the velocity of light is only valid for the wrong measurements of inertial observers who ignore their own movement and consider themselves at rest. The Langevin (or clock) paradox arises when it is assumed…
One of the most fundamental open problems in physics is the unification of general relativity and quantum theory to a theory of quantum gravity. An aspect that might become relevant in such a theory is that the dynamical nature of causal…
Ordinary quantum mechanics is formulated on the basis of the existence of an ideal classical clock external to the system under study. This is clearly an idealization. As emphasized originally by Salecker and Wigner and more recently by…
The Everett-interpretation description of isolated measurements, i.e., measurements involving interaction between a measuring apparatus and a measured system but not interaction with the environment, is shown to be unambiguous, claims in…
The theory of relativity associates a proper time with each moving object via its world line. In quantum theory however, such well-defined trajectories are forbidden. After introducing a general characterisation of quantum clocks, we…
By studying the set of correlations that are theoretically possible between physical systems without allowing for signalling of information backwards in time, we here identify correlations that can only be achieved if the time ordering…
The paper adresses the problem of reasoning with ambiguities. Semantic representations are presented that leave scope relations between quantifiers and/or other operators unspecified. Truth conditions are provided for these representations…
Measurements are ordinarily described with respect to absolute "Newtonian" time. In reality however, the switching-on of the measuring device at the instance of the measurement requires a timing device. Hence the classical time $t$ must be…
An extrinsic time is identified in most isotropic and homogeneous cosmological models by matching them with the ideal clock - a parametrized system whose only "degree of freedom" is time -. Once this matching is established, the…
After stating the measurement problem, physicists usually assume the problem to be coming from the measurement part. Since classical probabilities also collapse when updating information, there is nothing special about quantum state…
The only widely accepted explanation for the various arrows of time that everywhere and at all epochs point in the same direction is the `past hypothesis': the Universe had a very special low-entropy initial state. We present the first…