Related papers: About Time
Confusion and disagreement around the notion of time is due to the fact that we often fail to recognize that we call 'time' a variety of distinct notions, only partially related to one another. Many apparently obvious properties of time are…
We distinguish two different concepts of time that play a role in physics: \textit{geometric time} and \textit{creative time}. The former is the time of deterministic physics and merely parametrizes a given evolution. The latter is instead…
The geometric concept of geodesic completeness depends on the choice of the metric field or "metric frame". We develop a frame-invariant concept of "generalised geodesic completeness" or "time completeness". It is based on the notion of…
The concept of the space-time as emerging in the world phase transition, vs. a priori existing, is put forward. The theory of gravity with two basic symmetries, the global affine one and the general covariance, is developed. Implications…
We summarize the arguments that space and time are likely to be emergent notions; i.e. they are not present in the fundamental formulation of the theory, but appear as approximate macroscopic concepts. Along the way we briefly review…
This paper explores the status of some notions which are usually associated to time, like datations, chronology, durations, causality, cosmic time and time functions in the Einsteinian relativistic theories. It shows how, even if some of…
Granular space-time posits that everything can be expressed as a function of space-time and matter. And this includes the quantum wave function {\Psi} . To give a geometric interpretation of {\Psi} , we first need to examine time. The fact…
Hamilton-Jacobi theory provides a natural starting point for a covariant description of the gravitational field. Using a spatial gradient expansion, one may solve for the phase of the wavefunction by using a line-integral in superspace.…
The properties of the stable distance over stable spacetimes are used as a reference to propose a simplified, abstract notion of spacetime. The discussion shows that spacetime, with its topology, causal order and (upper semi-continuous)…
Arguments are given that time must be defined in an operative manner,i.e., by constructing devices which can serve as clocks.The investigation of such devices leads to the conclusion that there is a principal uncertainity of time if one…
Recently, a thermodynamic definition of time has been introduced. This definition is useful to find approach some open problems in physics. But, it was obtained by a phenomenological approach and a logical inconsistency appears in the…
In a way similar to classical mechanics where we have the concept of inertial time as expressed in the motions of bodies, in the (special) theory of relativity we can regard the inertial time as the only notion of time at play. The inertial…
Space and time are central concepts for understanding our World. They are important ingredients at the core of every scientific theory and subject of intense debate in philosophy. Albert Einstein's Special and General theories of Relativity…
Discussion of some aspects of the concept of time for a general audience: nature of time, A- and B-series, time in physics, the "now", measurement of time, definition of time units, time's arrow, relativity of time, relativity of…
A particular science is not only defined by its object of study, but also by the point of view and method under which it considers that same object. Taking space and time as an illustrative example, our main aim here is to bring out an…
In this paper I argue that the fundamental aspect of our notion of time is that it defines an order relation, be it a total order relation between configurations of the world or just a partial order relation between events. This position is…
The concept of time-space defined in an earlier paper of the author is a certain generalization of the so-called space-time. In this paper we introduce the concept of time-space manifolds. In the homogeneous case, a time-space manifold is a…
A mathematical definition of classical causality over discrete spacetime dynamics is formulated. The approach is background free and permits a definition of causality in a precise way whenever the spacetime dynamics permits. It gives a…
Paralleling the formal derivation of general relativity as a flat spacetime theory, we introduce in addition a preferred temporal foliation. The physical interpretation of the formalism is considered in the context of 5-dimensional…
We propose that cosmological time is {\it effectively} the conjugate of the constants of nature. Different definitions of time arise, with the most relevant related to the constant controlling the dynamics in each epoch. The Hamiltonian…