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Can the Salecker-Wigner clock be microscopic?

Quantum Physics 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

Half a century ago H. Salecker and E. P. Wigner examined the functioning of a quantum clock of very simple construction [1]. They raised the question whether such a clock can be microscopic or not, but no clear-cut answer has been reached in [1] (see also [2]). In this note it is shown that their clock can have a microscopic mass and size only if its accuracy is poor, but if the size is macroscopic, a decent accuracy can be achieved even if the mass is microscopic.

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0503171,
  title  = {Can the Salecker-Wigner clock be microscopic?},
  author = {Andor Frenkel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0503171},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

11 pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-07-22T19:48:22.314Z