Questions tagged [time]
Time is defined operationally to be that which is measured by clocks. The SI unit of time is the second, which is defined to be
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What is time, does it flow, and if so what defines its direction?
This is an attempt to gather together the various questions about time that have been asked on this site and provide a single set of hopefully authoritative answers. Specifically we attempt to address ...
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What is $\Delta t$ in the time-energy uncertainty principle?
In non-relativistic QM, the $\Delta E$ in the time-energy uncertainty principle is the limiting standard deviation of the set of energy measurements of $n$ identically prepared systems as $n$ goes to ...
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What is the proper way to explain the twin paradox?
The paradox in the twin paradox is that the situation appears symmetrical so each twin should think the other has aged less, which is of course impossible.
There are a thousand explanations out there ...
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Can black holes form in a finite amount of time?
One thing I know about black holes is that an object gets closer to the event horizon, gravitation time dilation make it move more slower from an outside perspective, so that it looks like it take an ...
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Is time continuous or discrete?
I was coding a physics simulation, and noticed that I was using discrete time. That is, there was an update mechanism advancing the simulation for a fixed amount of time repeatedly, emulating a ...
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The Time That 2 Masses Will Collide Due To Newtonian Gravity [closed]
My friend and I have been wracking our heads with this one for the past 3 hours...
We have 2 point masses, $m$ and $M$ in a perfect world separated by radius r. Starting from rest, they both begin to ...
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Is time travel possible? Is it possible to go back in time?
I read somewhere that according to relativity, it is possible - involving black holes and other stuff - to jump into the past. Is it possible for anything to go back in time either continuously or by ...
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Is anti-matter matter going backwards in time?
Some sources describe antimatter as just like normal matter, but "going backwards in time". What does that really mean? Is that a good analogy in general, and can it be made mathematically precise? ...
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Why are objects at rest in motion through spacetime at the speed of light? [closed]
I read that an object at rest has such a stupendous amount of energy, $E=mc^2$ because it's effectively in motion through space-time at the speed of light and it's traveling through the time dimension ...
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What is the difference between implicit, explicit, and total time dependence, e.g. $\frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t}$ and $\frac{d \rho} {dt}$?
What is the difference between implicit, explicit, and total time dependence, e.g. $\frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t}$ and $\frac{d \rho} {dt}$?
I know one is a partial derivative and the other is a ...
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Intuition for multiple temporal dimensions
It’s easy, relatively speaking, to develop an intuition for higher spatial dimensions, usually by induction on familiar lower-dimensional spaces. But I’m having difficulty envisioning a universe with ...
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understanding time: Is time simply the rate change?
Is time simply the rate of change?
If this is the case and time was created during the big bang would it be the case that the closer you get to the start of the big bang the "slower" things change ...
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Symmetrical twin paradox in a closed universe
Take the following gedankenexperiment in which two astronauts meet each other again and again in a perfectly symmetrical setting - a hyperspherical (3-manifold) universe in which the 3 dimensions are ...
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Time as a Hermitian operator in quantum mechanics
In non-relativistic QM, on one hand we have the following relations:
$$\langle x | P | \psi \rangle ~=~ -i \hbar \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \psi(x),$$
$$\langle p | X | \psi \rangle ~=~ i \hbar \...
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More than one time dimension
We know that space-time dimensions are 3+1 macroscopically, but what if 2+2?
Obviously it is tough to imagine two time dimensions, but mathematically we can always imagine as either having two ...
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Is there a proof of existence of time?
It seems to me that there is no such thing as time. There is only movement in the universe and we compare our own movement to a different object to have a sense of time. It can be a clock or a atomic ...
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Time dilation all messed up!
There is a problem with my logic and I cannot seem to point out where.
There's a rocket ship travelling at close-to-c speed v without any acceleration (hypothetically), and there is an observer AA ...
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The age of the universe
Many times I have read statements like, "the age of the universe is 14 billion years" . For example this wikipedia page Big Bang.
Now, my question is, which observers' are these time intervals? ...
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Does time expand with space? (or contract)
Einstein's big revelation was that time and space are inseparable components of the same fabric. Physical observation tells us that distant galaxies are moving away from us at an accelerated rate, and ...
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Lagrangian to Hamiltonian in Quantum Field Theory
While deriving Hamiltonian from Lagrangian density, we use the formula
$$\mathcal{H} ~=~ \pi \dot{\phi} - \mathcal{L}.$$
But since we are considering space and time as parameters, why the formula
$$\...
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Do the laws of physics evolve?
Hubble's constant $a(t)$ appears to be changing over time. The fine stucture constant $\alpha$, like many others in QFT, is a running constant that varies, proportional to energy being used to measure ...
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Is there a time operator in quantum mechanics?
The question in the title has been asked many times on this site before, of course. Here's what I found:
Time as a Hermitian operator in QM? in 2011. Answer states time is a parameter.
Is there an ...
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Did time exist before the Big Bang and the creation of the universe? [duplicate]
Does time stretch all the way back for infinity or was there a point when time appears to start in the universe?
I remember reading long ago somewhere that according to one theory time began shortly ...
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How can something happen when time does not exist?
I saw this documentary hosted by Stephen Hawkins.
And if I didn't get it wrong, it says that there was no time before the big bang, time was created there.
So how can anything happen when there is ...
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Why do clocks measure arc-length?
Apologies in advance for the long question.
My understanding is that in GR, massive observers move along timelike curves $x^\mu(\lambda)$, and if an observer moves from point $x^\mu(\lambda_a)$ to $x^...
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What are the mechanics by which Time Dilation and Length Contraction occur?
What are the mechanics of time dilation and length contraction? Going beyond the mathematical equations involving light and the "speed limit of the universe", what is observed is merely a phenomenon ...
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Assuming that the Cosmological Principle is correct, does this imply that the universe possess an empirically privileged reference frame?
OK...before everyone blasts this with references to the relativistic invariance of the physical laws, time dilation, etc let me add some context. Also, I am an amateur with an interest in physics, so ...
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Black hole formation as seen by a distant observer [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How can anything ever fall into a black hole as seen from an outside observer?
Is black hole formation observable for a distant observer in finite amount of time? Specifically,...
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Is there an observable of time? [duplicate]
In Quantum Mechanics, position is an observable, but time may be not. I think that time is simply a classical parameter associated with the act of measurement, but is there an observable of time? And ...
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What is the speed of time? [closed]
When we measure the speed of a moving element we do it with the help of a reference frame. Now if we need to measure the speed of time, is it possible? Does time actually have a speed?
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Is there an actual proof for the energy-time Uncertainty Principle?
As I understand, the energy-time uncertainty principle can't be derived from the generalized uncertainty relation. This is because time is a dynamical variable and not an observable in the same sense ...
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Time, what is it? [closed]
If you ask any person about time, she/he will give you some answer.
I suspect that it is extremely difficult, (if not impossible) to define time.
Is there a definition of what it is in physics? Is it ...
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What if a light clock travels perpendicular to mirrors that make up the clock?
I'm guessing you're all familiar with the classic intuitive way of explaining time dilation: with a light clock traveling at velocity v directed at a parallel direction to the mirrors that make up the ...
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The real meaning of time dilation [duplicate]
Is this true or false: If A and B have clocks and are traveling at relative velocity to each other, then to B it APPEARS that A's clock moving slower, but A sees his own clock moving at normal speed.
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The meaning of imaginary time
What is imaginary (or complex) time? I was reading about Hawking's wave function of the universe and this topic came up. If imaginary mass and similar imaginary quantities do not make sense in physics,...
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Time dilation as an observer in special relativity
I've been having a discussion regarding time dilation relating to special relativity and how it should be observed from the FoR (Frame of Reference) of "the person moving" :
I assert- If we have a ...
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Equivalence of two definitions of proper time in special relativity
According to Wikipedia,
proper time along a timelike world line is defined as the time as measured by a clock following that line.
This makes sense to me, but my book defines proper time in the ...
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Did relativity make Newtonian mechanics obsolete?
Did Einstein completely prove Newton wrong? If so, why we apply Newtonian mechanics even today? Because Newton said that time is absolute and Einstein suggested it relative?
So, if fundamentals are ...
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Why isn't the symmetric twin paradox a paradox?
Two twin sisters synchronize their watches and simultaneously (from the earth frame) depart earth in different directions. Following a predetermined flight plan, each sister accelerates identically to ...
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What's the difference between space and time?
I'm having a hard time understanding how changing space means changing time. In books I've read people are saying "space and time" or "space-time" but never explain what the difference is between the ...
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On causality and The Big Bang Theory
With the notion of causality, firmly fixed by GR, we derived the concept of a singular point from where space-time begun. Causality alone gives us the possibility to talk about a known past (i.e. ...
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Before the Big Bang
I've heard this saying before I don't know about anyone else. It says, "What ever was before the Big Bang is something physics can't explain..!
Is this saying true (accurate)?
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Universe Expansion as an absolute time reference
Why we call "constant" to the Hubble constant?,
if the universe were really expanding then the Hubble "constant" should change, being variable, smaller and smaller..with "time".
Other example/view ...
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Why isn't the time-derivative considered an operator in quantum mechanics? [duplicate]
Based on my understanding when doing quantum mechanics we deal with a small set of mathematical objects: namely scalars, kets, bras, and operators. But then in the Schrodinger equation we have this ...
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Why is the photon clock equivalent to all clocks?
I can understand why, if the speed of light is invariant, a photon clock would tick slower. I find this explanation very useful in terms of introducing the idea of time dilation (also because it ...
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Speed of light in general relativity [duplicate]
My question has a few parts concerning the speed of light in general relativity.
Firstly, time changes in response to gravity and speed. Therefore, as gravity effects time in an area of space, should ...
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Does time exist in a vacuum?
Imagine a perfect vacuum devoid of all matter and radiation. Irrespective of whether such a space can even exist, my intuition tells me that time would not exist within such a space. What this thought ...
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How exactly does time slow down near a black hole?
How exactly does time slow down near a black hole? I have heard this as a possible way of time traveling, and I do understand that it is due in some way to the massive gravity around a black hole, but ...
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Intuition - why does the period not depend on the amplitude in a pendulum?
I'm looking for an intuition on the relationship between time period and amplitude (for a small pertubation) of pendulums. Why does the period not depend on the amplitude?
I know the math of the ...
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How is a second measured? And why is it measured that way?
The earth's rotation around itself (one rotation around Earth's own axis) doesn't take exactly 24 hours. It off by some seconds which becomes somewhere around 6 hours per year and 1 day in 4 years(...
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