
Time is perhaps not as central a concept in quantum theory as it is in classical physics, and there is really no such thing as “ quantum time” as such. Quantum mechanics revolutionized physics in the first half of the 20 th Century and it still represents the most complete and accurate model of the universe we have. However, the concept of time travel also brings with it a number of paradoxes, and its likelihood and physical practicality is questioned by many physicists. There are even theoretical faster-than-light time-travelling particles like tachyons and neutrinos. Relativity also allows for, at least in theory, the prospect of time travel, and there are several scenarios which allow for the theoretical basis of travel in time. This takes into account phenomena such as time dilation for fast-moving objects, gravitational time dilation for objects caught in extreme gravitational fields, and the important idea that time is really just one element of four-dimensional space-time. However, since the advent of relativity in the early 20 th Century, relativistic time has become the norm within physics. This accords with most people’s everyday experience of how time flows. In non-relativistic or classical physics, the concept of time generally used is that of absolute time (also called Newtonian time after its most famous proponent), time which is independent of any perceiver, progresses at a consistent pace for everyone everywhere throughout the universe, and is essentially imperceptible and mathematical in nature.

With modern atomic time standards like TAI and UTC (see the section on Time Standards) and ultra-precise atomic clocks (see the section on Clocks), time can now be measured accurate to about 10 −15 seconds, which corresponds to about 1 second error in approximately 30 million years.īut several different conceptions and applications of time have been explored over the centuries in different areas of physics, and we will look at some of these in this section. composed of discrete and indivisible units). Physics in particular often requires extreme levels of precision in time measurement, which has led to the requirement that time be considered an infinitely divisible linear continuum, and not quantized (i.e. In the sciences generally, time is usually defined by its measurement: it is simply what a clock reads. Even in the most modern and complex physical models, though, time is usually considered to be an ontologically “ basic” or primary concept, and not made up of, or dependent on, anything else. Physics is the only science that explicitly studies time, but even physicists agree that time is one of the most difficult properties of our universe to understand. Neither value includes the weight of oxygen from the air used during combustion.In the sciences generally, time is simply what a clock reads, but this hides a whole host of different conceptions of time used in physics For the TNT value, see the article TNT equivalent. For the coal value, see Fisher, Juliya (2003). ^ Burning coal produces around 15-30 megajoules per kilogram, while detonating TNT produces about 4.7 megajoules per kilogram.

