Science & discovery
The Glitch in the Universal Clock
9 min
While we experience time as a flow, the fundamental equations of physics suggest it might not exist at all.
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Show notes
The Wheeler-DeWitt equation suggests time is not a fundamental ingredient but a secondary property of the universe.
The Block Universe model proposes that all moments in time exist simultaneously like a four-dimensional loaf.
Entropy defines the arrow of time as a transition from order toward disorder rather than a flow.
Twenty-four thousand ultracold atoms were used to simulate a universe where time emerges from quantum entanglement.
Time functions as a relational property between internal subsystems rather than an external, absolute background clock.
Like temperature, time is a macroscopic property that only appears when vast numbers of particles interact.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Vanishing Act2 min
- 3The Block Universe Illusion1 min
- 4The Quantum Blur of 20262 min
- 5The Death of the Absolute2 min
- 6The Relational Reframe1 min
- 7Outro1 min
Sources
- Time and its arrow from quantum geometrodynamics?
- Geometric emergence of time in canonical quantum gravity - IOPscience
- Scientist creates 'mini‑universe' to measure time without a clock
- Is time a fundamental part of reality? A quiet revolution in physics suggests not
- Entropy as a Clock: Foundations and Parametrizations of Emergent Time | International Journal of Theoretical Physics | Springer Nature Link
- What if Time Isn’t Fundamental? Physicists Just Tested the Idea in the Lab
- The clock ambiguity problem: extended or extinguished?
- Measuring time in a timeless universe
- The unsettling possibility raised by quantum gravity is that time may not be a basic ingredient of reality. It may be something that emerges only inside the universe, from entanglement, entropy, and relationships between physical systems — while the deeper quantum structure underneath may have no ticking clock at all.
- A theory of time based on wavefunction collapse
- Time Is an Illusion—Meaning the Past, Present, and Future Exist ...
- Testing the problem of time with cold atoms
- Wheeler–DeWitt equation - Wikipedia
- Reassessing the problem of time of quantum gravity | General Relativity and Gravitation | Springer Nature Link
- Geometric emergence of time in canonical quantum gravity - IOPscience
- [2310.11072] Finding Time for Wheeler-DeWitt Cosmology
- Arrow of Time | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- [1811.09660] The problem with ‘The Problem of Time’
- Arrow of Time and Quantum Physics
- Arrow of time
- Unveiling emergent internal time from entropy exchange in a cold-atom system
- [PDF] Wheeler-DeWitt Equation: Constructing a canonical theory of ...
- Quantum Theory of Gravity. I. The Canonical Theory - APS Journals
- Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion | New Scientist
- Page and Wootters Theory
- The Absent Operator — Valeon
- The daring idea that time is an illusion and how we could prove it | New Scientist
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