Time is a strange thing. We used to count the hours, but the Universe is not some main clocks and dials, so we can experience time differently, depending on how we move or how we are affected by gravity. Physicists have tried to unite the two great theories physicists to conclude that time is not only not agreed upon a universal, and any clock that we use to measure it, erode over time in the surrounding space.
First, this does not mean that your wall clock will help you to quickly aging. We're talking hours in high-precision experiments, for example, about the atomic clock. A group of physicists from the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences have learned from quantum mechanics and General relativity to state: increase of measurement accuracy on the watch in the same space also increases the distortion of time.
Let's for a moment stop and try to Express in simple words what physicists know at the moment.
Quantum mechanics very accurately describes the Universe at the smallest scales, where everything goes into the realm of subatomic particles and the forces acting on the shortest distances. For all its precision and usefulness, quantum mechanics allows us to make predictions that contradict our everyday experience.
One of these predictions is the uncertainty principle of Heisenberg, according to which, when you know one parameter with high precision, the measurement of the second parameter becomes less accurate. For example, the more you clarify the position of the object in time and space, the less you can be sure of its momentum.
And it's not that someone smarter or someone have better equipment — the universe in its base works, it is fundamental. Electrons don't crash into protons, due to the balance of uncertainty of position and momentum.
You Can look from the other side: to determine the position of the object with higher accuracy, we need to reckon with an unimaginable amount of energy. Applied to our hypothetical clock, split second to share our hours leads to the fact that we know less about the energy hours. And here comes the General theory of relativity — another proven theory in physics, only in her more used to explain how massive objects affect each other at a distance.
Thanks to the work of Einstein, we understand that there is equivalence between mass and energy expressed by the formula E = mc2. Energy equals mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light. We also know that time and space are linked, and that space-time is not just an empty box — the mass, and thus energy can bend space-time.
Therefore, we observe interesting effects like gravitational lensing, when a massive objects like stars and black holes gravity bend the path of light. And it also means that the mass can lead to gravitational time dilation, when time passes the closer, the closer to the source of gravity.
Unfortunately, although these theories are well supported by experiments, they hardly get along. So physicists are trying to create a new theory that fit both the theory and be correct. While we continue to investigate how these theories describe the same phenomena like time. How, in fact, in this article.
Physicists have suggested that the act of measuring time with high accuracy requires increasing energy cost, which automatically reduces the accuracy of measurements in the immediate region any time a tracking device.
"Our findings say that we need to reconsider our ideas about the nature of time, when attention is directed to General relativity, and quantum mechanics," says researcher Esteban Castro.
The impact this has on us on a daily level? As is often the case with theoretical physics, especially no.
Although technically quantum mechanics applies to "big" things, don't worry if your stopwatch is counting fractions of a second; on your wrist, will not open a black hole. These lessons will have value only for hours in highly accurate experiments are much more sophisticated than those being developed currently.
But the better we understand how working hours and time in particular, at least in theory, the better we understand the Universe around us. One day, perhaps, we will understand the nature of time itself. The work of scientists was published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Recommended
What will be the shelter for the first Martian colonists?
Mars is not the friendliest planet for humans While the Red Planet is roaming rovers, researchers are pondering the construction of shelters and materials needed by future Martian colonists. The authors of the new paper suggest that we could use one ...
New proof of string theory discovered
Just a few years ago, it seemed that string theory was the new theory of everything. But today the string universe raises more questions than answers String theory is designed to combine all our knowledge of the Universe and explain it. When she appe...
What is the four-dimensional space?
Modeling camera motion in four-dimensional space. View the world in different dimensions changes the way we perceive everything around, including time and space. Think about the difference between two dimensions and three dimensions is easy, but what...
Related News
Humanity is one step closer to creating synthetic yeast
Scientists are one, but very significant step towards the creation in the laboratory of yeast. They were able to generate five chromosomes of yeast. Yeast is essential for humanity, including for the production of bread and bakery...
The clarification rate of the Universe may lead to new physics
It was in the early 1990-ies. The Carnegie Observatory in Pasadena, California, was empty for the Christmas holidays. Wendy Freedman, one in the library worked on the huge and thorny problem: the rate of expansion of the Universe....
It has created a lighting system for lasers
the Engineers of the holding "Ruselectronics" is launching a novel lighting system which is based on the use of laser radiation. These lights can operate in hostile environments like nuclear power stations and even underwater. Rad...
Breeder from the USA brought out Python print Emoji-Emoji on the body
it is known that changes in nature occur constantly: mutations lead to new species and even species, and is influenced by conditions in the external environment living organisms can acquire new properties. But sometimes appeared a...
The operating system code recorded in the DNA molecule
In connection with the development of technology and the increasing amount of data, professionals are looking for new ways of storing information. And recently a group of scientists from Columbia University and the new York Genome...
Created a sponge capable of cleaning the ocean from oil and oil products
and its by-products today are the main oceans of our planet. Almost all serious cases of ocean pollution are associated with oil. Even if we ignore the serious accidents of tankers and oil platforms, you should not forget that th...
As was discovered the oldest fossils in the world
3770 million years ago the Earth was completely different. Plants and animals were not. The sky was not blue. The surface resembled a bare rocky wasteland. And yet at this time, as we think, came the first life. Deep in the ocean,...
Why do tall people die earlier and larger animals — no?
the tallest man in Europe, 2,34-foot former basketball player, actor Neil Fingleton, who played the role in "Game of thrones", "X-Men" and "the Avengers", has died at the age of 36. Such an early death for people tall is not uncom...
Would agree on the genetic modification of the dog for the sake of her health?
dogs Have more genetic diseases than any other species on the planet — that you any biologist will confirm. Not gonna lie: no other animal people are not taken out so purposefully and long to form prevailed over substance — appear...
The merging of man and machine will not stop the rise of the machines
Tesla CEO and founder OpenAI Elon Musk last week suggested that humanity could nullify your fear of the rise of the machines (i.e. robots) due to the merger with these same machines and becoming cyborgs. However, modern trends in ...
The oldest discovered to date, the traces of life on Earth
the Origin of life on planet Earth is a very important subject for scientific research. Regular findings and discoveries constantly shift the moment the first living organism on and on . So this time canadian scientists discovered...
Can you live eating only one type of food?
We are constantly told about the benefits of a varied diet. But if you had to survive on only one type of food — which one would leave you the longest life? Not by bread alone — at least because after a month of this experiment wi...
Some scholars categorically against the revival of extinct species
last month, the entire scientific community of the desire of Harvard scientists resurrect extinct species of animals. George Church from Harvard University, studying extinct species, said that in the coming years is going to resur...
In plants raised electrical circuit
Plants nourish life on Earth. They represent the original source of food, supplying energy to almost all living organisms and are the basis of fossil fuels, which feed the energy needs of the modern world. But the burning of long-...
Created flexible fibers conducting impulses to the brain and back
according to the publication Medical Xpress, a large group of researchers, including engineers, chemists and neuroscientists, including many graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) introduced a flexible fiber ...
Tomsk scientists have created a tiny, powerful particle accelerator
Recently we wrote about the fact that on the basis of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) made from the walls of the same educational institutions came not less interesting news. The specialists of TPU managed to develop a miniatur...
If atoms are mostly empty, why things are firm to the touch and in appearance?
Chemist John Dalton proposed the theory that all matter and objects are made up of particles — atoms, and this theory is still accepted by the scientific community, after two hundred years. Each of these atoms consists of an extre...
Using neural network was able to simulate the behavior of complex quantum systems
the Modeling of complex organized quantum systems on today — an extremely difficult task. The fact that the traditional methods are not suitable here, since with increasing system complexity the number of States increases ex...
Which end is waiting for the Solar system?
it took 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution, so we ended up here. Generation of stars had to live and die to create heavy elements; tiny protogalaxies had to merge to form the milky Way; clouds of interstellar gas were to colla...
Anthropic principle: the warped idea of physics
the Universe has fundamental laws that we can observe. In it we exist, things that we created, and all this, too, is subject to fundamental laws. Based on this you can build two very simple statements that would be very difficult ...
Comments (0)
This article has no comment, be the first!