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A chronon is a proposed quantum of time, that is, a discrete and indivisible "unit"
of time as part of a theory
that proposes that time is not continuous. While time is a
continuous quantity in standard quantum mechanics, many physicists
have suggested that a discrete model of time might work, especially
when considering the combination of quantum mechanics with general
relativity to produce a theory of quantum gravity.
One such model was introduced by Piero Caldirola in 1980. In
Caldirola's model, one chronon corresponds to about
6.97×10−24 seconds for an electron.[1] This is
much longer than the Planck time, another proposed unit for the
quantization of time, which is only about 5.39×10-44
seconds. The Planck time is a universal quantization of time
itself, whereas the chronon is a quantization of the evolution in a
system along its world line and consequently the value of the
chronon, like other quantized observables in quantum mechanics, is
a function of the system under consideration, particularly its
boundary conditions.[2] The
value for the chronon, θ0, is calculated
from:
[3]
From this formula, it can be seen that the nature of the moving
particle being considered must be specified since the value of the
chronon depends on the particle's charge and mass.
Caldirola claims the chronon has important implications for
quantum mechanics, in particular that it allows for a clear answer
to the question of whether a free falling charged particle does or
does not emit radiation. This model supposedly avoids the
difficulties met by Abraham-Lorentz's and Dirac's approaches to the problem, and
provides a natural explication of quantum decoherence.
See also
Notes
- ^
Farias & Recami, p.11.
- ^
Farias & Recami, p.18.
- ^
Farias & Recami, p.11. Caldirola's original paper has a
different formula due to not working in standard units.
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