Quantum clocks and their synchronisation - the Alternate Ticks Game

2015/06/03 by Sandra Ranković, Ranković, Sandra, Yeong-Cherng Liang +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1506.01373

openalex publication_date 2015/06/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Time plays a crucial role in the intuitive understanding of the world around us. Within quantum mechanics, however, time is not usually treated as an observable quantity; it enters merely as a parameter in the laws of motion of physical systems. Here we take an operational approach to time. Towards this goal we consider quantum clocks, i.e., quantum systems that generate an observable time scale. We then study the quality of quantum clocks in terms of their ability to stay synchronised. To quantify this, we introduce the "Alternate Ticks Game" and analyse a few strategies pertinent to this game.

Citations

• The thermodynamics of time
• Evolution without evolution: Dynamics described by stationary observables
• Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper
• Time and the interpretation of canonical quantum gravity
• TIME AND INTERPRETATIONS OF QUANTUM GRAVITY
• Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity

Cited by

• Was inflation necessary for the existence of time?

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