Question

In: Physics

Suppose you have to specify the moment in time when a given event occurred, a "zero...

Suppose you have to specify the moment in time when a given event occurred, a "zero time". The record must be accurate to the minute, and be obtainable even after thousands of years. All the measures of time we currently have are relative to a well defined zero, but the zero is not easy to backtrack exactly.

One possibility would be to take a sample of Carbon with a well defined, very accurate amount of 14C, and say: the event occurred when the 14C was x%. At any time, measuring the rate of decay, you would know when the event occurred. This however, requires a physical entity to measure, which may be lost.

Another way would be to give the time lapsed after a well defined series of solar eclipses. In order to define precisely the context, you would say a list of (say) five consecutive eclipses and the places on Earth where they were total, and then a time gap from the last of the set. At any time in the future, you can backtrack the specified conditions into a celestial mechanics program and find when the event occurred.

Is there a standardized or well recognized method to do so?

Solutions

Expert Solution

the special theory of relativity implies that there is no unique "the timing system" in the Universe. Each inertial system, depending on its velocity, has a different answer to the question whether two events occurred simultaneously, and if they didn't, what was the delay in between them.

So to be able to quantify the delay between two events, you have to choose a reference frame. Most typically, you may associate your preferred reference frame with a particular pointlike object - such as the small golden seed that sits at the center of the Earth, or the tip of the Big Ben, or anything else. There is clearly no God-given preferred choice.

Once you have such an object, you may measure the proper time along its world line in spacetime by some accurate clocks, e.g. by atomic clocks. You may also associate time with events away from the world line of your benchmark objects - e.g. as the time when the photons that got to the event were emitted from your benchmark object. Such a definition of time is nicely well-defined but is constant along "light cones" and for practical purposes, one may make subtractions.

To summarize, there are many clocks and methods how to measure and coordinates how to describe events in spacetime but there is no privileged one. Quite on the contrary, relativity implies that the right labeling of "time of an event" depends not only on the preferred "time zero" - which is ambiguous due to the time-translational symmetry - but also because of the velocity that changes the notion of simultaneity and expands the duration of processes by the time dilation.


Related Solutions

Suppose you have to specify the moment in time when a given event occurred, a "zero...
Suppose you have to specify the moment in time when a given event occurred, a "zero time". The record must be accurate to the minute, and be obtainable even after thousands of years. All the measures of time we currently have are relative to a well defined zero, but the zero is not easy to backtrack exactly. One possibility would be to take a sample of Carbon with a well defined, very accurate amount of 14C, and say: the event...
Reflect on a moment when you experienced a sudden insight, or an "aha!" moment -- when...
Reflect on a moment when you experienced a sudden insight, or an "aha!" moment -- when you suddenly understood something differently than before. Tell the story, and reflect on how that happened, why that moment occurred -- what changed? And why do you think your perspective changed in that moment? Does that have any connection with what we've been describing in a Constructivist approach? Make some connections to our topics in this module. I want you to label the parts...
Occurrence- transactions, and event that have been recorded have occurred and pertain to the entity Completeness-...
Occurrence- transactions, and event that have been recorded have occurred and pertain to the entity Completeness- all transactions and events that should have been recorded have been recorded If assets, liabilities, or equity are not complete balances may be understated or overstated With regard to the answer, what might be the reasons why when performing balances managements, one can find that: Assets > Liabilities+Stockholders equity ? In your answer provide specific examples and ways to mitigate the errors.
Suppose you arrive at a post office having three clerks at a moment when both are...
Suppose you arrive at a post office having three clerks at a moment when both are busy but there is no one else waiting in line . You will enter service when either clerk becomes free. If service times for clerk i are exponential with rate λ1=1/hr , λ2=2/hr and λ3=3/hr , find E[T], where T is the amount of time that you spend in the post office
A. Suppose you have three possible outcomes following the occurrence of an event. These are {no...
A. Suppose you have three possible outcomes following the occurrence of an event. These are {no harm, some harm, a lot of harm}. Are elements of this set of outcomes mutually exclusive? Statistically independent? Can they be both? Why or why not? B. Suppose you have three dimensions of harm of concern - confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Following the occurrence of an event, you may or may not suffer a breach of confidentiality, integrity or availability. Whether you suffer loss...
Suppose that you have a program that can read through all posts within a given time...
Suppose that you have a program that can read through all posts within a given time period (e.g. the last 7 days) on a social network web site (e.g., Facebook), and generate a list of pairs (ui, pi) representing texts in all posts found, where i=1, 2, ..., and ui and pi represent the author username and the text content of the i-th post found, respectively. Describe an algorithm that outputs the list of usernames in the decreasing order of...
8. Which of the following species have a zero reading for dipole moment? Give brief reasons...
8. Which of the following species have a zero reading for dipole moment? Give brief reasons for your answers, dealing with each species separately. a. BrF3 b. CH2F2 c. CO d. CO2 e. OF2 f. XeF4
looking for times when you were aware of culture in a situation. This may have occurred...
looking for times when you were aware of culture in a situation. This may have occurred when you were in a nondominant status. Brainstorm as many occasions as possible. What were your automatic assumptions and/or behaviors during the situation? Were your beliefs challenged in any way? — If you were in a nondominant or minority group, did you experience any discomfort in this role? Explain your response.
Suppose that you can reproduce a short-time physical or chemical event over and over again. Discuss...
Suppose that you can reproduce a short-time physical or chemical event over and over again. Discuss possible sources of errors associated with measuring the duration of the event using a stopwatch. ("Human Error" is not a source) What effect do the sources of error have on the data?
By this time, you have given some thought on the knowledge and skills you have acquired....
By this time, you have given some thought on the knowledge and skills you have acquired. Reflect on the new knowledge and skills you have developed throughout this course. Discuss how they may impact the work you do now and your future career goals. In addition, comment on what you have learned from reading and assessing the work of your peers. For example: Have they approached topics differently than you? Have they identified knowledge you may have overlooked? Were there...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT