Newsflash: Time May Not Exist

The trouble with time started a century ago, when Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity demolished the idea of time as a universal constant. One consequence is that the past, present, and future are not absolutes. Einstein’s theories also opened a rift in physics because the rules of general relativity (which describe gravity and the large-scale structure of the cosmos) seem incompatible with those of quantum physics (which govern the realm of the tiny). Some four decades ago, the renowned physicist John Wheeler, then at Princeton, and the late Bryce DeWitt, then at the University of North Carolina, developed an extraordinary equation that provides a possible framework for unifying relativity and quantum mechanics. But the Wheeler-­DeWitt equation has always been controversial, in part because it adds yet another, even more baffling twist to our understanding of time.

“One finds that time just disappears from the Wheeler-DeWitt equation,” says Carlo Rovelli, a physicist at the University of the Mediterranean in Marseille, France. “It is an issue that many theorists have puzzled about. It may be that the best way to think about quantum reality is to give up the notion of time—that the fundamental description of the universe must be timeless.”

No one has yet succeeded in using the Wheeler-DeWitt equation to integrate quantum theory with general relativity. Nevertheless, a sizable minority of physicists, Rovelli included, believe that any successful merger of the two great masterpieces of 20th-century physics will inevitably describe a universe in which, ultimately, there is no time.

Cool.

no review?

sorry I posted and then went to practice but, the book is not reviewed in the EW. Instead there is a little sidebar story about it. I'm pretty sure it got more words devoted to it than one of their actual reviewed books (other than the main book reviewed, which is Harry Potter this week) would get. Actually it's in the HP Special Collector's Issue so I bet the magazine will sell more copies than it usually does.

Also, best surgery wishes to mac. And hopes for a smooth and non fussy recovery too.

I think the doctors are appalled at the thought of a DNR, where I am appalled at the idea that for Grace anything less than an intact survival is enough.

I find it really, really hard to believe that you are the first parent in a similar situation who wanted the same thing for their child and I don't understand why they wouldn't have talked to you about this kind of thing before you had to bring it up with them! As if the situation wasn't hard enough already.

Kat, I expect the hospital has some kind of Ethics board where you could bring up the issue.

will inevitably describe a universe in which, ultimately, there is no time.

I suspect that Time as we perceive it is basically a function of our limited perception. We're dim like that.

Kat, I'm so sorry things are so hard right now.

I just got invited to speak at sonoma state university, which is somewhere up north.

This is weird for us, right?

Also, according to EW, Tim is one of the little people.

ahhhhhh ha ha ha

I wish this day were happier for you, Kat. Strength to you in this difficult time.

That's very cool, paperdol. Maybe weird, but definitely cool. Sonoma State is in Santa Rosa, I believe, though there may be several campuses.

But what does it say?

I tried to look it up online. I'm going to try to grab a copy tomorrow.