Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Attempts to treat time on an equivalent footing with space in quantum mechanics have been apparently dominated by `timeless' approaches, such as the one of Page and Wootters, which allow meaningful discussion of a `time operator'. However, there is an alternative, and significantly less studied approach, due to Bauer, which makes use of the `pseudospin' extension of the state space, effectively adding a backwards-time degree of freedom. This two-time approach allows definition of a `time operator' and moreover bears interesting relations with other time-symmetric formulations of quantum mechanics. We review and compare these approaches to quantum time, emphasizing that there is a subtle choice between the timeless framework and the two-time approach. Finally, we sketch a framework in which the timeless philosophy can be combined with two-time quantum mechanics.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Ridley, Michael, Cohen, Eliahu
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7083843751
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