OrionWorks wrote: > On a more serious note, > > What are the prevailing arguments in regards to determining the > smallest "slice" of time? > > Has it been determined if the smallest samples of time that we have > been able to measure appear to remain analog in format - infinitely > so. Or, is there evidence to suggest that time eventually appears to > transform into a finite set of quantized packets. > > Do prevailing theories suggest that there may exist a limit to how > minute time can be subdivided into smaller "packets", or would such a > quest be considered futile? >
As far as I know, in mainstream QM, things which travel in straight lines can take any position on the line. That would include progressing along the time dimension as well. It's only "bound" waves which are quantized. So, an electron traveling along the X axis can apparently be found at any location on the axis -- 3, 2.5, pi, whatever. It can apparently travel with any velocity, as well, and can carry any amount of energy (SOL limit aside). It's when the electron is bound to something, and its wave function turns into a standing wave, that its energy is quantized. So, analogously, if you could bind time into a loop, then the length of the loop would presumably be quantized. But as long as we're zipping along the time axis in a straight line, all points on the axis are accessible. Anyhow that's my impression. As I've said before, more than once, I don't understand quantum mechanics.
