Can spacetime be quantized?

Today, while it is generally accepted that spacetime is quantized, there is disagreement as to how quantization manifests itself [5]. In this approach, space and time are quantized in the way quantities like energy and momentum are quantized in ordinary quantum field theories.

What happens at the Planck scale?

The Planck scale sets the universe’s minimum limit, beyond which the laws of physics break. The basic Planck units are length, mass, temperature, time and charge. Let’s consider the unit of Planck length for a moment. The proton is about 100 million trillion times larger than the Planck length.

What does it mean that space is continuous?

In general relativity, space and time are woven together into the unified fabric of space-time, the four-dimensional stage that underpins our universe. This space-time is continuous, which means that there are no gaps anywhere; it’s all a smooth texture.

Can everything be quantized?

But even though there’s very good evidence that all of the fundamental entities in the Universe are quantum at some level, that doesn’t mean that everything is both discrete and quantized. We can treat every quantum of energy as discrete, but whether we can do the same for space and/or time itself is unknown.

Can velocity be quantized?

E.g. in certain periodic systems, the momentum (and hence the velocity) is quantized/discrete. On the other hand, the velocity of the electron in the hydrogen atom is not quantized/discrete.

What does quantized time mean?

Although researchers have considered some theories in which there is a strict quantization of time (meaning that all times are an integer multiple of some smallest unit), none that I know of has ever been seriously regarded as a viable theory of reality–at least, not by more people that the original proponent of the …

What is the Planck limit?

The Planck length can be defined from three fundamental physical constants: the speed of light, the Planck constant, and the gravitational constant….

Planck length
SI units	1.616255(18)×10−35 m
natural units	11.706 ℓ S 3.0542×10−25 a0
imperial/US units	6.3631×10−34 in

What is shorter than a Planck time?

The only unit of time shorter than a zeptosecond is a yoctosecond, and Planck time. A yoctosecond (ys) is a septillionth of a second. And how do you figure out Planck time?! Divide the minuscule Planck length by the speed of light (which is pretty big) and you get a really tiny unit of time – the Planck time!

What is quantized space?

In mathematical physics, the concept of quantum spacetime is a generalization of the usual concept of spacetime in which some variables that ordinarily commute are assumed not to commute and form a different Lie algebra. Often only such discrete variables are called “quantized”; usage varies.

Is time Planck discrete or continuous?

There is absolutely no evidence that time is discrete or non-continuous. There are speculations that at the Planck time scale something unusual may happen but there really is no evidence right now to support anything unusual happening at the Planck time.

Is space quantized or continuous?

Both ordinary space and ordinary ‘operational’ time can be continuous. On the other hand, the structure of the time intervals (frequencies and energies) that make up the 3-D chunks of time which we call galaxies (or fundamental particles) does appear to be quantized in units connected to the Planck scale.

What happens to space-time at the Planck scale?

Space-time could become a chaotic quantum foam due to the gravitational fluctuations from quantum fluctuations at that scale. Space-time could become quantized (which would cause violations of Lorentz invariance at the Planck scale. But I repeat, these are speculations – we really do not know what happens at the Planck Scale.

Is the Planck scale a discrete measure?

In fact, even the right reaction to the first sentence – that the Planck scale is a “discrete measure” – is No. The Planck length is a particular value of distance which is as important as $2\\pi$ times the distance or any other multiple. The fact that we can speak about the Planck scale doesn’t mean that the distance becomes discrete in any way.

Why is the Planck length important?

The Planck length is a particular value of distance which is as important as $2\\pi$ times the distance or any other multiple. The fact that we can speak about the Planck scale doesn’t mean that the distance becomes discrete in any way. We may also talk about the radius of the Earth which doesn’t mean that all distances have to be its multiples.

What is the smallest unit of measurement on the quantum scale?

On a quantum scale the smallest unit is the Planck scale, which is a discrete measure. There several question that come to mind: Does that mean that particles can only live in a discrete grid-like