Real clocks and the Zeno effect

Abstract

Real clocks are not perfect. This must have an effect in our predictions for the behavior of a quantum system, an effect for which we present a unified description, encompassing several previous proposals. We study the relevance of clock errors in the Zeno effect and find that generically no Zeno effect can be present (in such a way that there is no contradiction with currently available experimental data). We further observe that, within the class of stochasticities in time addressed here, there is no modification in emission line shapes. © 2003 The American Physical Society.