New technologies and the future of timekeeping

Abstract

Time metrology and timekeeping will undergo dramatic improvements during this decade. Optical frequency standards overtake in accuracy caesium fountains by two orders of magnitude; research on time and frequency transfer will focus on techniques and methods that are adequate for the comparison of ultra-accurate clocks; time dissemination will expand; and users will become more and more demanding. The redefinition of the SI second will be a major change in time metrology, but in parallel, new procedures will be implemented to beat the rhythm of timekeeping: better performing clock comparisons (accurate satellite time and frequency transfer, dense and permanent optic fibre networks, space-based techniques), refined algorithms for better clock characterization and new strategies for international clock comparisons. This article will provide an inventory of the latest outcomes and extrapolate the progress in national and international timekeeping in the years to come.