"Time" replaced by quantum correlations

Abstract

Abstract coordinate time is not observable, but "clock time" is observable, Therefore, any statement about temporal evolution can be replaced, without loss of observational content, by a statement about correlations between a clock and another physical system. We show that information about such correlations can be represented just as well in a single "timeless" quantum state as in a whole history of states. It is therefore not necessary to include "time" as a basic element in the description of the world. © 1984 Plenum Publishing Corporation.