Logical synchronization: how evidence and hypotheses steer atomic clocks (1606.07723v1)

Abstract: A clock steps a computer through a cycle of phases. For the propagation of logical symbols from one computer to another, each computer must mesh its phases with arrivals of symbols from other computers. Even the best atomic clocks drift unforeseeably in frequency and phase; feedback steers them toward aiming points that depend on a chosen wave function and on hypotheses about signal propagation. A wave function, always under-determined by evidence, requires a guess. Guessed wave functions are coded into computers that steer atomic clocks in frequency and position---clocks that step computers through their phases of computations, as well as clocks, some on space vehicles, that supply evidence of the propagation of signals. Recognizing the dependence of the phasing of symbol arrivals on guesses about signal propagation elevates `logical synchronization.' from its practice in computer engineering to a discipline essential to physics. Within this discipline we begin to explore questions invisible under any concept of time that fails to acknowledge the unforeseeable. In particular, variation of spacetime curvature is shown to limit the bit rate of logical communication.