Little more than 100 years ago most people--and most scientists--thought of matter as continuous. Although since ancient times some philosophers and scientists had speculated that if matter were broken up into small enough bits, it might turn out to be made up of very tiny atoms, few thought the existence of atoms could ever be proved. Today we have imaged individual atoms and have studied the particles that compose them. The granularity of matter is old news.

In recent decades, physicists and mathematicians have asked if space is also made of discrete pieces. Is it continuous, as we learn in school, or is it more like a piece of cloth, woven out of individual fibers? If we could probe to size scales that were small enough, would we see "atoms" of space, irreducible pieces of volume that cannot be broken into anything smaller? And what about time: Does nature change continuously, or does the world evolve in series of very tiny steps, acting more like a digital computer?

This article was originally published with the title Atoms of Space and Time.

3 Comments

1. 1. bidyutmaya1981 01:53 AM 6/27/09

   if we imagine "atoms of space"to constitute the whole of the universe,then there might be some sort of "gap" in between any two such atoms of space. now the moot question is what should be the character of such atoms of space?certainly it should be devoid of time and matter. thus one is to conclude that a big portion of the universe has to remain "blank" and the existence of different "flow" of time in different atoms of space cannot be ruled out. then,for certain, the structure of the ought to be unnecessarily cumbersome. concept of a ' "Discrete" universe is very difficult to accept.Difference in flow of time in such atoms of space is concluded as because all such atoms of space can never be imagined to be identical for obvious reason of non -uniform distribution of mass throughout the Universe.Even if "Cubical" atoms of space is imagined , difference in flow of time in such atoms of space is a must.

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2. 2. bidyutmaya1981 01:59 AM 6/27/09

   *
   
   if we imagine "atoms of space"to constitute the whole of the universe,then there might be some sort of "gap" in between any two such atoms of space. now the moot question is what should be the character of such "gaps"?certainly it should be devoid of time and matter. thus one is to conclude that a big portion of the universe has to remain "blank" and the existence of different "flow" of time in different atoms of space cannot be ruled out. then,for certain, the structure of the universe ought to be unnecessarily cumbersome. concept of a ' "Discrete" universe is very difficult to accept.Difference in flow of time in such atoms of space is concluded as because all such atoms of space can never be imagined to be identical for obvious reason of non -uniform distribution of mass throughout the Universe.Even if "Cubical" atoms of space is imagined , difference in flow of time in such atoms of space is a must.
   
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3. 3. pithycus 02:40 PM 5/1/13

   It may be that the universe consists entirely of strings of energy. There is no space, not between or within atoms or particles. The strings "wiggle," as Feynman like to say about the vibration of particles, and if strings resonate, wiggle together, they join in the process of creating particles.
   
   Such a scenario might provide a universal form of communication that might be helpful in explaining the oddities of quantum mechanics.

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