Bully Metric CMB Stabilized Timestamps

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Current Bully Timestamp (GitHub)

Time on earth is currently measured using seconds, which are defined within the International System of Units as:

The duration of 9,192,631,770 ΔνCs (delta nu Cs).

The abbreviation "ΔνCs (delta nu Cs)" represents the period of radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom. Bully timestamps are currently defined such that each timestamp is realized exactly 3055 seconds TAI after the previous one, or in other words, a timestamp is realized every 3,055 × 9,192,631,770 ΔνCs (delta nu Cs) = 28,083,490,057,350 ΔνCs (delta nu Cs). These earth-bound definitions for the second and bully timestamp should be sufficient for the foreseeable future; however, if humans were to set up off-earth colonies at some distant time in the future, then it would become advantages to update the bully timestamps with an off-earth definition.

The image in figure 9a, illustrates the voids and superclusters that exist in the neighborhood of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Voids are particularly galaxy-poor regions of space between filaments, making up the large-scale structure of the universe. The Boötes Void, shown in the upper right of the image, for example, is a roughly spherical region of space in the vicinity of the constellation Boötes. It contains just 60 galaxies, a figure significantly lower than the approximately 2,000 galaxies expected for an area of comparable size. With a radius of 62 megaparsecs (nearly 330 million light-years), it is one of the largest voids in the visible universe, and is often referred to as a "supervoid".

If a spacecraft with an atomic clock were to exist in an empty region of space, within one of these voids, then that clock, in principle, would be mostly free from gravitational effects and could maintain a constant velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In particular, a spacecraft at rest with respect to the CMB would potentially remain at rest for an extended period of time. According to Albert Einstein's theories, time dilation is the difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks, either because of a relative velocity between them (special relativity), or a difference in gravitational potential between their locations (general relativity). Theoretically, a clock within a supervoid, at rest with respect to the CMB, should be subject to less time dilation, and hence, measure more elapsed time than clocks which are subjected to gravitational fields and are orbiting galaxies inside of clusters.

In order to synchronize with clocks on Earth, a clock in an empty region of space and at rest with respect to the CMB, would need to adjust for time dilation. This adjustment can be made by multiplying the time period, as measured on Earth, by a "Lorentz factor". The Earth currently has a Lorentz factor of roughly 1.00000076 with respect to the CMB. As explained previously, Bully timestamps occur on Earth such that a new timestamp is realized every 28,083,490,057,350 ΔνCs (delta nu Cs). Hence, an atomic clock in a void at rest with the CMB, should register 1.00000076 × 28,083,490,057,350 periods in the time that a similar clock on Earth registers 28,083,490,057,350 periods.

  28,083,490,057,350 ΔνCs (delta nu Cs) on Earth.
= 28,083,511,400,802 ΔνCs (delta nu Cs) in a supervoid at rest with the CMB.

The Earth orbits the Sun with a speed of roughly 0.000099335 c (99.335 Pla/Zta) (29.78 km/s), which is roughly an eighth of the speed at which the Sun orbits the Milky Way, which is 0.000797218 c (797.218 Pla/Zta) (239 km/s).