# Cosmological decade

A cosmological decade () is a division of the lifetime of the cosmos. The divisions are logarithmic in size, with base 10. Each successive cosmological decade represents a ten-fold increase in the total age of the universe.[1]

## As expressed in log (seconds per Ðecade)

When CÐ is measured in log( seconds/Ð ),  1 begins at 10 seconds and lasts 90 seconds (until 100 seconds after Time Zero).  100, the 100th cosmological decade, lasts from 10100 to 10101 seconds after Time Zero. CÐ ${\displaystyle -\infty }$ is Time Zero.

The epoch  −43.2683 was 10(−43.2683) seconds, which represents the Planck time since the big bang (Time Zero). There were an infinite number of cosmological decades between the Big Bang and the Planck epoch (or any other point in time). The current epoch,  17.6389, is 10(17.6389) seconds, or 13.799(21) billion years, since the Big Bang.[2] There have been 60.9 cosmological decades between the Planck epoch, CÐ −43.2683, and the current epoch, CÐ 17.6389.

## As expressed in log (years per Ðecade)

The cosmological decade can be expressed in log years per decade. In this definition, the 100th cosmological decade lasts from 10100 years to 10101 years after Time Zero. To convert to this format, simply divide by seconds per year; or in logarithmic terms, subtract 7.4991116 from the values listed above. Thus when CÐ is expressed in log( years/Ð ), the Planck time could also be expressed as 10(−43.2683 − 7.4991116) years = 10(−50.7674) years.

In this definition, the current epoch is CÐ (17.6355 − 7.4991116), or CÐ 10.1364. As before, there have been 60.9 cosmological decades between the Planck epoch and the current epoch.

In their view, the history of the universe can be segmented into five eras:

Age Ðecades Process
Primordial −50 to +5 from the Planck time until universe becomes transparent to radiation
Stelliferous 6 to 14 stars shine brightly (our current epoch is +10.1364)
Degenerate 15 to 37 stars degenerate, get dimmer
Black Hole 38 to 99 stars evaporate, galactic black holes evaporate
Dark Era 100 onward lone protons and other particles get even farther and farther apart from each other

## References

1. ^ Adams, Fred; Greg Laughlin (2000). The Five Ages of the Universe. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-684-86576-8.
2. ^ Planck Collaboration (2016). "Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters (See Table 4 on page 31 of pfd)". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 594: A13. arXiv:1502.01589. Bibcode:2016A&A...594A..13P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201525830.
Hourglass

An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated trickle of material (historically sand) from the upper bulb to the lower one. Factors affecting the time it measured include sand quantity, sand coarseness, bulb size, and neck width. Hourglasses may be reused indefinitely by inverting the bulbs once the upper bulb is empty. Depictions of hourglasses in art survive in large numbers from antiquity to the present day, as a symbol for the passage of time. These were especially common sculpted as epitaphs on tombstones or other monuments, also in the form of the winged hourglass, a literal depiction of the well-known Latin epitaph tempus fugit ("time flies").

Index of physics articles (C)

The index of physics articles is split into multiple pages due to its size.

To navigate by individual letter use the table of contents below.

Logarithmic timeline

A logarithmic timeline is a timeline laid out according to a logarithmic scale. This necessarily implies a zero point and an infinity point, neither of which can be displayed. The most natural zero point is the Big Bang, looking forward, but the most common is the ever-changing present, looking backward. (Also possible is a zero point in the present, looking forward to the infinite future.)

The idea of presenting history logarithmically goes back at least to 1932, when John B. Sparks copyrighted his chart "Histomap of Evolution". Around the same time it was also explored by the cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster, who used it to propose that memories naturally fade in an exponential manner. Logarithmic timelines have also been used in future studies to justify the idea of a technological singularity.

A logarithmic scale enables events throughout time to be presented accurately, but enables more events to be included closer to one end. Sparks explained this by stating:

As we travel forward in geological time the more complex is the evolution of life forms and the more are the changes to be recorded. Further, the most recent periods of evolution hold the most interest for us. We need therefore increasingly more space for our outline the nearer we approach modern times, and the logarithmic scale fulfills just this condition without any break in the continuity.Two examples of such timelines are shown below, while a more comprehensive version (similar to that of Sparks' "Histomap") can be found at Detailed logarithmic timeline.

Term (time)

A term is a period of duration, time or occurrence, in relation to an event. To differentiate an interval or duration, common phrases are used to distinguish the observance of length are near-term or short-term, medium-term or mid-term and long-term.

It is also used as part of a calendar year, especially one of the three parts of an academic term and working year in the United Kingdom: Michaelmas term, Hilary term / Lent term or Trinity term / Easter term, the equivalent to the American semester. In America there is a midterm election held in the middle of the four-year presidential term, there are also academic midterm exams.

In economics, it is the period required for economic agents to reallocate resources, and generally reestablish equilibrium. The actual length of this period, usually numbered in years or decades, varies widely depending on circumstantial context. During the long term, all factors are variable.

In finance or financial operations of borrowing and investing, what is considered long-term is usually above 3 years, with medium-term usually between 1 and 3 years and short-term usually under 1 year. It is also used in some countries to indicate a fixed term investment such as a term deposit.

In law, the term of a contract is the duration for which it is to remain in effect (not to be confused with the meaning of "term" that denotes any provision of a contract). A fixed-term contract is one concluded for a pre-defined time.

The Five Ages of the Universe

The Five Ages of the Universe is a popular science book written by Professor Fred Adams and Professor Gregory P. Laughlin about the future of an expanding universe first published in 1999.

Unit of time

A unit of time or midst unit is any particular time interval, used as a standard way of measuring or expressing duration. The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), and by extension most of the Western world, is the second, defined as about 9 billion oscillations of the caesium atom. The exact modern definition, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology is:

The duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.Historically units of time were defined by the movements of astronomical objects.

Sun based: the year was the time for the earth to revolve around the sun. Year-based units include the olympiad (four years), the lustrum (five years), the indiction (15 years), the decade, the century, and the millennium.

Moon based: the month was based on the moon's orbital period around the earth.

Earth based: the time it took for the earth to rotate on its own axis, as observed on a sundial. Units originally derived from this base include the week at seven days, and the fortnight at 14 days. Subdivisions of the day include the hour (1/24th of a day) which was further subdivided into minutes and finally seconds. The second became the international standard unit (SI units) for science.

Celestial sphere based: as in sidereal time, where the apparent movement of the stars and constellations across the sky is used to calculate the length of a year.These units do not have a consistent relationship with each other and require intercalation. For example, the year cannot be divided into 12 28-day months since 12 times 28 is 336, well short of 365. The lunar month (as defined by the moon's rotation) is not 28 days but 28.3 days. The year, defined in the Gregorian calendar as 365.24 days has to be adjusted with leap days and leap seconds. Consequently, these units are now all defined as multiples of seconds.

Units of time based on orders of magnitude of the second include the nanosecond and the millisecond.

International standards
Obsolete standards
Time in physics
Horology
Calendar
Archaeology and geology
Astronomical chronology
Other units of time
Related topics
Chronology of the universe
Fate of the universe

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