Follow the work of the Bureau International Poids et Mesures (BIPM)

BIPM, keeper of the International System of Units (SI),
and the 24-hour, international reference time scale known as UTC.

by Bruce Camber

Background: The BIPM convenes the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM). A diplomatic event, the 27th general conference started on Tuesday, 15 and ran to Friday, the 18 November 2022, at the Palais des Congrès de Versailles (10 rue de la Chancellerie, 78000 Versailles, Yvelines) in France.

You have to be a delegate, an official representative of a member state, to attend.

Correspondence. We have requested through NIST and CODATA that the international standards bodies name six groups of numbers between the yoctosecond and the Planck scale. This is all simple, basic math of the infinitesimal. All six groups are mathematically-defined notations and are now often used. The numbers start just after the already recognized (and now more often used) yoctosecond, and goes down to the smallest recognized size, the PlanckSecond of PlanckTime. We are also requesting that the already frequently used term, PlanckSecond, be formally recognized.

The BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures) uses Planck units to define the International System of Units (SI). The Planck constant (hhℎ) is a key component in the definition of the kilogram (kgk g𝑘𝑔). 

Second email: Saturday, 20 May 2023 @ 8:04 AM

Mrs. Céline Fellag Ariouet
BIPM, Pavillon de Breteuil
F-92312 Sèvres Cedex FRANCE

Dear Mrs. C. Fellag Ariouet:

You may be interested to take a look at one of the earlier uses of those two new designations, Rontosecond and Quectosecond, officially cited as such from your meetings from 15-18 November 2022 in Paris, of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) of your International Commission of Weights and Measures (BIPM) whereby you all adopted Resolution 3 making it a globally acceptable name for the range 10−30 to 10−32 of the infinitesimal scale of time.

Our page under construction using your designations is here: https://81018.com/the-firsts/

There you will see this chart inserted below. If your people find any glaring errors, I would appreciate your comments.

Thank you.

Warmly,

Bruce

1. The Now –2028. Day –16015. Picosecond – 104Informal, unofficial
2. Billion – 1999. Hour15516. Femtosecond – 9422. Mecosecond – 34
3. Million – 18910. Minute – 15017. Attosecond –8423. Duecosecond – 25
4. Thousand –17911. Second  14418. Zeptosecond 7424. Trecosecond –15
5. Year – 16912. Millisecond – 13419. Yoctosecond – 6425. Tetrecosecond 5
6. Month –16513. Microsecond – 12420. Rontosecond-54SI Certified (BIPM):
7. Week 16314. Nanosecond-11421. Quectosecond – 4426. PlanckTime  0
First email: 30 September 2022 @ 3:17 PM

Céline Fellag Ariouet
Dr. Martin Milton, Director of the BIPM

Status:
Although great planning is going into the 27th CGPM conference, it needs to go further. It appears from the Draft Resolutions that only two extensions will be considered beyond the already officially recognized yoctosecond (See your PDF document, “SI Concise summary”, page 3, Table 3. Those two extensions (and subs) are 10−27 (ronto) and 10−30 (quecto)  (page 22).  

You will miss the opportunity to officially name 10−33, 10−36, 10−39 and 10−42. The 10−42 group includes 10−44 PlanckTime.

Recommendation:
Whichever organization, probably CODATA, submitted this naming proposal, send it back and ask that they call emergency meetings to virtually gather and name these other four domains and resubmit before November 1.

You would not want to miss an opportunity to do a job well.

Background:
The naming conventions for the infinitesimal have become exquisitely important since Frank Wilczek (Nobel, 2004) wrote a series of articles about the Planck scale for Physics Today. Very quickly, the importance of the Planck scale in theoretical physics became entirely evident to most working within these domains. 

I am available to answer any questions, but must apologize that my French has not improved since 1980 when I studied with Olivier Costa de Beauregard and Jean-Pierre Vigier at the Institut Henri Poincaré. Thank you.

Warmest regards,

Bruce

PS. Here is how these are displayed within Wikipedia:

  • One yoctosecond = 1×10-24 
  • One xonosecond = 1×10-27 (You will set a new standard with rontosecond.)
  • One vecosecond = 1×10-30 (You will set a new standard with quectosecond.)
  • One mecosecond = 1×10-33 Increasingly used and in question.
  • One duecosecond = 1×10-36 Increasingly used and in question.
  • One trecosecond 1×10-39 Increasingly used and in question.
  • One tetrecosecond = 1×10-42 Increasingly used and in question.
  • Planck Time = 5.391×10-44 

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