Constructor theory of time

Abstract Constructor theory proposes that the laws of physics are expressible as specifications of which transformations of physical systems can or cannot be brought about with unbounded accuracy by devices capable of operating in a cycle (‘approximate constructors’). Hence, in particular, such specifications cannot refer to time. Thus, although laws expressed in constructor-theory-compatible form automatically avoid the anomalous properties of time in traditional formulations of fundamental theories, this very feature raises the problem of how they can nevertheless give meaning to duration and dynamics, and thereby be consistent (perhaps only approximately) with traditionally formulated laws. Here we give sufficient constructor-theoretic conditions under which this can be done.