Is time one-dimensional?

TL;DR

This paper explores the historical and philosophical development of the concept of time's dimensionality, examining scientific milestones and unresolved questions about whether time is one-dimensional or multi-dimensional.

Contribution

It provides a historical overview of ideas about the dimensionality of time and discusses key moments and contributions in science and philosophy addressing this question.

Findings

Historical evolution of the concept of time's dimensionality

Key scientific and philosophical contributions to understanding time

Open questions about the nature and number of time dimensions

Abstract

In the History of Ideas, a succession of philosophical and scientific achievements, concerning the concept of space and its dimensionality, were essential to contribute, after a long period, to the theoretical possibility of thinking physical time with more than one dimension. Meanwhile, such a progress brought with it the expectation that one can either understand the role of dimensionality in the World or disclose how certain physical phenomena depend on it. Some of these issues are sketched throughout the text, as well as those remarkable moments in the History of Science where important contributions were made in order to give a satisfactory answer to the following inescapable question: -- How many dimensions does time have?