Physical time and astronomical “time”

Abstract

This sketch is based on the following line of thought. If we understand by (physical or dynamical) “time” the independent variable in the equations of motion, only quantities which are in a strictly linear relationship with this mechanical — physical time should properly be called time. This excludes therefore such concepts as e.g., sidereal time; in general that Earth Rotation Parameter which is one of the angles which define the orientation in space of a coordinate system fixed in a rigid model Earth. The relationships between these Eulerian angles and the ERP which follow from the theory of motion are discussed, also for the case that the reference system is an arbitrary noninertial system whose relationship (as a function of time) with an inertial system is known.