In my view, we do not understand, but we try our best.

My opinion
In order to * try our best* it needs to understand the old well-known
abstract conceptions like: Inertia, entropy, ideal gas, black body, . . . . etc
Take for example 'inertia' – movement without force.
There isn't a *free lunch* for movement.
For movement is needed to pay by energy.
Your car wouldn't move one inch without energy.
. . . . . . . etc . . . . etc
==.

 

but this topic is rather esoteric.

Sorry.
In every topic I try to confirm my idea with physical formulas and laws.
If I say 'infinity exists in universe', I explain: 'why?'
It is not my problem that 100% thinks 'it is abstraction, it is esoteric, it is mystic'
If physicists avoid 'infinity' – we will never know the truth.
==..

 

Can time exist without matter?
=.
According to Newton the answer is “ Yes”
According to Einstein the answer is “ No”
Who is right, who is wrong?

Einstein is right.
And to see how to get to the notion of time, I invite you to read what I said in this topic:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/loun...cts-shadow-goverments-etc-13.html#post3078219
and this post:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/loun...cts-shadow-goverments-etc-14.html#post3078277

I quote what I said there:
Now a few years ago I read several books and came to a conclusion that answers the question: why we need time? Or why we were born on earth ?
Let me tell you what is time and how time was born. As assumed, in the universe there are many dimensions of existence. Creating these dimensions was made in order to create time. This led to our new size of the universe, consisting of several planets, stars, but these components are spinning. Earth is rotating around its own axis, the earth revolves around the sun, the sun or the entire solar system revolves galaxy and the galaxy is rotating in the universe, now comes the question: the universe is rotating? I suppose yes, around other universes or other parallel world. The need for these rotations is just time to create. But it takes time?
Consciousness or spirit once born of matter primary, universal, is in a certain state, which must learn to evolve, to keep balance between the positive and negative material that is built to last forever. But to endure forever must accumulate information to help him stay in that state. For this reason it takes time, but the matter of which is made ​​spirit evolves over time, must soak in other forms of matter to help him gather information. So was born our size and spirit need to be human. Not once, but several times.

So, the matter of which the universe is made plays a crucial role in the existence of time. So, Einstein is right.

 

Newton's time is gravity –earth- planet time.
Newton's space is gravity- planet space.
Einstein's space / time is Minkowski 4D spacetime continuum
Newton's inertia (moving without any forces) is an abstract idea.
Einstein's inertia (moving depends on E=Mc^2) is still unsolved phenomena.
#
Boson – impulse h ( is a pure corpuscular)
Fermion – impulse h*=h/2pi ( is a wave - dualism effect)
Quantum particle can use sometime h, sometime h*=h/2pi.
#
Problems:
a) to find reference frame for quantum particles
b) to find place for Minkowski 4D in Nature
c) to explain how E=Mc^2 can be basis for creating everything in Nature.
==….
Only physics can tell us the logical truth about reality.
=.
Happy New Year.
Best wishes.
Israel Sadovnik Socratus.
===…

 

A man decided.
One circle of Earth around the Sun is a year.
A year is 12 months.
A month is 30 days'
A day is 24 hours.
A hour is 60 minutes.
. . . . etc
For us this Earth's time is an absolute fact.
But every planet has its own year, own time.
For example: Martian year and time has another measuring.
A year on Mars lasts twice as long as Earth's year.
Here we are talking about *gravity time*.
So, if somebody want to know *what time is* then he needs
to understand *how were the planets created?*,
*where did matter come from?*
(the famous big bang doesn't give the answer to this question)
#
And what is about the space between planets /stars /galaxies?
This is space of infinite/ eternal *cold kingdom* T=0K with
*negative virtual particles* -E=Mc^2.
Somehow (through vacuum transformation/ fluctuation/ polarization,
quantum tunneling phenomena ) these *negative virtual particles*
become real particles E=h*f.
These particles (E=h*f) can create everything in the Universe.
=====================…

 

Without *gravity* there isn't *time*.
The *time* ( together with gravity) was created from eternity (T=0K)
according to Einstein's GRT.
==..

 

Vacuum and Quantum of light are still two fundamental puzzles in physics.

About quantum of light Einstein wrote:
'‘ All these fifty years of conscious brooding have brought me
no nearer to the answer to the question, 'What are light quanta?'
Nowadays every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks he knows it,
but he is mistaken.'‘

And about vacuum there are different opinions.
a)
" The most fundamental question facing 21st century physics will be:
What is the vacuum? As quantum mechanics teaches us, with
its zero point energy this vacuum is not empty and the word
vacuum is a gross misnomer!."
/ Prof. Friedwardt Winterberg /
b)
‘ It is true . . . there is such a thing as absolute zero; we cannot
reach temperatures below absolute zero not because we are not
sufficiently clever but because temperatures below absolute zero
simple have no meaning.’
/ Book : ‘Dreams of a final theory’. Page 138. By Steven Weinberg./
c).
‘If we were looking for something that we could conceive
of as God within the universe of the new physics, this ground
state, coherent quantum vacuum might be a good place to start.’
/ Book ‘The quantum self ’ page 208, by Danah Zohar. /

Conclusion. As Paul Dirac wrote:
" The problem of the exact description of vacuum, in my opinion,
is the basic problem now before physics. Really, if you can't correctly
describe the vacuum, how it is possible to expect a correct description
of something more complex? "
=.
So, what is *philosophy of science* if we don't know these two simplest
but fundamental structure of the Universe?
=====…

 

As to the original question, I'd have to say no.

 

Time is concrete as long as a portion of it is being studied for a scientific or any other purpose . Once that period of time passes its gone and time keeps passing , so time isn't concrete its abstract .

I guess Newton is right .

 

Yes. Time can exist without matter.