Physical models on discrete space and time

The idea of space and time quantum operators with a discrete spectrum has been proposed frequently since the discovery that some physical quantities exhibit measured values that are multiples of fundamental units. This paper first reviews a number of these physical models. They are: the method of finite elements proposed by Bender et al; the quantum field theory model on discrete space-time proposed by Yamamoto; the finite dimensional quantum mechanics approach proposed by Santhanam et al; the idea of space-time as lattices of n-simplices proposed by Kaplunovsky et al; and the theory of elementary processes proposed by Weizsaecker and his colleagues. The paper then presents a model proposed by the authors and based on the (n+1)-dimensional space-time lattice where fundamental entities interact among themselves 1 to 2n in order to build up a n-dimensional cubic lattice as a ground field where the physical interactions take place. The space-time coordinates are nothing more than the labelling of the ground field and take only discrete values. 11 references