  Most hot Jupiters are expected to spiral in towards their host stars due to
transfering of the angular momentum of the orbital motion to the stellar spin.
Their orbits can also precess due to planet-star interactions. Calculations
show that both effects could be detected for the very-hot exoplanet WASP-12 b
using the method of precise transit timing over a timespan of the order of 10
yr. We acquired new precise light curves for 29 transits of WASP-12 b,
spannning 4 observing seasons from November 2012 to February 2016. New
mid-transit times, together with literature ones, were used to refine the
transit ephemeris and analyse the timing residuals. We find that the transit
times of WASP-12 b do not follow a linear ephemeris with a 5 sigma confidence
level. They may be approximated with a quadratic ephemeris that gives a rate of
change in the orbital period of -2.56 +/- 0.40 x 10^{-2} s/yr. The tidal
quality parameter of the host star was found to be equal to 2.5 x 10^5 that is
comparable to theoretical predictions for Sun-like stars. We also consider a
model, in which the observed timing residuals are interpreted as a result of
the apsidal precession. We find, however, that this model is statistically less
probable than the orbital decay.
