Physicists from the University of Queensland were able to create a computer simulation of time travel by looking at the behavior of a photon as it passes through a wormhole and interacts with an “older” version of itself. The study, which was published in Nature Communications, looks at the possibility of time travel at a quantum level and hopes to unify Einstein’s theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum mechanics both present the possibility of time travel. However, there is a gap between these theories because of their scale and scope. Quantum mechanics explains the interactions between atoms and particles, whereas Einstein’s theory of relativity explains the interactions between galaxies and stars. According to Einstein’s theory, it’s possible to travel back in time through a closed timelike curve, more commonly known as a “wormhole”. But scientists struggle with this theory because of the paradoxes that it presents. The most popular time travel paradox, the grandfather paradox, presents a scenario where a time traveler goes back in time and prevents his grandparents from ever meeting, basically preventing the traveler from ever existing. But in 1991, it was predicted that these paradoxes could be avoided if time travel is done in the quantum world. Because of the famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the properties of quantum particles are “fuzzy” and “uncertain,” providing enough flexibility to avoid the paradoxes.Time travel through the quantum world is also much more feasible because the quantum model of a closed timelike curve can be formulated with consistently with relativity. The experiment won’t make it possible for you to travel to ancient Egypt for your vacation in the near future, but for now, at least scientists have gained insights on how light travels through time. And until time travel becomes a reality for us, why don’t you make like a quantum particle and go back to the future?
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:50:33 +0000
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