What is negative time? Science answers!

Time as we know it did not exist forever. According to science, the most accepted theory is that it emerged shortly after the Big Bang, which occurred approximately 13.8 billion years ago. But there is much more to it than time: There are researchers studying the concept of negative time in quantum physics.

At first glance, negative time may seem to be related to the idea of ​​time travel, especially in the sense of returning to the past. However, the interpretation of science is very different.

The term is associated with theories in quantum physics that explore mathematical possibilities, such as particles behaving as if they were ‘going back in time’. For example, some comments, in certain contexts, There may be a ‘pre-zero’ state in terms of temporal reference, but this has not yet been proven.

In a new study published on the ArXiv preprint platform, researchers from the University of Toronto, Canada, Quantum experiments showing that the concept of negative time may have a real basis. In other words, maybe this isn’t just an abstract theory.

The article argues that this concept has a concrete basis and that more in-depth studies are needed for a clear understanding of the subject. According to the researchers, the research highlights a fascinating feature of quantum mechanics but does not bring any revolutionary changes to the field.

It is important to emphasize that the study has only been published on a preprint platform, meaning it has not yet gone through the peer review process and has not been accepted by any scientific journal. Besides, Many experts have expressed skepticism about the conclusions offered by the study.

“This is a complex topic, even for us to discuss with other physicists. We are often misunderstood. We have made our choice about what we believe is an efficient way to describe the results. To be honest, I’m not doing that right now,” said Aephraim Steinberg, a professor at the University of Toronto and one of the authors. “We’ll continue to think about it, but I don’t want to create false expectations,” he said.

negative time

Just like quantum entanglement, which allows two particles to share the same state regardless of distance, negative time is a unique feature of quantum physics. As we mentioned before, this term has nothing to do with time travel.

According to scientists researching the subject, Negative time relates to a phenomenon observed in experiments with photons (particles of light) passing through certain materials.. The theory suggests that in these cases the light appears to exit the material before entering it.

This doesn’t mean Time is actually ‘going backwards’, but the photons behave as if they had emerged before entering matter. In other words, negative time is a term used to describe the theory that light leaves a material before it fully enters it, due to the interaction between photons and certain properties of that material.

The light used in these experiments operates as wave packets consisting of several individual waves of different lengths superimposed on each other. In this way, even in a single point of light, more than one wave moves simultaneously. Negative time is precisely about the distortion of these wave packets.

Although it may seem like an impossible reaction, experts say this hypothetical phenomenon does not violate the laws of physics. In general, the concept does not have to do with time reversal but rather with the distortion of light waves.

“In order to understand the issue of negative time, we first need to talk about what a photon is. You might think of a photon as a single wave, but that means it propagates throughout space. However, the photons we use in the laboratory are not like that. We call these wave packets, German physicist Sabine Hossenfelder explains in a YouTube video.

Evidence of negative time?

Led by researcher Daniela Angulo, The team conducted several experiments using lasers to direct light particles into specific materials. Initial interest in researching the subject arose in 2017, when Steinberg decided to investigate the interaction between light and matter.

After several years of work, the team managed to develop the equipment necessary to carry out the first tests. During the experiments, the laser was directed through a cloud of ultracold rubidium atoms.; After a detailed analysis of the results, the researchers identified the negative time phenomenon hypothesized in this interaction.

“A negative time delay may seem paradoxical, but what it means is that if you built a “quantum” clock to measure how much time atoms spent in an excited state, the clock hand would move backwards under certain conditions. I can assure you that we were completely surprised by this prediction.” ” said Josiah Sinclair, another co-author of the study.

According to Hossenfelder, the experiment is not about the passage of time or the concept of negative time. It simply explains how photons move through a medium and how the phases of the wave packet change in the process.

according to German physics Work needs to have a different name, not ‘negative time’. In fact, Steinberg himself admitted that the choice of this term for the article caused controversy and negative reactions in the scientific community.

With advances in research in quantum mechanics, the relationship between photons and matter has aroused increasing interest among scientists. Want to learn more about this topic? Take the opportunity to understand how faster-than-light photons challenge the order of time. Until next time!