Researchers At The University Of Queensland In Australia Have Simulated Quantum Particles Travelling Through Time By Using Photons.
This helped the physicists study the behavior of these particles too.
The theory of quantum level was first predicted in 1991 and the latest study was done to find out more about whether time travel would be possible at this level or not.
The researchers have succeeded in simulating the behaviour of a single photon that used a wormhole to travel and interact with its older self. This is known as a closed timelike curve. The study is published in Nature Communications.
Lead author Martin Ringbauer said that they used a mathematical equivalence between two cases for this.
In the first case, photon one "travels trough a wormhole into the past, then interacts with its older version," Ringbauer explained. And in the second case, photon two was made to travel through normal space-time but this photon interacted with another photon that is trapped inside a closed timelike curve forever.
"We used single photons to do this but the time-travel was simulated by using a second photon to play the part of the past incarnation of the time travelling photon," said University of Queensland physics professor Tim Ralph.
Ringbuaer has expressed hope that the study will help in bridging the gap between two critical theories. "The question of time travel features at the interface between two of our most successful yet incompatible physical theories ? Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics," Ringbuaer explained.
He added that in his theory Einstein has described the world at the very large scale of stars and galaxies, while quantum mechanics describes the world at the very small scale of atoms and molecules.
The theory of quantum level was first predicted in 1991 and the latest study was done to find out more about whether time travel would be possible at this level or not.
The researchers have succeeded in simulating the behaviour of a single photon that used a wormhole to travel and interact with its older self. This is known as a closed timelike curve. The study is published in Nature Communications.
Lead author Martin Ringbauer said that they used a mathematical equivalence between two cases for this.
In the first case, photon one "travels trough a wormhole into the past, then interacts with its older version," Ringbauer explained. And in the second case, photon two was made to travel through normal space-time but this photon interacted with another photon that is trapped inside a closed timelike curve forever.
"We used single photons to do this but the time-travel was simulated by using a second photon to play the part of the past incarnation of the time travelling photon," said University of Queensland physics professor Tim Ralph.
Ringbuaer has expressed hope that the study will help in bridging the gap between two critical theories. "The question of time travel features at the interface between two of our most successful yet incompatible physical theories ? Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics," Ringbuaer explained.
He added that in his theory Einstein has described the world at the very large scale of stars and galaxies, while quantum mechanics describes the world at the very small scale of atoms and molecules.
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