Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics
Entertaining the possibility of time travel will invariably challenge dearly-held concepts in fundamental physics. It becomes relatively easy to construct multiple logical contradictions using differing starting points from various well-established fields of physics. Sometimes, the interpretation is...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Universe |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/10/2/73 |
| _version_ | 1797296865837842432 |
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| author | Ana Alonso-Serrano Sebastian Schuster Matt Visser |
| author_facet | Ana Alonso-Serrano Sebastian Schuster Matt Visser |
| author_sort | Ana Alonso-Serrano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Entertaining the possibility of time travel will invariably challenge dearly-held concepts in fundamental physics. It becomes relatively easy to construct multiple logical contradictions using differing starting points from various well-established fields of physics. Sometimes, the interpretation is that only a full theory of quantum gravity will be able to settle these logical contradictions. Even then, it remains unclear if the multitude of problems could be overcome. Yet as definitive as this seems to the notion of time travel in physics, such recourse to quantum gravity comes with its own, long-standing challenge to most of these counter-arguments to time travel: These arguments rely on time, while quantum gravity is (in)famously stuck with the <i>problem of time</i>. One attempt to answer this problem within the canonical framework resulted in the Page–Wootters formalism, and its recent gauge-theoretic reinterpretation as an emergent notion of time. Herein, we will begin a program to study toy models implementing the Hamiltonian constraint in quantum theory, with an aim toward understanding what an emergent notion of time can tell us about the (im)possibility of time travel. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:11:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-547254c2919643b0a1d97931cbd242c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-1997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:11:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Universe |
| spelling | doaj.art-547254c2919643b0a1d97931cbd242c12024-02-23T15:36:46ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972024-02-011027310.3390/universe10020073Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum PhysicsAna Alonso-Serrano0Sebastian Schuster1Matt Visser2Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Zum Großen Windkanal 6, 12489 Berlin, GermanyÚstav Teoretické Fyziky, Matematicko-Fyzikální Fakulta, Univerzita Karlova, V Holešovičkách 747/2, 180 00 Praha, Czech RepublicSchool of Mathematics and Statistics, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New ZealandEntertaining the possibility of time travel will invariably challenge dearly-held concepts in fundamental physics. It becomes relatively easy to construct multiple logical contradictions using differing starting points from various well-established fields of physics. Sometimes, the interpretation is that only a full theory of quantum gravity will be able to settle these logical contradictions. Even then, it remains unclear if the multitude of problems could be overcome. Yet as definitive as this seems to the notion of time travel in physics, such recourse to quantum gravity comes with its own, long-standing challenge to most of these counter-arguments to time travel: These arguments rely on time, while quantum gravity is (in)famously stuck with the <i>problem of time</i>. One attempt to answer this problem within the canonical framework resulted in the Page–Wootters formalism, and its recent gauge-theoretic reinterpretation as an emergent notion of time. Herein, we will begin a program to study toy models implementing the Hamiltonian constraint in quantum theory, with an aim toward understanding what an emergent notion of time can tell us about the (im)possibility of time travel.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/10/2/73time travelquantum gravityminisuperspacePage–Wootters formalismemergent timerelational dynamics |
| spellingShingle | Ana Alonso-Serrano Sebastian Schuster Matt Visser Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics Universe time travel quantum gravity minisuperspace Page–Wootters formalism emergent time relational dynamics |
| title | Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics |
| title_full | Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics |
| title_fullStr | Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics |
| title_short | Emergent Time and Time Travel in Quantum Physics |
| title_sort | emergent time and time travel in quantum physics |
| topic | time travel quantum gravity minisuperspace Page–Wootters formalism emergent time relational dynamics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/10/2/73 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anaalonsoserrano emergenttimeandtimetravelinquantumphysics AT sebastianschuster emergenttimeandtimetravelinquantumphysics AT mattvisser emergenttimeandtimetravelinquantumphysics |