New research suggests that time may not be a fundamental element of the universe, but rather an illusion resulting from quantum entanglement.
But in a new study, researchers have Quantum entanglement Physics Review A
“There are ways to introduce time, which is a manifestation of entanglement, that are consistent with both classical and quantum laws,” said the first author. Alessandro Coppo
Finally
in Quantum mechanics
Related: Atoms are packed closer together than ever before, and seemingly impossible quantum effects become apparent.
But according to Einstein’s theory, General theory of relativity
“There seems to be a major inconsistency in quantum theory,” Coppo said. “This is what we call the time problem.”
To solve this problem, researchers have turned to a theory called the Page and Wutters mechanism, which was first proposed in 1983 and suggests that an object’s time is manifested through the object’s motion. Quantum entanglement
By applying Page and Wutters’ mechanism to two theoretical entangled but non-interacting quantum states — one a vibrating harmonic oscillator, the other a set of tiny magnets acting as a clock — the physicists found that the system can be perfectly described as follows: Schrödinger Equation
While this insight was not new, the team’s next step was: They repeated their calculations twice, first assuming that the magnetic clock and then the harmonic oscillator were macroscopic (larger) objects. Their equations simplified to those of classical physics, suggesting that the flow of time is the result of entanglement, even for massive objects.
“We strongly believe that the correct and logical direction is to start from quantum physics and understand how to arrive at classical physics, and not the other way around,” Coppo said.
Other physicists have expressed caution: They think Page and Wutters’ mechanism is an intriguing idea about the quantum origins of time, but they say it hasn’t yet produced anything testable.
“Yes, it is mathematically consistent to think of world time as an entanglement of quantum fields and quantum states of three-dimensional space.” Vlatko Vedrar
Despite these doubts, building a fundamental theory of time from quantum mechanics may be a promising starting point, as long as it can be tailored to fit experiment.
“It’s possible that entanglements play a role.” Adam Frank
