Key Takeaways:
- Time travel might be possible according to Einstein’s theory, but with a twist.
- The “grandfather paradox” is avoided.
- The past seems self-correcting.
- Free will might coexist with time travel.
- The math supports the theory, but it’s still science fiction for now.
Scientists in Australia claim to have proved that time travel is theoretically possible after solving a logical paradox.
University of Queensland physicists compared Einstein’s theory of general relativity with classical dynamics through mathematical modeling. The grandfather paradox, a well-known problem with time travel, is caused by the conflict between these two systems.
According to Einstein’s theory, it is possible for someone to kill their grandfather by going back in time via a time loop. But according to the laws of classical dynamics, the events that transpired after the grandfather passed away would ultimately result in the time traveler’s nonexistence in the first place.
The study’s lead researcher, Germain Tobar, said, “As physicists, we want to understand the universe’s most fundamental, underlying laws and for years I’ve puzzled on how the science of dynamics can square with Einstein’s predictions.” “Is time travel mathematically possible?”
Mr. Tobar and Dr. Costa calculated whether the two theories could coexist using a model of the coronavirus pandemic.
They envisioned a time traveler making an effort to travel back in time and stop patient zero from contracting Covid-19.
Although time travel is possible according to Einstein’s theory, the science of dynamics indicates that an interference with the basic sequence of events is impossible.
This is due to the fact that their original reason for traveling back in time would vanish if the time traveler was successful in stopping the virus from spreading.
“You could attempt to prevent patient zero from contracting the coronavirus, but in doing so, you would contract the virus and become patient zero, or someone else would,” Mr. Tobar stated in reference to the coronavirus patient zero example.
“No matter what you did, the salient events would just recalibrate around you. This would mean that – no matter your actions – the pandemic would occur, giving your younger self the motivation to go back and stop it. Try as you might to create a paradox, the events will always adjust themselves to avoid any inconsistency.
“The variety of mathematical operations we have found demonstrate that free will and time travel are logically possible in our universe, free of contradictions.”
Dr. Fabio Costa, a physicist at the University of Queensland who oversaw the study, continued, “The math checks out – and the results are the stuff of science fiction.”
A paper detailing the research was published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity.
