Creating a time machine is possible. Experiments with time. Theoretical part

Just the other day, after reading the article Traveling through Time and Programming, I got excited about the idea of ​​experimental studies that would allow us to get practical answers to questions about moving through time. But before proceeding to the experiments, it is required to develop a theoretical justification for the possibility of overcoming the time between the past and the future. What I actually did during the last days. The study is based on Einstein's theory of relativity and relativistic effects, simultaneously affecting also quantum mechanics and the theory of superstrings. I think I managed to get positive answers to the questions posed, examine in detail the hidden dimensions and in the process get an explanation of some phenomena, for example, the nature of wave-particle duality. And also consider practical ways to transfer information between the present and the future. If you are also concerned about these questions, then welcome under cat.

Usually I do not do theoretical physics, and in reality I lead a rather monotonous life doing software, hardware, and answering users of the same type. Therefore, if there are inaccuracies and errors, I hope for a constructive discussion in the comments. But I could not get past this topic. In my head every now and then there were new ideas that eventually formed into a single theory. I somehow do not want to go into the past or the future in which no one expects me. But I assume that in the future this will be possible. I am more interested in solving applied problems related to the creation of information channels for the transfer of information between the past and the future. And also worry about the possibility of changing the past and the future.

Journey to the past is associated with a large number of difficulties that severely limit the possibility of such a journey. At this stage of development of science and technology, I think it is premature to take up the implementation of such ideas. But before we can see whether we can change the past, it is necessary to determine whether we can change the present and the future. After all, the essence of any changes in the past is reduced to a change in subsequent events relative to a given point in time, to which we want to return. If we take the current time as a given point, then there is no need to move into the past, as well as a large number of difficulties associated with such a move. It remains only to find out the chain of events that should occur in the future, and try to break this chain in order to get an alternative development of the future. In fact, we do not even need to know the complete chain of events. It is necessary to know reliably whether one particular event will come true in the future (which will be the object of research). If it comes true, it means that the chain of events led to the fact that this event came true. Then we have the opportunity to influence the course of the experiment and make sure that this event does not come true. Can we do this? The question is not yet clear. And the point is not whether we can do this (the experimental setup should allow it), but whether alternative development of reality is possible.
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First of all, the question arises - how can you reliably find out what has not happened yet? After all, all our knowledge about the future always comes down only to forecasts, and forecasts for such experiments are not suitable. The data obtained in the course of the experiment must irrefutably prove what should happen in the future as an event that has already occurred. But in fact there is a way to get such reliable data. If both Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum mechanics are to be considered, then we can find a particle that can link the past and the future in one line of time and transfer the necessary information to us. The photon acts as such a particle.

The essence of the experiment is reduced to the famous experience with two slots with a delayed choice, which was proposed in 1980 by the physicist John Wheeler. There are many options for the implementation of such an experiment, one of which was cited in Habré . As an example, consider an experiment with a delayed choice that was proposed by Scully and Dreule:


On the path of the photon source - the laser - they put a beam splitter, which serves as a translucent mirror. Usually such a mirror reflects half of the light falling on it, and the other half passes through. But photons, being in a state of quantum uncertainty, getting to the beam splitter will choose both directions simultaneously.

After passing the beam splitter, the photons fall into down converters. A down converter is a device that receives one photon at the input and produces two photons at the output, each with half the energy ("down conversion") from the source. One of the two photons (the so-called signal photon) is directed along the original path. Another photon produced by a down converter (referred to as a single photon) is sent in a completely different direction.

Using fully reflective mirrors located on the sides, the two beams come together again and go to the detector screen. Considering the light in the form of a wave, as in Maxwell’s description, an interference pattern can be seen on the screen.

In the experiment, it is possible to determine which path to the screen the signal photon chose by observing, which from the down-converters emitted a single photon partner. Since it is possible to obtain information about the choice of the signal photon path (even though it is completely indirect, since we do not interact with any signal photon) - observation of the idle photon prevents the occurrence of an interference pattern.

So. And here experiments with two slots

The point is that idle photons emitted by down-converters can travel a much greater distance than their signal photons-partners. But whatever distance idle photons travel, the picture on the screen will always coincide with whether idle photons are fixed or not.

Assume that the idle photon distance to the observer is many times greater than the distance from the signal photon to the screen. It turns out that the picture on the screen will pre-display the fact whether they will be watching the idle photon partner or not. Even if the decision about observing the idle photon is made by a random event generator.

The distance that a single photon can travel does not affect the result that is displayed on the screen. If you drive such a photon into a trap and, for example, make it repeatedly spin around the ring, then you can stretch this experiment for an arbitrarily long time. Regardless of the duration of the experiment, we will have a reliably established fact of what should happen in the future. For example, if the decision on whether we will “catch” a single photon depends on a coin flip, then at the beginning of the experiment we will know “how the coin will fall.” When a picture appears on the screen, it will be an accomplished fact even before the coin flips.

There is an interesting feature that seems to change the causal relationship. We may ask - how can the effect (which happened in the past) form the cause (which should happen in the future)? And if the cause has not yet arrived, how can we observe the effect? To understand this, we will try to delve into Einstein’s special theory of relativity and deal with what is actually happening. But in this case we will have to consider the photon as a particle in order not to confuse quantum uncertainty with the theory of relativity.

Why exactly photon

This is exactly the particle that is ideal for this experiment. Of course, other particles, such as electrons and even atoms, have quantum uncertainty. But it is the photon that has the maximum speed of movement in space and for it the concept of time does not exist , therefore it can easily cross the time dimension, connecting the past with the future.

Picture of time

To represent time, it is necessary to consider space-time in the form of a continuous block stretched in time. The slices forming the block are the present tense moments for the observer. Each slice represents a space at one time from its point of view. This moment includes all points of space and all events in the universe, which are presented to the observer as occurring simultaneously. Combining these sections of the present, arranging one after another in the order in which the observer goes through these time layers, we get the region of space-time.


But depending on the speed of movement, the sections of the present will divide the space-time from different angles. The greater the speed of movement relative to other objects, the greater the angle of cut. This means that the present time of a moving object does not coincide with the present time of other objects, relative to which it moves.


In the direction of movement, the cut of the present time of the object shifts to the future relative to fixed objects. In the opposite direction of motion, the present-time slice of the object is shifted into the past relative to fixed objects. This is because the light that flies toward the meeting of a moving object reaches it earlier than the light that catches up with the moving object from the opposite side. The maximum speed of movement in space provides the maximum angle of displacement of the current point in time. For the speed of light, this angle is 45 °.

Time slowdown

As I already wrote, for the particle of light (photon) there is no concept of time. Let's try to consider the cause of this phenomenon. According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, as the object speed increases, time slows down. This is due to the fact that as the speed of a moving object increases, the light needs to cover an increasing distance per unit of time. For example, when driving a car, the light of its headlights needs to travel a greater distance per unit of time than if the car was standing in the parking lot. But the speed of light is the limit and can not increase. Therefore, folding the speed of light with the speed of the vehicle does not increase the speed of light, but leads to a slower time, according to the formula:

where r is the duration of time, v is the relative velocity of the object.
For clarity, consider another example. Take two mirrors and place them opposite one above the other. Assume that a ray of light will be repeatedly reflected between these two mirrors. The movement of the light beam will occur on the vertical axis, with each reflection measuring the time as a metronome. Now let's start moving our mirrors on the horizontal axis. With increasing speed of movement, the trajectory of the movement of light will be tilted diagonally, describing the zigzag movement.



The greater the speed of movement across, the more the path of the beam will be tilted. When the speed of light is reached, the trajectory in question will be straightened in one line, as if we were stretching the spring. That is, the light will no longer be reflected between the two mirrors and will move parallel to the horizontal axis. So our “metronome” will stop measuring the passage of time.

Therefore, there is no time dimension for light. A photon has neither past nor future. For him, there is only the current moment in which it exists.

Space compression

Now we will try to deal with what is happening with space at the speed of light, in which photons reside.

For example, take a certain object with a length of 1 meter and accelerate it to about light speed. As the speed of an object increases, we will observe a relativistic reduction in the length of a moving object, according to the formula:

where l is the length and v is the relative speed of the object.

Under the word "we will observe" I mean a motionless observer from the side. Although from the point of view of a moving object, fixed observers will also be reduced in length, for observers will move with the same speed in the opposite direction relative to the object itself. Note that the length of the object is a measurable quantity, and space is a reference point for measuring this quantity. We also know that the length of an object has a fixed value of 1 meter and cannot change relative to the space in which it is measured. Hence, the observed relativistic reduction in length suggests that space is shrinking.

What happens if an object gradually accelerates to the speed of light? In fact, no matter can accelerate to the speed of light. You can get as close as possible to this speed, but it is not possible to reach the speed of light. Therefore, from the point of view of the observer, the length of the moving object will be infinitely reduced until it reaches the minimum possible length. And from the point of view of a moving object, all relatively fixed objects in space will be infinitely compressed until they shrink to the minimum possible length. According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, we also know one interesting feature — regardless of the speed of the object itself, the speed of light always remains the same limit value. So, for a particle of light, all of our space is compressed to the size of the photon itself. Moreover, all objects are compressed, regardless of whether they move in space or remain motionless.

It can be noted here that the formula for relativistic length reduction makes it unambiguously clear to us that at the speed of light all space will be compressed to zero size. I wrote that space will be compressed by the size of the photon itself. I believe both conclusions are correct. From the point of view of the Standard Model, a photon is a gauge boson that plays the role of a carrier of the fundamental interactions of nature, to describe which gauge invariance is required. From the point of view of the M-theory, which today claims the title of the Unified Theory of Everything, it is considered that the photon is an oscillation of a one-dimensional string with free ends, which has no dimension in space and may contain rolled measurements. I honestly do not know by what calculations the supporters of the theory of superstrings came to similar conclusions. But the fact that our calculations lead us to the same results I think suggests that we are looking in the right direction. Superstring theory calculations have been rechecked for decades.

So. What we came to:

1. From the point of view of the observer, the entire space of the photon is minimized to the size of the photon itself at each point of the trajectory of motion.
2. From the point of view of a photon, the trajectory of movement in space is minimized to the size of the photon itself at each point in the space of the photon.

Consider what conclusions follow from all that we have learned:

1. The current time line of the photon intersects the line of our time at an angle of 45 °, in consequence of which our measurement of time for a photon is a non-local spatial measurement. This means that if we could move in photon space, we would move from the past to the future or from the future to the past, but this story would be composed of different points of our space.
2. The observer space and the photon space do not directly interact, they are connected by the photon motion. In the absence of movement, there are no angular divergences in the current time line, and both spaces merge into one.
3. A photon exists in a one-dimensional spatial dimension, in consequence of which the motion of a photon is observed only in the space-time dimension of an observer.
4. In the one-dimensional photon space, there is no movement, in consequence of which the photon fills its space from the initial to the final point, at the intersection with our space giving the initial and final coordinates of the photon. This definition says that in its space the photon looks like an elongated string.
5. Each point in photon space contains a projection of the photon itself in time and in space. It means that a photon exists at every point of this string, representing different projections of the photon in time and in space.
6. At each point in photon space, the full trajectory of its movement in our space is compressed.
7. At each point in the observer’s space (where a photon can stay), the full history and trajectory of the photon itself is compressed. This conclusion follows from the first and fifth paragraph.

Photon space

Let's try to figure out what the photon space is. I admit, it is difficult to imagine what photon space is. The mind grapples with the familiar and tries to draw an analogy with our world. And this leads to erroneous conclusions. To introduce another dimension, you need to discard the usual ideas and start thinking differently.

So. Imagine a magnifying glass that focuses on the whole picture of our space. Suppose that we took a long tape and placed the focus of the magnifying glass on this tape. This is one point in photon space. Now move the magnifier a little bit parallel to our tape. The focus point will also move along the tape. This is another point in photon space. But what is the difference between these two points? At each point there is a panorama of the entire space, but the projection is made from another point in our space. In addition, while we moved the magnifying glass managed to pass some time. It turns out that the photon space is somewhat similar to a film taken from a moving car. But there are some differences. The photon space has only a length and does not have a width; therefore, only one dimension of our space is fixed there - from the initial to the final trajectory of the photon. Since the projection of our space is recorded at each point, there is an observer in each of them! Yes, yes, because at every point simultaneous events are recorded from the point of view of the photon itself. And since the initial and final trajectories of the photon are located in the same time line - these are simultaneous events for the photon that affect it at different points in its space. This is the main difference from the film analogy. At each point in photon space, the same picture is obtained from different points of view, and reflecting different points in time.

What happens when a photon moves? A wave runs through the whole chain of photon space when it intersects with our space. The wave fades out when it encounters an obstacle and transmits its energy to it. Perhaps the intersection of photon space with our space creates an angular momentum of an elementary particle, also called the spin of a particle.

Now let's see what a photon looks like in our world. From the point of view of the observer, the photon space is minimized to the size of the photon itself. In fact, this is the most convoluted space and is the photon itself, vaguely resembling a string. A string constructed from symmetric projections of oneself from different points of space and time. Accordingly, the photon contains all the information about itself. At any point in our space, he “knows” all the way, and all the events of the past and the future, relating to the photon itself. I believe that a photon can certainly predict its future, you just need to make the right experiment.

findings

1. There are a lot of questions, the answers to which are difficult to obtain without experimentation. Despite the fact that such experiments with two slots were carried out many times, and with various modifications, it is very difficult to find information about this on the Internet. Even if you manage to find something, there are no intelligible explanations of the essence of what is happening and the analysis of the results of the experiment. Most descriptions do not contain any conclusions and it comes down to the fact that “such a paradox and no one can explain it” or “if it seems to you that you understood something, it means you did not understand anything”, etc. In the meantime, I think that this is a promising direction of research.

2. What information can be transmitted from the future to the present? It is obvious that we can transfer two possible values ​​when we will or will not observe idle photons. Accordingly, at the current time we will observe wave interference or a cluster of particles from two bands. Having two possible meanings, you can use binary coding of information and transmit any information from the future. To do this, you will need to automate this process properly, using a large number of quantum memory cells. In this case, we will be able to receive texts, photos, audio and video of everything that awaits us in the future. It will also be possible to receive advanced developments in the field of software products and it is even possible to teleport a person if they send instructions in advance how to build a teleport.

3. It can be noted that the accuracy of the information received relates only to the photons themselves. From the future, deliberately false information may be sent, leading us astray. For example, if a coin was thrown and tails fell, but we sent information that an eagle had fallen, then we ourselves are misleading. It can only be reliably asserted that the information sent and received do not contradict each other. But if we decide to deceive ourselves, then I think we will eventually be able to find out why we decided to do this.
In addition, we can not accurately determine from what time information is obtained. For example, if we want to know what will happen in 10 years, there is no guarantee that we sent the answer much earlier. Those. You can fake the time of sending data. I think to solve this problem can help cryptography with public and private keys. This will require an independent server that encrypts and decrypts data and stores the public-private key pairs that are generated for each day. The server can encrypt and decrypt our data upon request. But until we have access to the keys, we will not be able to falsify the time of sending and receiving data.

4. To consider the results of experiments only from the point of view of theory would be relatively not entirely correct. At least due to the fact that SRT has a strong predetermination of the future. It is not pleasant to think that everything is predetermined by fate, I want to believe that each of us has a choice. And if there is a choice, then there must be alternative branches of reality. But what happens if we decide to act differently, contrary to what is displayed on the screen? There will be a new loop, where we also decide to act differently, and this will lead to the emergence of an infinite number of new loops with opposite solutions? , . , , … , , , , . , , . .

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