This quantum physics breakthrough could be the origin story for time travel

This is a very interesting breakthrough.

I've accepted for years now that the universe is non local and this means everything is quantum. For years now, Scientist have been putting bigger things into a state of superposition. The implications of this is mind blowing but if every probable state of the universe was in superposition during the Planck Epoch and there's no "collapse" of the wave function, then every probable universe exists.

The fact that superposition isn't limited to subatomic particles pretty much destroys the notion of collapse.

An international team of researchers recently placed an entire molecule into a state of quantum superposition. This huge breakthrough represents the largest object to ever be observed in such a state – essentially occupying two places at once. And it may just be the eureka moment that defines our species’ far-future technology.

When Physicist Markus Arndt and an international team of researchers observed an entire molecule in a state of quantum superposition, they likely became the first humans to witness evidence of the reconciliation between the quantum and classical worlds. Or, at a minimum, they’ve recorded what appears to be the strongest evidence yet for the bridge between them.

What we see and experience doesn’t always jive with what’s supposedly going on in the quantum world. Have you ever seen a tree in two places at the same time? This isn’t to say they “saw” superposition with their eyes, but they observed the quantum state through measurements.

According to Arndt, this is a breakthrough that, at a larger scale, would boggle the mind. He told Popular Mechanics:

The experiments we do show that very complex things can be prepared in states that you would never believe existed if you saw them for a billiard ball, a man, or a car. But why should nature be different on a small scale? Is quantum physics not valid at the macroscopic scale?

thenextweb.com...

This is pretty groundbreaking.

I mean we see this over in over in experiments like the recent one confirming Wigner's Friend. The next part was also very interesting. I have thought about time travel in many different ways but this is the first time I've heard about using superposition to do it.

One theory, based on what would obviously be far-future technology, involves harnessing the powers of quantum mechanics to place humongous objects – think planets and stars – into a state of superposition. This would, theoretically, allow anyone with the “place giant things into superposition” app on their iPhone (you don’t know how they’ll operate these things either) to manipulate space-time through the precision distortion of gravity waves.

This would effectively be time-travel, allowing humans to move about through the cosmos with relatively little regard for the passage of time – at least in small bursts, perhaps even arriving in the future without having aged.

thenextweb.com...

This is why I love Science Imagination as Einstein said, allows us to greatly expand knowledge. Here's the thought experiment.

The researchers, led by scientists at the University of Queensland, have discovered “a new kind of quantum time order.” It’s like time travel, but for the universe instead of you. The research focuses on a thought experiment where an object large enough to affect local gravity gets placed in a state of quantum superposition at the moment a series of events unfold.

If the planet next to one of the spaceships was placed into a state of superposition, the researchers claim, these quantum affects would logically extend to time as well. Zych’s explanation continues:

There would be a new way for the order of events to unfold, with neither of the events being first or second — but in a genuine quantum state of being both first and second.

thenextweb.com...

Woah Nelly!

So if you put the earth into a state of superposition, you would have earths that include 1970 and 2030. Say you measure 1970, then you don't have far to "travel" to go back in time. You might go to 1970 though and it's different. Maybe Bobby Kennedy is President and Chicago is called Miami.

When you start messing with the order of what we call time, you can see all kinds of scenarios playing out.

You put the planet into superposition and your a Happily Married Mailman on one planet and a successful millionaire Lawyer on the other planet. On the planet where you're a Lawyer, you never met the Wife you love and your kids. Your single. What do you do?

It could get crazy if you could manipulate temporal order through superposition.

Very well written thread!! Nice work and thank you for this gem!

I don’t know if humanity will ever get to a point where harnessing this knowledge and future technology will ever come to fruition. We are too chaotic and explosive amongst ourselves to guarantee our future in the stars.

Except for Tom Delonge. (sarc)

Maybe though. Scientific intelligence and technological development are growing at a seemingly exponential rate. IF, and that’s a big IF, we can somehow not annihilate ourselves or this planet, the possibilities are amazing!

That would be fascinating, however I will wait for re-creation using different instrumentation.

The Talbot-Lau instrumentation relies on defraction for imaging, (see Talbot effect). It could be error, but if it is not that would be very very fascinating.

Flagged for future updates

a reply to: dubiousatworst

I'm not sure what to gather from this word salad.

I know quantum stuff is confusing but why do i feel less knowladgeable for reading this.

Am i to suppose to grasp the concept of all things probable in an infinite quantum state/soup?

Or did i miss something?

a reply to: sunkuong
The experimentation that detected the superposition, used a common method in detecting such.

The Talbot-Lau method.
www.univie.ac.at...

The method used relies on patterns given through diffraction.

This means that it is possible to simulate superposition by accident.

originally posted by: dubiousatworst
That would be fascinating, however I will wait for re-creation using different instrumentation.

The Talbot-Lau instrumentation relies on defraction for imaging, (see Talbot effect). It could be error, but if it is not that would be very very fascinating.

Flagged for future updates

Good points but it couldn't be an error. They made sure of it beforehand and this is why they were published. Here's the Abstract:

Quantum superposition of molecules beyond 25 kDa

Abstract

Matter-wave interference experiments provide a direct confirmation of the quantum superposition principle, a hallmark of quantum theory, and thereby constrain possible modifications to quantum mechanics1. By increasing the mass of the interfering particles and the macroscopicity of the superposition2, more stringent bounds can be placed on modified quantum theories such as objective collapse models3. Here, we report interference of a molecular library of functionalized oligoporphyrins4 with masses beyond 25,000 Da and consisting of up to 2,000 atoms, by far the heaviest objects shown to exhibit matter-wave interference to date. We demonstrate quantum superposition of these massive particles by measuring interference fringes in a new 2-m-long Talbot–Lau interferometer that permits access to a wide range of particle masses with a large variety of internal states. The molecules in our study have de Broglie wavelengths down to 53 fm, five orders of magnitude smaller than the diameter of the molecules themselves. Our results show excellent agreement with quantum theory and cannot be explained classically. The interference fringes reach more than 90% of the expected visibility and the resulting macroscopicity value of 14.1 represents an order of magnitude increase over previous experiments2.

www.nature.com...

Some key lines are:

By increasing the mass of the interfering particles and the macroscopicity of the superposition2, more stringent bounds can be placed on modified quantum theories such as objective collapse models3.

and

The molecules in our study have de Broglie wavelengths down to 53 fm, five orders of magnitude smaller than the diameter of the molecules themselves. Our results show excellent agreement with quantum theory and cannot be explained classically.

The way they designed the experiment leaves little doubt to the results that are in excellent agreement with quantum theory.

Well when it's fully understood, harnessed and steerable i say destination no:1 should be 2019 years ago so we can save jesus and inadvertently our meek slimy existance that is todays global environment.

Whatever the irreversible outcomes may be.

This and only this can be the only worthwhile positive outcome of such breakthroughs.

Make it so.

a reply to: neoholographic

This has fundamental impact to everything. It means, that the world is fundamentally quantum.

Or magic.

originally posted by: CthruU
Well when it's fully understood, harnessed and steerable i say destination no:1 should be 2019 years ago so we can save jesus and inadvertently our meek slimy existance that is todays global environment.

Whatever the irreversible outcomes may be.

This and only this can be the only worthwhile positive outcome of such breakthroughs.

Make it so.

No, if you were to accomplish stopping Jesus from being killed on the cross, you would cause the destruction of all humans. Besides, it would never happen because you can't change the past like that.

a reply to: neoholographic

This would effectively be time-travel, allowing humans to move about through the cosmos with relatively little regard for the passage of time

Some v interesting speculation there mate - Marc Davenport also makes some intriguing observations about UFOs in this clip.

See 2:30

link

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: CthruU
Well when it's fully understood, harnessed and steerable i say destination no:1 should be 2019 years ago so we can save jesus and inadvertently our meek slimy existance that is todays global environment.

Whatever the irreversible outcomes may be.

This and only this can be the only worthwhile positive outcome of such breakthroughs.

Make it so.

No, if you were to accomplish stopping Jesus from being killed on the cross, you would cause the destruction of all humans.

How so, what drives you to this conclusion?

originally posted by: CthruU
Well when it's fully understood, harnessed and steerable i say destination no:1 should be 2019 years ago so we can save jesus and inadvertently our meek slimy existance that is todays global environment.

Whatever the irreversible outcomes may be.

This and only this can be the only worthwhile positive outcome of such breakthroughs.

Make it so.

Surely saving Jesus would leave us damned?

Its the fractal nature of wave interactions over different time scales.
Why limit this to post Kaiser Wilhelm Society?
Perhaps its like the morning d+ew leaving a subtle pattern on a spider web.

a reply to: neoholographic

Thanks for yet another wonderful thread !

Is there anything left for Materialists to cling-to ?

one problem with time travel.

lets say i travel back, RIGHT now, to just yesterday. the earth, has moved around the sun. the solar system is traveling thru the galaxy as well. the entire universe is moving.

so unless time travel can somehow move you as well, you would travel back in time, to empty space, or an asteroid. or god knows what else.

UNLESS, someone from the future reads this, and somehow locks you into the earth as well. meaning, you time travel along the earth's path somehow, like i guess in superman 1, where he flies around the planet to spin it backwards.

lets pretend time is like a river. you travel backwards in it. the problem is the river has all new water constantly. so you would not see the same water if you traveled backwards, EVEN if it is exactly the same spot.

if you are in a space ship like star trek, time travel is easy, because the ship protects you as you travel.

if you were just to time travel, and that device did not take into account the movement of the universe, you are screwed.

do scientists know the direction the earth is moving in relation to the universe?

a reply to: neoholographic

Interesting times in which we live.

a reply to: dantanna

yes they do know where the earth was and will be in the future.

I know of a method you can use as well. trianglation

use 3 or more stars to figure out where the "sol" system was/will be

it's just math, even YOU can do it.

a reply to: neoholographic

In my mind, once superpositioned, the Earth itself may be existing within many points in time or timelines but not the spacecraft observing it. I would theorize that once the human occupied spacecraft is put into quantum superposition then any and all observations from that superposition would show all timelines or space/time positions of the Earth and everything else visible. Or would the observer effect take effect? Just a thought.

originally posted by: Assassin82
Very well written thread!! Nice work and thank you for this gem!

I don’t know if humanity will ever get to a point where harnessing this knowledge and future technology will ever come to fruition. We are too chaotic and explosive amongst ourselves to guarantee our future in the stars.

Except for Tom Delonge. (sarc)

Maybe though. Scientific intelligence and technological development are growing at a seemingly exponential rate. IF, and that’s a big IF, we can somehow not annihilate ourselves or this planet, the possibilities are amazing!

No problem and the next 10-30 years should be incredible with quantum computing, AI, IoT, Crispr and more all on the horizon. We're going back to Mars and also missions to Europa and Titan.

Exciting times!

a reply to: neoholographic

Fusion power and VASIMR drives are what's required if we wish to cruise around our own star system in acceptable time periods.

Nevermind the colonization/industrialiation of our own low Earth orbit.

Anything else and the only thing we are going back to Europa and Titan with are probes.