Physicists have found evidence for the existence of negative time: how is this possible?

Physicists, through groundbreaking quantum experiments, have for the first time identified the existence of a peculiar quantum phenomenon known as negative time. Scientists emphasize that these perplexing results highlight a unique characteristic of quantum mechanics rather than suggesting that time travel is feasible. Researchers found that photons, or light particles, can experience a negative amount of time while passing through a cloud of extremely cold atoms. In essence, these particles of light can exit the atom cloud even before they enter it. The study has been published on the arXiv preprint server, according to ScienceAlert.

When light particles, or photons, traverse atoms, they are absorbed by the atoms and subsequently re-emitted. This interaction alters the atoms, temporarily elevating them to a higher energy or excited state before they return to their normal state. Physicists measured the duration that atoms remained in this excited state and discovered that it corresponded to negative time, meaning a duration less than zero.

According to the scientists, the experiment did not demonstrate the possibility of time travel; rather, it revealed truly strange phenomena in quantum physics regarding the interaction of light and matter.

When physicists directed photons into a cloud of atoms at very low temperatures, it appeared that the photons exited the atoms even before being absorbed by them. The scientists noted that while negative time may seem nonsensical, if one were to create a clock to measure how long atoms remain in the excited state, the hands of that clock would move backward.

The explanation for this phenomenon lies in quantum mechanics, where particles like photons behave probabilistically rather than adhering to strict rules. Instead of following a fixed timeline for absorption and emission of light, interactions between photons and atoms occur across a spectrum of possible time durations.

Photons can exhibit properties of both particles and waves, and the rules of probability allow them to exist in multiple states simultaneously, leading to a variety of potential outcomes. Therefore, the events of light passing through atoms do not always fit neatly into a defined timeline.

According to physicists, they observed that in instances where light particles passed through atoms without being absorbed, the atoms remained in an excited state for a precise amount of time, as if they had been absorbed by the photons. In cases where the atoms absorbed light particles, the latter were emitted before the atoms received the reverse excitation when returning to their original energy state. To an observer, it appears as though the light passing through the atoms was delayed.

It is important to note that the results of the experiment do not violate the laws of physics; specifically, light particles did not move faster than the speed of light. Rather, photons somehow traversed excited atoms more quickly than through atoms in their unexcited state.

Upon observing the photons, detectors indicated that they were in a state of superposition, meaning they were in different states simultaneously. However, the photons moved at varying speeds, and the detector indicated the presence of negative time.