Originally published in 2018, the papers describe how researchers were able to rewind time to an earlier scene, as well as even skip forward several scenes. Being able to reverse and even control quantum time is a huge step forward, especially as we’ve seen increasing moves into quantum simulators.
The field of quantum physics is undoubtedly a complex one, and with analog quantum computers showing such promise for solving intense problems, it seems only fitting that research into controlling and reversing quantum time would prove so fruitful. The researchers say that the control they can achieve on the quantum world is a lot like controlling a movie.
You can skip ahead a few scenes or even use the remote to rewind and play certain scenes in the quantum system. Unfortunately, it would be nearly impossible to scale up the technique, according to the researchers. Much of the time required to complete the process and reverse quantum time will greatly depend on the amount of data stored in the quantum world at the time.
In addition, the system would only be able to return to the state of a given particle, making it difficult to reverse the quantum time of the entire system at the same time. As such, being able to reverse quantum time will not be easily scalable to, for example, control aging in humans, as humans are made up of a huge amount of information. It can even take millions of years to turn back time just one second.
Still, this discovery is noteworthy for the field of quantum physics, as it may lead to further research. We’ve already seen some experiments that have allowed scientists to reverse time, so perhaps this could be combined with that to dig even deeper into the possibilities. For now, though, we’ll have to settle for what scientists have managed to achieve so far.