Researchers from various universities have made an exciting discovery: "negative time" might not just be a theory but something real. They showed through a new quantum experiment that light can seem to come out of a material before it enters.
This challenges many ideas about time that have been around for decades. While people worldwide are interested in the findings, many scientists are still unsure what it all means.
The results haven't been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet, but they are expected to lead to more research into time and quantum mechanics.
"It took some time, but our experiment shows that photons can make atoms act like they spent a negative amount of time in an excited state," said Aephraim Steinberg, a physicist at the University of Toronto, in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The term "negative time" may sound like science fiction, but Steinberg supports its use, hoping it will lead to more discussions about quantum physics.
The idea for this research started in 2017 when Steinberg and a lab colleague, then doctoral student Josiah Sinclair, wanted to learn more about how light and matter interact. They studied a process called atomic excitation, where photons are absorbed by atoms, causing electrons to jump to higher energy levels.
When these electrons return to their original state, they release energy as light, creating a delay in how we observe the light passing through the material.
Also Read: 2024 – Year of space tech revolution and goals ahead
Follow us
