Theory of Relative Time Travel:
Markus (BishopE5)
I was around 14 or 15 years old when I started to wonder about time travel. I’ve been pondering the subject all this time, and have a theory on the matter. Traditional time travel is impossible. As the question is asked, if it was possible, where are all the time travelers? Despite being able to make an argument relating to the possibility they may be invisible, or simply look no different then anyone else, the fact is, time travel is impossible. It’s impossible to go back in Time, for Time flows forward constantly. As long as someone or something is able to observe Time, and experience time, then Time exists. Since Time is a measurement of instances passing, you cannot go back in time to an instant that has already recorded the history of that instance. For example, when you’re watching a movie, just because you rewind the video, it doesn’t mean you’re able to change what happens next in the film because the film has already been recorded. No matter how many times I watch Batman Begins, his parents always die. Think of time the same way, since something has already occurred, you cannot change the outcome. This explains why there are no individuals from the future visiting the past that we are aware of.
Dr. Michio Kaku talks about time travel in his “Sci Fi or Sci Fact Lecture” available on Youtube ( Dr. Kaku talks about his theory of time travel stating that time is a river, which may fork at some point into two rivers. One of those rivers takes you back in time and the individuals therein have the same genes, and same behavior but are not the same people and you are in fact, “In a different parallel universe.” He goes on to explain that in his theory, via wormholes, you would be able to jump streams in such a way that eliminates paradoxes. My overall theory differs greatly with Dr. Kaku’s, however our theories have some similarities that are worth noting. For example, his theory eliminates paradoxes, due to the existence of a parallel universe. My philosophy takes it further, suggesting that there are multiple realities of whole universes. More information about this explained in Fig 1 below.
If the speed of light is to be assumed to be the fastest speed possible, and at the speed of light, the world around you moves slower and slower, then moving faster than the speed of light would allow you to go back in time. However, as stated before, this is impossible because that would change what has already been recorded in this reality. Therefore, the only way to move through time is to move through parallel realities. This may already occur, but only on a quantum level. The famous Thomas Young experiment called the “Double Slit Experiment” ( proves that matter can behave as a wave, and as a particle simultaneously. In this case, it was electrons. But according to quantum superposition, matter of any size can behave similarly. Such that when not observing matter, matter is at all possible positions simultaneously. By that logic, all parallel realities in which matter is at a given position, is overlapping. But once observed, the parallel realities separate themselves thereby allowing the observer to see what “is” in their reality. Fig. 2 below hopefully demonstrates the implications.
So the big question is, “According to your oh-so-special theory, how do you travel through time?” The answer is you don’t. But you can theoretically travel through realities/dimensions/parallel universes. The only way to do it, however, is to not be observed, or have any thought or understanding whatsoever. And even then, you’d be in all possible realities, in all possible positions, at any given time, and as soon as you’re observed, or have understanding, then you’d return to this reality unless you could configure your mind to recognize reality in a different way.
REFERENCES:
Dr. Kaku, M. (2012). The physics of time travel: Is it real, or is it fable?. Retrieved from
http://mkaku.org/home/?page_id=252
Schwarz, P. (n.d.). The official string theory website: Basics. Retrieved from
http://www.superstringtheory.com/basics/index.html
Higgo, J. (1999). A lazy layman's guide to quantum physics. Retrieved from
http://www.higgo.com/quantum/laymans.htm
Dr. Kaku, M. (Performer) (2009, February 13). Sci fi or sci fact lecture part 4. Dr. michio
kaku: Sci fi or sci fact lecture. [Video podcast]. Retrieved from
Arntz, W. (Director) (2004, September 10). Quantum superposition what the bleep
excerpt. What the bleep do we know?. [Video podcast]. Retrieved from
Arntz, W. (Director) (2004, September 10). Dr. quantum double slit experiment. What the
bleep do we know?. [Video podcast]. Retrieved from
Fig. 1
(https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=24de3079b5&view=att&th=139da4ed3d5b3829&attid=0.2&disp=emb&realattid=ii_139d8cb3ff09ce67&zw&atsh=1)
Fig. 2
(https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=24de3079b5&view=att&th=139da4ed3d5b3829&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=ii_139da4cc7749d025&zw&atsh=1)
Let the tan rectangle represent a table, which represents space and time. Universes A through Y represent parallel universes. The image labeled “Un-observed Spacetime” represents what is said to occur when matter is unobserved as according to the quantum superposition principle; such that the red box is at all positions at the same time. The image to the right of it represents what it should look like because the red box has the potential to be placed anywhere on the table and therefore has been placed everywhere on the table. It’s what the “Un-observed Spacetime” image would look like if all possible placements had been drawn and shown overlapping. Instead of drawing all possibilities I drew only six as you can see. The image labeled “Observed Reality” represents our reality, in that once space time is observed, what is potential is disregarded, and the parallel possibilities separate from what has been defined. In this case, the box is in fact in the center of the table. Because it has been defined as being in the center of the table, the parallel realities break away and no longer interfere with what has been defined. For history has thus been recorded and as mentioned before, once what “is” has been defined, nothing can change it. This is why multiple identical objects cannot be observed being in all possible positions simultaneously. This also explains why when electrons are observed when fired through two slits they behave like a particle rather than waves.