Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

AIP conference proceedings

Direct observation of time reversal violation

J. Bernabéu

Published Jan 1, 2013• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A direct evidence for Time Reversal Violation (TRV) means an experiment that, considered by itself, clearly shows TRV independent of, and unconnected to, the results for CP Violation. No existing result before the recent BABAR experiment with entangled neutral B mesons had demonstrated TRV in this sense. There is a unique opportunity for a search of TRV with unstable particles thanks to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Entanglement between the two neutral mesons in B, and PHI, Factories. The two quantum effects of the first decay as a filtering measurement and the transfer of information to the still living partner allow performing a genuine TRV asymmetry with the exchange of "in" and "out" states. With four independent TRV asymmetries, BABAR observes a large deviation of T-invariance with a statistical significance of 14 standard deviations, far more than needed to declare the result as a discovery. This is the first direct observation of TRV in the time evolution of any system.

DOI
10.1063/1.4810773

Related papers

Time reversal violation for entangled neutral mesons

J. Bernabéu

A direct evidence for Time Reversal Violation (TRV) means an experiment that, considered by itself, clearly shows TRV independent of, and unconnected to, the results for CP Violation. No existing result before the recent BABAR experiment with entangled neutral B mesons had demonstrated TRV in this sense. There is a unique opportunity for a search of TRV with unstable particles thanks to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Entanglement between the two neutral mesons in B, and PHI, Factories. The two quantum effects of the first decay as a filtering measurement and the transfer of information to the still living partner allow performing a genuine TRV asymmetry with the exchange of "in" and "out" states. With four independent TRV asymmetries, BABAR observes a large deviation of T-invariance with a statistical significance of 14 standard deviations, far more than needed to declare the result as a discovery. This is the first direct observation of TRV in the time evolution of any system.

Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jul 24, 2013•3 citations

Time reversal violation for entangled neutral mesons

J. Bernabéu

A direct evidence for Time Reversal Violation (TRV) means an experiment that, considered by itself, clearly shows TRV independent of, and unconnected to, the results for CP Violation. No existing result before the recent BABAR experiment with entangled neutral B mesons had demonstrated TRV in this sense. There is a unique solution for the test of TRV with unstable particles thanks to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Entanglement between the two neutral mesons in B, and φ, Factories. The two quantum effects of the decays as filtering measurements of the meson states and the transfer of information of the first decay to the still living partner allow performing a genuine TRV asymmetry with the exchange of “in” and “out” states. With four independent TRV asymmetries, BABAR observes a large deviation of T-invariance with a statistical significance of 14 standard deviations, far more than needed to declare the result as a discovery. This is the first direct observation of TRV in the time evolution of any system. The perspectives for future additional studies of TRV are discussed.

AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 2014•1 citation

Separate T, CP, CPT Asymmetries in Neutral Meson Transitions

J. Bernabéu

Symmetries, and Symmetry Breakings, in the Laws of Physics play a crucial role in Fundamental Science. Parity and Charge Conjugation Violations prompted the consideration of Chiral Fields in the construction of the Standard Model, whereas CP-Violation needed at least three families of Quarks leading to Flavour Physics. In this Lecture I will discuss the Conceptual Basis and the present experimental results for a Direct Evidence of Separate Reversal-in-Time T, CP and CPT Genuine Asymmetries in Decaying Particles like Neutral Meson Transitions, using Quantum Entanglement and the Decay as a Filtering Measurement. The eight transitions associated to the Flavour-CP eigenstate decay products of entangled neutral mesons have demonstrated with impressive significance a separate evidence of TRV and CPV in B d -physics, whereas a CPTV asymmetry shows a 2-σ effect interpreted as an upper limit. Novel CPTV observables are discussed for K and B d transitions. Their observation would lead to a change of paradigm beyond Quantum Field Theory, however there is nothing in Quantum Mechanics forbidding CPTV. A clean methodology to disentangle CPTV effects in the Hamiltonian dynamics and the ω-effect weakening Entanglement in a given experiment is discussed.

Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jul 1, 2017•0 citations

T and CPT symmetries in entangled neutral meson systems

J. Bernabéu

Genuine tests of an asymmetry under T and/or CPT transformations imply the interchange between in-states and out-states. I explain a methodology to perform model-independent separate measurements of the three CP, T and CPT symmetry violations for transitions involving the decay of the neutral meson systems in B- and Φ-factories. It makes use of the quantum-mechanical entanglement only, for which the individual state of each neutral meson is not defined before the decay of its orthogonal partner. The final proof of the independence of the three asymmetries is that no other theoretical ingredient is involved and that the event sample corresponding to each case is different from the other two. The experimental analysis for the measurements of these three asymmetries as function of the time interval Δt > 0 between the first and second decays is discussed, as well as the significance of the expected results. In particular, one may advance a first observation of true, direct, evidence of Time-Reserval-Violation in B-factories by many standard deviations from zero, without any reference to, and independent of, CP-Violation. In some quantum gravity framework the CPT-transformation is ill-defined, so there is a resulting loss of particle-antiparticle identity. This mechanism induces a breaking of the EPR correlation in the entanglement imposed by Bose statistics to the neutral meson system, the so-called ω -effect. I present results and prospects for the ω -parameter in the correlated neutral meson-antimeson states.

arXiv:1104.1056•Journal of Physics Conference Series•Dec 28, 2011•21 citations

Time-reversal asymmetry and state-vector collapse

Michel Le Bellac

A sentence in the Search and Discovery story “Time-reversal asymmetry in particle physics has finally been clearly seen” (Physics Today, November 2012, page 16) has me somewhat puzzled. Bertram Schwarzschild writes, “If the first decay of a daughter reveals it to have been in a specific flavor or CP eigenstate, her still undecayed sister must—at that instant—be in the opposite state.” What is implicit in this sentence is that state-vector collapse takes place at the decay of the first B meson, so that the second meson is instantaneously projected onto the opposite state.I have two objections to this sentence. First, it is not relativistically invariant: Because the two events—decay of the first meson and “transformation” of the second—have spacelike separation, their time ordering is not defined. Second, the decay is governed by a relativistic version of the Schrödinger equation, which is reversible, whereas state-vector collapse is, by nature, irreversible.It is instructive to make a comparison with the analysis of a Bell-type experiment, in which a two-particle observable is measured via two detectors that are far apart, with each measuring the spin of one of the two particles. The quantum mechanical result is given by applying Born’s rule to the two-particle observable.The two experimentalists, Alice and Bob, then compare their results by exchanging them at a speed less than that of light, and they notice the results are correlated, in conformity with the theoretical predictions of nonlocal correlations. The same theoretical results may be derived from state-vector collapse: When Alice measures the first spin, Bob’s spin is projected instantaneously onto a well-defined polarization state; correlations may be easily computed and are, of course, in agreement with those derived from Born’s rule.State-vector collapse is strictly equivalent to Born’s rule in a nonrelativistic context, but I think it is safer to use Born’s rule when special relativity comes into play. Indeed, to the best of my knowledge, there is no satisfactory relativistic generalization of state-vector collapse, which is understandable since simultaneity is not defined for two spacelike separated events. Therefore, a full justification of the argument used in the Physics Today report should begin with state-vector collapse taking place in a well-defined reference frame at the instant when the decay products of the B mesons reach the detectors. Then, from the correlations observed between the results of the detectors, it should be possible to reconstruct the decays and show that they can be interpreted as an effective state-vector collapse.Such an analysis would likely vindicate that of the BaBar experiment, but as the use of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations goes far beyond the usual one, it should be fully justified.© 2013 American Institute of Physics.

Physics Today•Jul 31, 2013•0 citations

EntangledBdmesons and genuine T, CP and CPT asymmetry parameters

Miguel R. Nebot

We establish the precise connection between the theoretical T, CP, CPT asymmetries, in terms of transition probabilities between the neutral meson B d states, and the experimental asymmetries, in terms of the double decay rate intensities for Flavour-CP eigenstate decay products in a B-Factory of entangled states. Genuine asymmetry parameters in the time distribution of the asymmetries are identified and their measurability analysed, disentangling genuine and possible fake terms. The nine asymmetry parameters – three different observables for each one of the three symmetries – are expressed in terms of the ingredients of the Weisskopf-Wigner dynamical description of the entangled B d -meson states and we obtain a global fit to their values from the BaBar Collaboration experimental results. The possible fake terms are all compatible with zero. The information content of the nine asymmetry parameters is indeed different. The non-vanishing and are impressive separate direct evidence of Time-Reversal-Violation and CP-Violation in these transitions (and compatible with Standard Model expectations). A 2σ effect for the Re(θ) parameter responsible of CPT-Violation appears; interpreted as an upper limit, it leads to eV at 95% C.L. for the diagonal flavour terms of the mass matrix. Finally, we consider scenarios where, in the presence of quantum gravity fluctuations (space-time foam), the CPT operator may be ill-defined. Its perturbative treatment leads to a modification of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlation of the neutral meson system by adding an Entanglement-weakening term of the wrong exchange symmetry, the ω -effect. The analysis is extended to identify how to probe the complex ω when the connection between the Intensities for the two time-ordered decays ( f, g ) and ( g, f ) is lost ( f flavour and g CP eigenstate decay channels), and how the ω -effect is disentangled from CPT violation in the evolution Hamiltonian.

Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jul 1, 2017•0 citations
A direct evidence for Time Reversal Violation (TRV) means an experiment that, considered by itself, clearly shows TRV independent of, and unconnected to, the results for CP Violation. No existing result before the recent BABAR experiment with entangled neutral B mesons had demonstrated TRV in this sense. There is a unique opportunity for a search of TRV with unstable particles thanks to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Entanglement between the two neutral mesons in B, and PHI, Factories. The two quantum effects of the first decay as a filtering measurement and the transfer of information to the still living partner allow performing a genuine TRV asymmetry with the exchange of "in" and "out" states. With four independent TRV asymmetries, BABAR observes a large deviation of T-invariance with a statistical significance of 14 standard deviations, far more than needed to declare the result as a discovery. This is the first direct observation of TRV in the time evolution of any system.
A direct evidence for Time Reversal Violation (TRV) means an experiment that, considered by itself, clearly shows TRV independent of, and unconnected to, the results for CP Violation. No existing result before the recent BABAR experiment with entangled neutral B mesons had demonstrated TRV in this sense. There is a unique opportunity for a search of TRV with unstable particles thanks to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Entanglement between the two neutral mesons in B, and PHI, Factories. The two quantum effects of the first decay as a filtering measurement and the transfer of information to the still living partner allow performing a genuine TRV asymmetry with the exchange of "in" and "out" states. With four independent TRV asymmetries, BABAR observes a large deviation of T-invariance with a statistical significance of 14 standard deviations, far more than needed to declare the result as a discovery. This is the first direct observation of TRV in the time evolution of any system.
A direct evidence for Time Reversal Violation (TRV) means an experiment that, considered by itself, clearly shows TRV independent of, and unconnected to, the results for CP Violation. No existing result before the recent BABAR experiment with entangled neutral B mesons had demonstrated TRV in this sense. There is a unique solution for the test of TRV with unstable particles thanks to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Entanglement between the two neutral mesons in B, and φ, Factories. The two quantum effects of the decays as filtering measurements of the meson states and the transfer of information of the first decay to the still living partner allow performing a genuine TRV asymmetry with the exchange of “in” and “out” states. With four independent TRV asymmetries, BABAR observes a large deviation of T-invariance with a statistical significance of 14 standard deviations, far more than needed to declare the result as a discovery. This is the first direct observation of TRV in the time evolution of any system. The perspectives for future additional studies of TRV are discussed.
Symmetries, and Symmetry Breakings, in the Laws of Physics play a crucial role in Fundamental Science. Parity and Charge Conjugation Violations prompted the consideration of Chiral Fields in the construction of the Standard Model, whereas CP-Violation needed at least three families of Quarks leading to Flavour Physics. In this Lecture I will discuss the Conceptual Basis and the present experimental results for a Direct Evidence of Separate Reversal-in-Time T, CP and CPT Genuine Asymmetries in Decaying Particles like Neutral Meson Transitions, using Quantum Entanglement and the Decay as a Filtering Measurement. The eight transitions associated to the Flavour-CP eigenstate decay products of entangled neutral mesons have demonstrated with impressive significance a separate evidence of TRV and CPV in B d -physics, whereas a CPTV asymmetry shows a 2-σ effect interpreted as an upper limit. Novel CPTV observables are discussed for K and B d transitions. Their observation would lead to a change of paradigm beyond Quantum Field Theory, however there is nothing in Quantum Mechanics forbidding CPTV. A clean methodology to disentangle CPTV effects in the Hamiltonian dynamics and the ω-effect weakening Entanglement in a given experiment is discussed.
Genuine tests of an asymmetry under T and/or CPT transformations imply the interchange between in-states and out-states. I explain a methodology to perform model-independent separate measurements of the three CP, T and CPT symmetry violations for transitions involving the decay of the neutral meson systems in B- and Φ-factories. It makes use of the quantum-mechanical entanglement only, for which the individual state of each neutral meson is not defined before the decay of its orthogonal partner. The final proof of the independence of the three asymmetries is that no other theoretical ingredient is involved and that the event sample corresponding to each case is different from the other two. The experimental analysis for the measurements of these three asymmetries as function of the time interval Δt > 0 between the first and second decays is discussed, as well as the significance of the expected results. In particular, one may advance a first observation of true, direct, evidence of Time-Reserval-Violation in B-factories by many standard deviations from zero, without any reference to, and independent of, CP-Violation. In some quantum gravity framework the CPT-transformation is ill-defined, so there is a resulting loss of particle-antiparticle identity. This mechanism induces a breaking of the EPR correlation in the entanglement imposed by Bose statistics to the neutral meson system, the so-called ω -effect. I present results and prospects for the ω -parameter in the correlated neutral meson-antimeson states.
A sentence in the Search and Discovery story “Time-reversal asymmetry in particle physics has finally been clearly seen” (Physics Today, November 2012, page 16) has me somewhat puzzled. Bertram Schwarzschild writes, “If the first decay of a daughter reveals it to have been in a specific flavor or CP eigenstate, her still undecayed sister must—at that instant—be in the opposite state.” What is implicit in this sentence is that state-vector collapse takes place at the decay of the first B meson, so that the second meson is instantaneously projected onto the opposite state.I have two objections to this sentence. First, it is not relativistically invariant: Because the two events—decay of the first meson and “transformation” of the second—have spacelike separation, their time ordering is not defined. Second, the decay is governed by a relativistic version of the Schrödinger equation, which is reversible, whereas state-vector collapse is, by nature, irreversible.It is instructive to make a comparison with the analysis of a Bell-type experiment, in which a two-particle observable is measured via two detectors that are far apart, with each measuring the spin of one of the two particles. The quantum mechanical result is given by applying Born’s rule to the two-particle observable.The two experimentalists, Alice and Bob, then compare their results by exchanging them at a speed less than that of light, and they notice the results are correlated, in conformity with the theoretical predictions of nonlocal correlations. The same theoretical results may be derived from state-vector collapse: When Alice measures the first spin, Bob’s spin is projected instantaneously onto a well-defined polarization state; correlations may be easily computed and are, of course, in agreement with those derived from Born’s rule.State-vector collapse is strictly equivalent to Born’s rule in a nonrelativistic context, but I think it is safer to use Born’s rule when special relativity comes into play. Indeed, to the best of my knowledge, there is no satisfactory relativistic generalization of state-vector collapse, which is understandable since simultaneity is not defined for two spacelike separated events. Therefore, a full justification of the argument used in the Physics Today report should begin with state-vector collapse taking place in a well-defined reference frame at the instant when the decay products of the B mesons reach the detectors. Then, from the correlations observed between the results of the detectors, it should be possible to reconstruct the decays and show that they can be interpreted as an effective state-vector collapse.Such an analysis would likely vindicate that of the BaBar experiment, but as the use of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations goes far beyond the usual one, it should be fully justified.© 2013 American Institute of Physics.
We establish the precise connection between the theoretical T, CP, CPT asymmetries, in terms of transition probabilities between the neutral meson B d states, and the experimental asymmetries, in terms of the double decay rate intensities for Flavour-CP eigenstate decay products in a B-Factory of entangled states. Genuine asymmetry parameters in the time distribution of the asymmetries are identified and their measurability analysed, disentangling genuine and possible fake terms. The nine asymmetry parameters – three different observables for each one of the three symmetries – are expressed in terms of the ingredients of the Weisskopf-Wigner dynamical description of the entangled B d -meson states and we obtain a global fit to their values from the BaBar Collaboration experimental results. The possible fake terms are all compatible with zero. The information content of the nine asymmetry parameters is indeed different. The non-vanishing and are impressive separate direct evidence of Time-Reversal-Violation and CP-Violation in these transitions (and compatible with Standard Model expectations). A 2σ effect for the Re(θ) parameter responsible of CPT-Violation appears; interpreted as an upper limit, it leads to eV at 95% C.L. for the diagonal flavour terms of the mass matrix. Finally, we consider scenarios where, in the presence of quantum gravity fluctuations (space-time foam), the CPT operator may be ill-defined. Its perturbative treatment leads to a modification of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlation of the neutral meson system by adding an Entanglement-weakening term of the wrong exchange symmetry, the ω -effect. The analysis is extended to identify how to probe the complex ω when the connection between the Intensities for the two time-ordered decays ( f, g ) and ( g, f ) is lost ( f flavour and g CP eigenstate decay channels), and how the ω -effect is disentangled from CPT violation in the evolution Hamiltonian.