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Time Travel without Regrets

David Lindley

Time travel isn’t forbidden by physical laws. A new consistency condition for time traveling quantum states eliminates any possibility of so-called grandfather paradoxes, in which a time-traveler kills her own ancestor.

FocusFeb 1, 20111 citation

A Finite State Model for Time Travel

Hwee Kuan Lee

A time machine that sends information back to the past may, in principle, be built using closed time-like curves. However, the realization of a time machine must be congruent with apparent paradoxes that arise from traveling back in time. Using a simple model to analyze the consequences of time travel, we show that several paradoxes, including the grandfather paradox and Deutsch's unproven theorem paradox, are precluded by basic axioms of probability. However, our model does not prohibit traveling back in time to affect past events in a self-consistent manner.A time machine that sends information back to the past may, in principle, be built using closed time-like curves. However, the realization of a time machine must be congruent with apparent paradoxes that arise from traveling back in time. Using a simple model to analyze the consequences of time travel, we show that several paradoxes, including the grandfather paradox and Deutsch's unproven theorem paradox, are precluded by basic axioms of probability. However, our model does not prohibit traveling back in time to affect past events in a self-consistent manner.

arXiv:1101.1927Jan 10, 20110 citations

Quantum Theory Looks at Time Travel

Daniel M. Greenberger, Karl Svozil

We introduce a quantum mechanical model of time travel which includes two figurative beam splitters in order to induce feedback to earlier times. This leads to a unique solution to the paradox where one could kill one's grandfather in that once the future has unfolded, it cannot change the past, and so the past becomes deterministic. On the other hand, looking forwards towards the future is completely probabilistic. This resolves the classical paradox in a philosophically satisfying manner.

Jan 1, 200515 citations

Quantum mechanics and the time travel paradox

David Thomas Pegg

The closed causal chains arising from backward time travel do not lead to paradoxes if they are self consistent. This raises the question as to how physics ensures that only self-consistent loops are possible. We show that, for one particular case at least, the condition of self consistency is ensured by the interference of quantum mechanical amplitudes associated with the loop. If this can be applied to all loops then we have a mechanism by which inconsistent loops eliminate themselves.

arXiv:quant-ph/0506141Jun 17, 20055 citations

Transition Matrices and Time Travel

Hwee Kuan Lee

It has been proven by Lee [1] that the grandfather paradox and Deutsch's unproven paradox are precluded for twoand three-state graphical models. We prove that both paradoxes are also precluded for a general n-state model. In addition, we present a new time travel paradox in this paper.

Physics ProcediaJan 1, 20111 citation

Quantum Superposition, Parallel Universes and Time Travel

Rodolfo A. Frino

The Universe seems to avoid all paradoxes arising from time travel through two distinct mechanisms. The first mechanism is implemented through the existence of an infinite number of parallel Universes. The second one is known as quantum superposition. Therefore, it seems that nature must be in an undefined stated to allow time travel without paradoxes.

Dec 1, 20150 citations

Focus: Time Travel without Regrets

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Focus: Time Travel without Regrets

Abstract

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