Researchers at the University of Toronto have made a groundbreaking discovery, showing that “negative time” is not just a theoretical concept but a tangible phenomenon. Scientists at the institution showed through an innovative quantum experiment that light appears to emerge from a material before entering, overturning several decades of prevailing ideas about the nature of time. While much of the attention surrounding the results is international in scope, scientific communities have largely raised an eyebrow over the matter.
The results, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, are expected to spur further investigation into the mysteries of time and quantum mechanics.
“It took a positive amount of time, but our experiment observing that photons can make atoms seem to spend a negative amount of time in the excited state is up!” wrote Aephraim Steinberg, a physicist at the University of Toronto, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) about the new study.
Woo-hoo!
It took a positive amount of time,
but our experiment observing that photons can make atoms seem to spend a *negative* amount of time in the excited state is up!It sounds crazy, I know, but check it out!
Kudos to Daniela +the rest of the team!https://t.co/rHrAUJq5rX pic.twitter.com/Lz7Lazb1Gs— Aephraim Steinberg (@QuantumAephraim) September 6, 2024
While the term “negative time” might sound like a concept lifted from science fiction, Steinberg defends its use, hoping it will spark deeper discussions about the mysteries of quantum physics.
According to a report by Scientific American, the idea for this work emerged in 2017. At the time, Steinberg and a lab colleague, then doctoral student Josiah Sinclair, were interested in the interaction of light and matter, specifically a phenomenon called atomic excitation: when photons pass through a medium and get absorbed, electrons swirling around atoms in that medium jump to higher energy levels. When these excited electrons lapse to their original state, they release that absorbed energy as reemitted photons, introducing a time delay in the light’s observed transit time through the medium.
