“We have created an artificial state that grows in the opposite direction to that of the thermodynamic arrow of time,” says the researcher.
Scientists have reversed the direction of time with a quantum computer. The groundbreaking research appears to contradict fundamental laws of physics and could change our understanding of the processes that govern the universe .
In what represents a major advance in human understanding of quantum computers, using electrons and the strange world of quantum mechanics, researchers can “turn back time” in an experiment envisioned as bringing billiard balls back to their original positions.
Scientists “reverse time” with quantum computers. (Artwork: Fossbytes).
Anyone who witnessed the event would see the event as if time had turned back. Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), helped by colleagues in Switzerland and the US, hope the technique will improve, becoming more reliable and accurate over time. .
The “time machine” described in the journal Science Reports consists of a rudimentary quantum computer, made up of electrons “qubits” (quantum bits).
In the experiment, an evolutionary program was introduced that made the qubits an increasingly complex pattern of change.
In the process, order is lost, like when billiard balls are hit scattered all over the table. But then another program modifies the quantum computer’s state in such a way that it transforms back, from chaotic to orderly. That is, the state of the qubits is returned to the original starting point.
Most of the laws of physics work both ways, the future and the past. For example, if you see a video of a billiard ball hitting another, and reverse the video, both videos will look meaningful and on the physical level it will be impossible to tell which is “real” . “.
However, the universe has a rule that only goes one “way”. The second law of thermodynamics, describes the progression from ordered to disordered states. For example, if you saw a video of someone breaking a triangle of perfectly arranged billiard balls into a mess, the reverse video would be blatantly meaningless.
The new experiment is like giving a billiard table a so perfectly calculated that the balls roll back into an orderly pyramid. The scientists found that, working with just 2 qubits, the time-reversal achieved an 85% success rate. When 3 qubits are involved, more errors occur, resulting in a 50% success rate. Error rates are expected to decrease as they improve the sophistication of the devices used, the researchers behind the findings say.
The experiment could have practical applications in the development of quantum computers. Dr. Lesovik said the algorithm could be updated and used to test programs written for quantum computers and eliminate noise and errors.