Physicists push idea of time travel, parallel universe

The idea of time travel continues to fascinate scientists and movie makers as well that Michael Fox’s “Back to the Future” movie has become a franchise. Scientists from the Center for Quantum Dynamics of Griffith University base their concept of time travel from the belief in the existence of parallel universes.

For Dr Michael Hall and Professor Howard Wiseman from the Center say that parallel universes are not science fiction. They explain that if multiple, interacting universes exist, time travelers then could visit Earth. It is part of their “Many Interacting Worlds Theory” that offers a new perspective on ideas which underpin quantum theory, New York Post reports.

Wisean points out that the parallel universe idea in quantum mechanics has been around since 1957 when it was proposed by physicist Hugh Everett. Under the famous “Many-Worlds Interpretation,” every universe branches into several new universe each time a quantum measurement is made.

It makes all scenarios possible, from asteroids that killed all dinosaurs to Australia being colonised by the Portuguese. However, Wiseman notes the doubt of critics of a parallel universe since it apparently does not affect the universe where Earth belongs.

Other physics experts are divided on the theory. Dr Lawrence Kraus from the Arizona State University is skeptical of the hypothesis. Huffington Post cites a Czech Republic physicist who says the theory is “a hopeless enterprise and a huge waste of time.”

But a physics philosophy expert at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Charles Seben, says the theory provides a nice analysis of particular phenomena such as quantum tunneling and ground-state energy. Texas Tech University chemistry professor Dr William Poirer acknowledges that while the theory is an important contribution, it has not experimental evidence to support it, Inquisitr reports.