Reversal Of The Arrow Of Time Discovered?

Posted: 1/5/2019 Amended: 1/12/2019  Updated: 3/16/2019

Update Of 3/16/2019

Just came across these new articles:

1. Arrow of time and its reversal on the IBM quantum computer (published 3/13/2019; appears to be the full article)
2. Physicists reverse time using quantum computer (published 3/13/2019; refers to above reference)

Unfortunately, I did not have the time to read both of these articles. However, I have the impression that this experiment is perhaps a bit too clever to prove the point.

“"However, Schrödinger's equation is reversible," adds Valerii Vinokur, a co-author of the paper, from the Argonne National Laboratory, U.S. "Mathematically, it means that under a certain transformation called complex conjugation, the equation will describe a 'smeared' electron localizing back into a small region of space over the same time period." Although this phenomenon is not observed in nature, it could theoretically happen due to a random fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background permeating the universe.” (New article 2; emphasis added)

“According to the authors, these errors are due to imperfections in the actual quantum computer.” (New article 2; emphasis added) Begs the question what else is due to these “imperfections”?

Original Post

If this is confirmed that would be huge! Apparently, more evidence for reversibility of time in the microscosmos has been discovered over the recent past (Source 1 lists such research).

How important are initial conditions [at the beginning of the universe?]? From chaos theory, we have already learnt that the initial conditions are critical for the path or trajectory of chaotic complex systems.

“... Here we report the experimental demonstration of the reversal of the arrow of time for two initially quantum correlated qubits (two spin-1/2 systems) prepared in local thermal states at different temperatures employing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques … For initially correlated systems, we observe a spontaneous heat current from the cold to the hot spin and show that this process is made possible by a decrease of the mutual information between the spins … It additionally establishes that the arrow of time is not an absolute but a relative concept that depends on the choice of initial conditions. ... Thus, an anomalous heat current does not seem to be restricted to extremely microscopic systems. The precise scaling of this effect with the system size is an interesting subject for future experimental and theoretical investigations.“

(Source 1; emphasis added)

One may freely speculate if the reversal of time is confirmed then e.g. the speed of light constraint is in question too and vice versa.

Sources:

1. Physicists Demonstrate How to Reverse of the Arrow of Time The extraordinary experiment opens the door to a new generation of devices and reveals a deeper relationship between time, entropy, and entanglement. (12/22/2017)
2. Reversing the thermodynamic arrow of time using quantum correlations (11/9/2017)