Space-Time

For just over two years, a scalar magnetometer developed by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has been on its way to Jupiter as part of ESA's JUICE mission to discover liquid water beneath the surface of its icy moons.

What would a wormhole really look like? It's unlikely that wormholes truly exist, but here's what they would look like if they did.

What would a wormhole really look like? It's unlikely that wormholes truly exist, but here's what they would look like if they did.

What is space-time? Depending on how fast you're moving or how close you are do Earth's gravity can change the way time feels.

A new study suggests that recalling the context in which a memory was made can help to restore the memory after it has started to erode.

Author(s): Jacob P. Covey, Igor Pikovski, and Johannes BorregaardA new proposal shows how distributed entanglement between neutral-atom quantum processors can enable measurements of quantum dynamics at length scales where the curvature of spacetime is relevant. [PRX Quantum 6, 030310] Published Mon Jul 21, 2025

Author(s): Djordje MinicA proposed experiment could shed light on the unknown interplay of quantum theory and general relativity. [Physics 18, 135] Published Mon Jul 21, 2025

Quantum networking is being rapidly developed world-wide. It is a key quantum technology that will enable a global quantum internet: the ability to deploy secure communication at scale, and to connect quantum computers globally. The race to realize this vision is in full swing, both on Earth and in space.

Using gravitational microlensing, scientists have discovered a rare, large planet at the edge of the Milky Way. The planet is only the third to be found on the outskirts of our galaxy's dense central bulge.

There are new hints that the fabric of space-time may be made of "memory cells" that record the whole history of the universe. If true, it could explain the nature of dark matter and much more

In Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time, a young woman must help a naval commander snatched from death in 1847 adapt to the 21st century. Time travel thriller meets romance in this excellent novel

By using light to emulate the structure of space-time, researchers can better understand black holes – and the exotic objects that mimic them

New mathematical work provides a way to identify when information has been changed by manipulating space-time – and it may form a foundation for future space-time computers

In a new Physical Review Letters study, researchers have successfully followed a gravitational wave's complete journey from the infinite past to the infinite future as it encounters a black hole.

The Ministry of Time author Kaliane Bradley on how she made time travel work in her bestselling novel, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club

In this short extract from Kaliane Bradley's sci-fi novel, her protagonist makes a startling discovery about the nature of time

Author(s): Alina Sabyr, J. Colin Hill, and Zoltán HaimanThe thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect captures extremely rich, non-Gaussian cosmological information beyond the power spectrum. Using higher-order statistics such as Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments, future CMB experiments like Simons Observatory and CMB-S4 can significantly tighten existing constraints and may also reveal hidden signals from undetected halos even in realistic noisy conditions. [Phys. Rev. D 111, 103536] Published Wed May 28, 2025

Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists will need to go to the ends of space and time to find a fix. The post Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill first appeared on Quanta Magazine

The speed of light is the fastest anything can travel. What happens to a photon from a galaxy 25 million light years away on its journey toward Earth?

Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) second year Ph.D. scholarship student Sebenele (Sebe) Thwala, working with supervisors Dr. Chris Stevens and Prof Jörg Frauendiener, has been modeling how gravitational waves interact across the universe from the distant past to the far future.

Time crystals represent a new phase of matter proposed by Frank Wilczek, the Nobel laureate of Physics in 2004; they can break original time-translation symmetry and create new time oscillations spontaneously.

Author(s): Alexander-Georg Penner, Harald Schmid, Leonid I. Glazman, and Felix von OppenThe authors show here that the temporal spin correlations in a Floquet time crystal are asymptotically related to the statistics of eigenvalue repulsion of the defining Floquet operator. The eigenvalue statistics are found to be log-normal, which implies that apart from initial transients, the boundary spin correlations can be described analytically and are characterized by two parameters only. The relation between spectral statistics and temporal spin correlations opens new perspectives on time crystals. [Phys. Rev. B 111, 184308] Published Thu May 08, 2025

Author(s): Joshua Feinberg, David E. Fernandes, Boris Shapiro, and Mário G. SilveirinhaPhotonic time-crystals when extended to plasmonic media can support collective resonance of longitudinal plasmons that can significantly enhance parametric gain. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 183801] Published Tue May 06, 2025

Physicists are trying to ditch the concept of space-time – the supposed fabric of physical reality. Quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explains why

Has your dinner time conversations been dragging a bit of late? Feel like raising its knowledge level to a bit higher than the usual synopsis of the most recent reality TV show? Then take the challenge presented by Sean Carroll in his book "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe – Space, Time and Motion". Using this, your conversation might soon be sparkling with grand thoughts about modern physics, time travel, going faster than light and the curvature of the universe.

By breaking a decades-old paradigm and rethinking the role that the dimension of time plays in physics, researchers from the University of Rostock and the University of Birmingham have discovered novel flashes of light that come from and go into nothingness—like magic at first glance but with deep mathematical roots that protect against all kinds of outside perturbations. Their findings have now been published in the journal Nature Photonics.

The Earth's magnetic field quietly supports life on the planet and now, for the first time, its invisible powers have been used to create new nanoparticles and materials.

Nature is the foremost international weekly scientific journal in the world and is the flagship journal for Nature Portfolio. It publishes the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology on the basis of its originality, importance, interdisciplinary interest, timeliness, accessibility, elegance and surprising conclusions. Nature publishes landmark papers, award winning news, leading comment and expert opinion on important, topical scientific news and events that enable readers to share the latest discoveries in science and evolve the discussion amongst the global scientific community.

Nature is the foremost international weekly scientific journal in the world and is the flagship journal for Nature Portfolio. It publishes the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology on the basis of its originality, importance, interdisciplinary interest, timeliness, accessibility, elegance and surprising conclusions. Nature publishes landmark papers, award winning news, leading comment and expert opinion on important, topical scientific news and events that enable readers to share the latest discoveries in science and evolve the discussion amongst the global scientific community.

Physicists at TU Dortmund University have periodically driven a time crystal and discovered a remarkable variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena, ranging from perfect synchronization to chaotic behavior within a single semiconductor structure. The team has now published its latest findings in the journal Nature Communications.

Author(s): Victor Pacheco-Peña, Mathias Fink, and Nader EnghetaHere, the authors propose photonic time interfaces (rapid modulations of the permittivity of the medium where the wave travels) to induce/create spatial interfaces, that is, space-time interfaces. They explore perpendicular, parallel, and oblique spatial interfaces created in time. In so doing, they show how such space-time metamaterials can be seen as the generalization of Snell’s law in four dimensions ( x , y , z , t ). Applications such as temporal chirp, lensing, and routing are then proposed as examples. [Phys. Rev. B 111, L100306] Published Mon Mar 31, 2025

In an attempt to speed up quantum measurements, a new Physical Review Letters study proposes a space-time trade-off scheme that could be highly beneficial for quantum computing applications.

The latest time crystal innovation may expand the known boundaries of quantum mechanics.

ESA's Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. This cutting-edge European experiment will test fundamental physics from the outside of ESA's Columbus module on the International Space Station, measuring time from orbit with unprecedented precision.

In the search for solutions to diseases like cancer, scientists are pursuing a new frontier in biology—the spatial and temporal places where our cells live.

Author(s): R. Hurtado-Gutiérrez, C. Pérez-Espigares, and P. I. HurtadoTime crystals are being investigated both in classical and quantum settings. This work advances this area by demonstrating how to engineer and control custom continuous time crystals in driven diffusive fluids. This enables one to build different time crystals on demand, characterized by an arbitrary number of rotating condensates. The authors’ findings leverage an external packing field coupled to density fluctuations, showcasing the versatility and potential of the approach. #AdvancingField #TimelyTopic [Phys. Rev. E 111, 034119] Published Mon Mar 17, 2025

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonTime crystals realized in the so-called quasiperiodic regime hold promise for future applications in quantum computing and sensing. [Physics 18, s28] Published Wed Mar 12, 2025

In his new novel Dissolution, Nicholas Binge plays with time travel and memory to craft a thriller reminiscent of Memento and Inception. It is well-deserving of its upcoming big screen treatment, says Emily H. Wilson

Author(s): Christopher Corlett, Ieva Čepaitė, Andrew J. Daley, Cica Gustiani, Gerard Pelegrí, Jonathan D. Pritchard, Noah Linden, and Paul SkrzypczykA new scheme can speed up quantum measurement in different physical platforms through a space-time trade-off — using additional ancillary qubits in place of longer measurement time. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 080801] Published Thu Feb 27, 2025

Physicists hope that understanding the churning region near singularities might help them reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. The post New Maps of the Bizarre, Chaotic Space-Time Inside Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Photonics researchers from Tampere University, Finland, and Kastler-Brossel Laboratory, France, have demonstrated how self-imaging of light, a phenomenon known for nearly two centuries, can be applied to cylindrical systems, facilitating unprecedented control of light's structure with great potential for advanced optical communication systems. In addition, a new type of space-time duality was explored for powerful analogies bridging different fields of optics.

Author(s): Sander M. Vermeulen, Torrey Cullen, Daniel Grass, Ian A. O. MacMillan, Alexander J. Ramirez, Jeffrey Wack, Boris Korzh, Vincent S. H. Lee, Kathryn M. Zurek, Chris Stoughton, and Lee McCullerPredictions of theories that combine quantum mechanics with gravity could be observed using highly sensitive photon detection in a tabletop experiment. [Phys. Rev. X 15, 011034] Published Fri Feb 14, 2025

Here are just some of the best and strongest cards you can get for your battle decks from the Space-Time Smackdown Dialga and Palkia set in Pokémon TCG Pocket.

Collapsed dead stars, known as neutron stars, are a trillion times denser than lead, and their surface features are largely unknown. Nuclear theorists have explored mountain building mechanisms active on the moons and planets in our solar system. Some of these mechanisms suggest that neutron stars are likely to have mountains.

The grandfather paradox is just one of the thorny logical problems that arise with the concept of time travel. But one physicist says he has resolved them.

The laws of physics mean time travelers would have their memories wiped, according to a new study.

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonScientists have devised a way to use current gravitational-wave detectors to observe permanent deformations of spacetime caused by certain supernovae. [Physics 17, s152] Published Thu Dec 05, 2024

A team experimentally observed higher-order and fractional discrete time crystals (DTCs) in periodically driven Rydberg atomic dissipative systems. Their study was published in Nature Communications. The team was led by Prof. Ding Dongsheng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dark matter made out of axions may have the power to make space-time ring like a bell, but only if it is able to steal energy from black holes, according to new research.

Dark matter made out of axions may have the power to make space-time ring like a bell, but only if it is able to steal energy from black holes, according to new research.  An intriguing possibility for a candidate for the mysterious dark matter is that it might be an axion. Originally predicted to exist … Continue reading "Axion Dark Matter May Make Spacetime Ring" The post Axion Dark Matter May Make Spacetime Ring appeared first on Universe Today.

The weird thermodynamics found in time crystals could be harnessed to store energy in a quantum battery-like device

An international research team has for the first time designed realistic photonic time crystals ---- exotic materials that exponentially amplify light. The breakthrough opens up exciting possibilities across fields such as communication, imaging and sensing by laying the foundations for faster and more compact lasers, sensors and other optical devices.

An international research team has for the first time designed realistic photonic time crystals––exotic materials that exponentially amplify light. The breakthrough opens up exciting possibilities across fields such as communication, imaging and sensing by laying the foundations for faster and more compact lasers, sensors and other optical devices.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, scientists have implemented the topologically ordered time crystal on a quantum processor for the first time.

Bell's theorem, the well-known theoretical framework introduced by John Bell decades ago, delineates the limits of classical physical processes arising from relativistic causality principles. These are principles rooted in Einstein's theory of relativity, which dictate how cause and effect operate in the universe.

Pathologic 2 is getting a sequel set to come out next year, and it's coming for the former's weird PC game crown.

Author(s): V. Raskatla, T. Liu, J. Li, K. F. MacDonald, and Nikolay I. ZheludevA continuous time crystal state can arise in an ensemble of linear oscillators from nonconservative coupling via optical radiation pressure forces, which is a new mechanism based on nonreciprocal interaction rather than nonlinearity. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 136202] Published Thu Sep 26, 2024

A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time, space-time itself can sometimes be two things at once. The post The Two Faces of Space-Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Curious connections between physics and math suggest to Latham Boyle that space-time may survive the jump to the next theory of reality. The post Can Space-Time Be Saved? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

This special issue of Quanta Magazine explores the ultimate scientific quest: the search for the fundamental nature of reality. The post The Unraveling of Space-Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine

These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental. The post The Thought Experiments That Fray the Fabric of Space-Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Author(s): Sihao Zhang, Junhua Dong, Huanan Li, Jingjun Xu, and Boris ShapiroPhotonic time crystals (PTCs) enable exotic light-matter interactions but typically require significant modulation strength to open a wide momentum band gap, limiting their practical realization. Here, the authors demonstrate that a Lorentzian medium-based PTC with a stationary charge cannot only excite but also amplify longitudinal optical phonons, with a band gap spanning the entire momentum space. This infinite momentum band gap can be achieved with a minimal modulation depth, enriching time-varying photonics by incorporating the distinct wave characteristics of longitudinal excitations. [Phys. Rev. B 110, L100306] Published Mon Sep 23, 2024

It's the last day of August, which means that in the Northern Hemisphere, tomorrow will be 50 degrees and cloudy; conditions are expected to be hot and humid south of the equator. In science news this week, we reported on nanoplastic contamination, spacetime dragging, corn sweat and an AI technique to read ancient papyrus scrolls nondestructively. Take your pick:

Author(s): Maximilian W. Feil, Magdalena Weger, Hans Reisinger, Thomas Aichinger, André Kabakow, Dominic Waldhör, Andreas C. Jakowetz, Sven Prigann, Gregor Pobegen, Wolfgang Gustin, Michael Waltl, Michel Bockstedte, and Tibor GrasserSilicon carbide MOSFETs are transforming power electronics by enabling higher switching frequencies and lower losses than their silicon-only counterparts. This study uses time-gated optical spectroscopy to investigate defect-assisted recombination in fully processed devices, specifically addressing their well-known hysteresis. The inquiry identifies a local vibrational mode with a very energy of 220 meV, indicating the presence of a carbon-cluster-like defect. This approach to characterizing interface states in MOSFETs reveals possibilities for enhancing device reliability and performance. [Phys. Rev. Applied 22,

How would atoms behave near a supermassive object? We know how atoms behave in extremely weak gravity like that at the Earth's surface: They can be excited from a lower energy level to a higher one when an electron absorbs a photon or a nucleus absorbs a gamma ray, and so on. But what if the atom is in a strong gravitational field such as one near a supermassive, rotating black hole or rotating neutron star?

Author(s): V. Vilasini and Renato RennerIn order for quantum processes with indefinite causal order to be realized on a classical spacetime, the inputs and outputs cannot be localized in spacetime. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 080201] Published Thu Aug 22, 2024

Former Vigil Games founders revealed that while Sony was interested in a Sly Cooper game, they went in a different direction.

The universe is expanding at an ever accelerating rate — and tiny wormholes that bore through the fabric of space-time might be to blame, a new study proposes.

Author(s): Abhijeet Melkani and Jayson PauloseThis paper describes a study of parametric resonance and symmetries in a mass-spring chain of coupled oscillators. The authors develop a framework which they apply to a spatiotemporally modulated ring of oscillators. They demonstrate that conditions for selective one-way amplification in this ring of oscillators are independent of the functional form of the time modulation. [Phys. Rev. E 110, 015003] Published Tue Jul 30, 2024

A dissipative time crystal is a phase of matter characterized by periodic oscillations over time, while a system is dissipating energy. In contrast with conventional time crystals, which can also occur in closed systems with no energy loss, dissipative time crystals are observed in open systems with energy freely flowing in and out of them.

By blowing atoms up to several hundred times their size, researchers have been able to make another type of oddly-behaving time crystal.

Researchers at Mainz University and the University of California, Berkeley, have achieved a breakthrough in zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, paving the way towards benchmarking quantum chemistry calculations.

Tachyons are hypothetical particles that travel at speeds greater than the speed of light. These superluminal particles, are the "enfant terrible" of modern physics. Until recently, they were generally regarded as entities that did not fit into the special theory of relativity.

The idea of time travel has dazzled sci-fi enthusiasts for years. Science tells us that traveling to the future is technically feasible, at least if you're willing to go near the speed of light, but going back in time is a no-go. But what if scientists could leverage the advantages of quantum physics to uncover data about complex systems that happened in the past?

A crystal is an arrangement of atoms that repeats itself in space, in regular intervals: At every point, the crystal looks exactly the same. In 2012, Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek raised the question: Could there also be a time crystal—an object that repeats itself not in space but in time? And could it be possible that a periodic rhythm emerges, even though no specific rhythm is imposed on the system and the interaction between the particles is completely independent of time?

As predicted by the theory of general relativity, the passage of gravitational waves can leave a measurable change in the relative positions of objects. This physical phenomenon, known as gravitational wave memory, could potentially be leveraged to study both gravitational waves and spacetime.

A new paper suggests that we may be able to spot alien spaceships hopping between distant stars using "warp drives" because the sci-fi-inspired technology would give off specific gravitational waves that are unlike anything else we know about.

Author(s): Michael SchirberQuantum sensing can benefit from entanglement protocols that can be interpreted as allowing qubits to go backward in time to choose an optimal initial state. [Physics 17, s76] Published Thu Jun 27, 2024

Analyzing 1,504 supernovae into the distant universe, astronomers have shown the clearest evidence yet for cosmological time dilation as predicted by Einstein

A trio of physicists, two with Uniwersytet Jagielloński in Poland and one with Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, are proposing the use of temporal printed circuit boards made using time crystals as a way to solve error problems on quantum computers. Krzysztof Giergiel, Krzysztof Sacha and Peter Hannaford have written a paper describing their ideas, which is currently available on the arXiv preprint server.

Extremely cold atoms that perpetually move in repeating patterns could be a promising building block for quantum computers

Author(s): Elizabeth FernandezObserving gravitational-wave memory may help physicists test general relativity predictions about large-scale symmetries in the fabric of spacetime. [Physics 17, 95] Published Thu Jun 13, 2024

Author(s): Boris Goncharov, Laura Donnay, and Jan HarmsObserving gravitational-wave memory may help physicists test general relativity predictions about large-scale symmetries in the fabric of spacetime. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 241401] Published Thu Jun 13, 2024

How could we tell the difference between an ordinary black hole and one connected to a tunnel through space-time?

Author(s): Jannes Nys, Zakari Denis, and Giuseppe CarleoSolving the time-dependent quantum many-body Schrquotodinger equation is a challenging task, especially for states at a finite temperature, where the environment affects the dynamics. Most existing approximating methods are designed to represent static thermal density matrices, 1D systems, and/or zero-temperature states. Here, the authors propose a method to study the real-time dynamics of thermal states in two dimensions, based on thermofield dynamics, variational Monte Carlo, and neural-network quantum states. [Phys. Rev. B 109, 235120] Published Mon Jun 10, 2024

Author(s): Salvador Moreno-Rodríguez, Antonio Alex-Amor, Pablo Padilla, Juan F. Valenzuela-Valdés, and Carlos MoleroThis study details a class of metal-based metasurfaces that periodically alternate their properties in both space and time. The authors’ approach offers an alternative for simulating such metasurfaces, providing physical insight into the diffraction phenomenon. The analytical framework is based on the circuit equivalent of the physical structure, revealing important features such as scattering parameters, field profiles, diffraction angles, and the nature of space-time harmonics. The results of the study highlight the potential for these metasurfaces in beamformers or frequency mixers for wireless communication systems. [Phys. Rev. Applied 21, 064018] Published Fri Jun 07, 2024

When speaking of our universe, it's often said that "matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move." This is the essence of Albert Einstein's famous general theory of relativity, and describes how planets, stars, and galaxies move and influence the space around them. While general relativity captures much of the big in our universe, it's at odds with the small in physics as described by quantum mechanics.

If matter falls into one end of a wormhole, it could heat up in a tornado of plasma hot enough to initiate nuclear fusion – and come blasting out the other end

Researchers have for the first time observed a time crystal on a microscale semiconductor chip oscillating at a rate of several billion times per second, unveiling exceptionally high non-linear dynamics in the GHz range.

Researchers observed a time crystal on a microscale semiconductor chip oscillating billions of times per second, linking non-linear exciton-polariton dynamics and coherent optomechanics at GHz frequencies.

Scientists have calculated the speed of a spinning supermassive black hole by studying the 'spaghettified' remains of a star it destroyed.