Could Time Travel in Science Fiction Happen Based on Modern Physics?

By: Christopher Leirer

Intended for use in Dr. Lear's HU338 class at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University





Introduction

The concept of time travel has intrigued the imagination of humanity for centuries. One popular question many people are asked is "What would you do if you could go back in time?" or "Where would you go if you could go back in time?" Science-fiction in different mediums such as literature, film, and television, has taken advantage of this intrigue on many different occasions, most notable in H.G. Wells 1895 novel, The Time Machine. With each popular culture version of time travel comes different ideas about the physics behind the traveling, sparking the question, "Could it really happen?" The common response is no, but modern physicists have found ways in which one could possibly travel through time.

The physics of time travel featured in H.G. Wells’ novel, the 1985 science-fiction movie Back to the Future, and the British science-fiction television show Dr. Who, will be analyzed for feasibility based on what is understood by today's physicists which could help physicists learn more about the beginnings of the universe as we know it, and could also potentially lead to mankind mastering the art of deep space travel.




Star Wars characters traveling at "light speed"


Speeding Through Time

While not much is described about the time machine in H.G. Wells novel, The Time Machine, to time travel the time traveler pushes levers of his time machine forward or backward to determine which direction in time he wishes to go. The act of time travel that the Time Traveler goes through involves him accelerating at a fast rate to where, "my pace was over a year a minute" (Wells 18). This type of time travel can be like what Einstein suggests in his Theory of Special Relativity, where as one approaches the speed of light at 3.00 x 108 m/s the slower time gets for that person. Physicist Kip Thorne describes time dilation as the classic twin paradox, where one twin travels to a far-off galaxy at a very high speed and returns, while the other has stayed on Earth. The time that has passed for the twins will be different as time is "personal" (Is Time Travel Allowed?). For the traveling twin 30 years might have elapsed in total while 4,500 years would have elapsed for the Earth-bound twin.



H.G. Wells' Time Machine in Big Bang Theory


So, if the Time Traveler could accelerate his time machine to the speed of light it is plausible that would seem to be only a couple of seconds to him would be in fact hundreds of thousands of years for normal humanity. One reason that is holding this ability back is that it is virtually impossible to reach the speed of light as humans. Einstein’s Special Relativity expresses that man cannot exceed the speed limit set by light (Can We Travel Faster Than Light?). In addition to this accepted law of physics being a limit to traveling at the speed of light, the fastest thing that man has built so far, the New Horizons rocket launched by NASA to study Pluto, had a velocity of about 16.26 km/s or 16260 m/s which is significantly less than that of the speed of light (NASA). However, H.G. Wells eliminates the blockade by having the Time Traveler and his time machine accelerate so fast that become like particles phasing in and out of existence, which means that the particles are accelerating which is possible as muons in labs have accomplished this. Being that light is massless and we as humans have mass and it is unknown if we could survive such rapid acceleration, the practicality of the Time Traveler’s time machine seems very limited to the imaginations of man, but Wells’ idea about how time is a fourth dimension relative to the other three known ones, forwards, backward, left, right, up, and down and that it can be traversed even without a very descriptive picture of how his time machine does it is not out of the question thanks to the knowledge that Wells and other physicists have about space-time.



The DeLorean being sent back in time in Back to the Future



Traveling With Massive Amounts of Power

In the 1985 film, Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis, a DeLorean DMC-12 model sports car is used as the vehicle of travel for the protagonist and antagonist. The car is powered by a nuclear reactor core filled with weapons grade plutonium that powers a "flux capacitor." The flux capacitor disperses 1.21 gigawatts of power, equivalent to a lightning strike, to allow for the car to jump in the desired direction in time (How the DeLorean Works). The high amount of power applied to the car is exactly what physicist Dr. Michio Kaku believes solves one of the issues of time travel, as Kaku states that a time machine would need to have massive amount of energy, the equivalent of a star or some other exotic material, to make the jump between times (Physics of Time Travel). Kaku also says that the exotic material is not completely out of the question as scientists have found "tiny amounts of negative energy," but it is also "difficult to obtain in large quantities, at least for several more centuries," (Physics of Time Travel). Below is a video of Dr. Kaku explaining time.




Back to the Future goes against the advisement of Kaku that the technology is far away from being accomplished as the protagonist somewhat master the flux capacitor in the year 1985 and improve upon it with miniature reactor named "Mr. Fusion." In addition, the DeLorean is also powered through a steam train in the third installment of the film. Of course, these methods were used to make for good story telling and cause for climaxes in the movies, and were not heavily bounded by physics rather the imagination of the writers

Traveling With Alien Technology



The Doctor's TARDIS


In the hit, BBC science-fiction show, Doctor Who, the Doctor, an alien species from the planet Gallifrey uses a TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) to travel not only forwards and backwards in time but also to different planets and galaxies. The TARDIS, much like the DeLorean described above and unlike the Time Machine, uses a massive amount of power to operate. This power comes from a massive star called the "Eye of Harmony," which the Doctor states is "constantly on the verge of becoming a black hole" (Eye of Harmony). The black hole’s potential energy supplies the TARDIS with "arton energy" which powers it (Eye of Harmony).



The Doctor explaining the Eye of Harmony


Two physicists, Dr. Ben Tippet and Dr. Dave Tsang examined what it would take for a real TARDIS to be created by using Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. General Relativity states that "the rate at which time passes on a clock is influenced by the gravitational force on the clock" (Fundamentals of Physics). Tippet and Tsang’s model of a TARDIS involves a hollow bubble that allows its contents to travel in a "closed circular path in time" (Tippet and Tsang). Tippet and Tsang go on to write that if one were to "cut and glue" different TARDIS bubbles together one could connect different times and spaces and travel between them (Tippet and Tsang). This technique is like the worm hole method that is proposed by Kip Thorne, which allows for a person to enter one end of the worm hole and come out at a different point in time (Is Time Travel Allowed?). Both methods require a large amount of energy that, as Kaku states, is too far away in time from us to achieve.



Wormhole Explained


The TARDIS of Doctor Who uses the massive amounts of power to travel through the "Time Vortex" which is like a black hole of our world that "connects all points of space and time together" allowing the Doctor and his companion to travel to different points and places in space (Time Vortex). So, like the Wells’ thinking and the knowledge of physicists the world of Doctor Who space and time are relative dimensions.

Conclusion

Physicists have made great leaps in researching and figuring out whether time travel is possible through different methods. The methods laid out by popular science-fiction works, such as H.G. Wells novel, The Time Machine, the movie Back to the Future, and the science-fiction show Dr. Who, seem interesting and exciting, but the reality is that we are not scientifically advanced enough to be able to achieve these dreams and fantasies proposed. Even though the technology is not accessible currently the concepts and ideas expressed in the popular culture methods such as time being an extra dimension relative to space, accelerating at a fast rate causes time to travel slower, and blackholes can be a method for navigating through the stars coincide with what todays physicists believe. Further studies and reviews of these methods however by physicist could unlock the door into deep space travel and help in the understanding of the universe.

Works Cited

Alex. TARDIS. Digital image. Doctor Who Cocktails. Doctor Who Cocktails, 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Tardis Image

A. Time Travel Meme. Digital image. KHCPL Teen Scene. Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Dr. Who Meme

Back to the Future Gif. Digital image. BTTF Gifs. Tumblr, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Back to the Future Gif

"Eye of Harmony." Tardis. Tardis, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. Eye of Harmony

Halliday, David, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker. "Relativity." Fundamentals of Physics. 10th ed. New York: Wiley, 1993. 1123-124. Print.

Kaku, Michio. "Is Time Travel Possible?" Youtube. Youtube, 2 Apr. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2017 Kaku Video

Kaku, Michio. "The Physics of Time Travel." Explorations in Science Official Website of Dr Michio Kaku RSS. Michio Kaku, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. Physics of Time Travel

New Horizons ‘Speeds Up’ on Final Approach to Pluto." NASA. Ed. Lillian Gipson. NASA, 30 July 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. NASA

Pandit, Girish. "WormHoles Tunnel for Time Travel." Simplelivinghighthinking. Simplelivinghighthinking, 15 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Wormhole Picture

Scherrer, Robert. "Faster-than-light Travel: Are We There Yet?" The Conversation. The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. Can We Travel Faster Than Light?

Star Wars Hyperspace. Digital image. Wookieepedia. Wikia, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Light Speed Picture

Tate, Karl. "How the Time Traveling 'Back to the Future' DeLorean Works (Infographic)." LiveScience. Purch, 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. How the Delorean Works

"The Big Bang Theory." The Time Machine Project-Big Bang Theory. Colemanzone, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Big Bang Theory Time Machine Picture

TheDoctorWhoNerdz. "Doctor Who Eye Of Harmony." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. Doctor Who Video

Thorne, Kip. "Is Time Travel Allowed?" Plus Magazine. Plus Magazine, 11 Dec. 2009. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. Is Time Travel Allowed?

"Time Vortex." Tardis. Tardis, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2017. Time Vortex

Tippet, Ben, and Dave Tsang. The Blue Box White Paper. N.p.: Titanium Physics, 2013. PDF.

Wells, H. G., and Stephen Arata. "Time Traveling." The Time Machine: An Invention: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. N. pag. Print.



Written by Christopher Leirer, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Special Thanks to Jessica Lown for supplying website template, and to Billy Nguyen for helping when needed.