In movie Back to the Future, the
flux capacitor allows Dr Emmett Brown’s DeLorean to travel through time. Now
physicists have designed a real-life flux capacitor that messes with time in a
completely different way. They believe it will break time-reversal symmetry,
one of the symmetry laws of the universe.
The device, which has been recently developed by researchers in Switzerland and Australia, is a new generation
electronic circulator that can be used to control the direction in which
microwave signals move. Two designs have been proposed, one of which has a
similar three-pronged look like its cinematic counterpart. Both designs require
being built with superconductors, materials that have zero electrical
resistance. The study is published in Physical Review Letters.
The flux capacitor works by
having tubes of magnetic flux going through a central capacitor thanks to
quantum tunneling, a property that allows particles and waves to travel through
obstacles. In classical physics, these barriers would be insurmountable. If
this property was available to us, we wouldn’t need to climb tall walls, we
could simply try to walk through them.
The goal of the device is to
break time-reversal symmetry. Many laws of physics behave the same if time is
moving backward or if time is moving forward. Obviously, at the macroscopic
level, we know many phenomena that break this symmetry. An egg breaking or us
aging, are two examples where reversal isn't possible. But at the quantum
level, such events are not as common. They tend to be independent of time. The
flux capacitor helps bring some time dependency in a microwave signaling
system. And with that, a new way to control signals.
"It means that signals
circulate around the circuit in only one direction, much like cars on a
roundabout," co-author Professor Tom Stace, from the University of
Queensland, said in a statement. "Unfortunately this effect does not allow
us to actually travel back in time."
So, if it doesn’t allow us
to travel through time why should we care? Well, this development allows the
development of better electronics. It could improve mobile phones, Wi-Fi
antennas, and even radars. And that’s just for current technology. The team
thinks that will also play an important role in upcoming tech.
"Our research makes an
important step towards scaling up this technology, where researchers need to
precisely direct control and measurement signals around a quantum
computer," added lead author Dr Clemens Mueller.
Source