Quantum mechanics of time travel

Until recently, most studies on time travel are based upon

classical general relativity. Coming up with a quantum
version of time travel requires us to gure out the time
evolution equations for density states in the presence of
closed timelike curves (CTC).

CTC observable will match after a loop. However, this

could lead to multivalued histories if memory is preserved around the loop. In particular, his prescription
is incompatible with path integrals unless we allow for
multivalued elds. Another point to note is in general,
we have more than one xed point, and this leads to
nondeterminism in the time evolution. He suggested the
entropy. The]
solution to use is the one with the maximum
[
nal external state is given by TrCTC U (A CTC ) U
. Pure states can evolve into mixed states.

Novikov[1] had conjectured that once quantum mechanics is taken into account, self-consistent solutions always
exist for all time machine congurations, and initial conditions. However, it has been noted such solutions are not
unique in general, in violation of determinism, unitarity
and linearity.
This leads to seemingly paradoxical resolutions to the
The application of self-consistency to quantum mechan- grandfather paradox. Assume the external subsystem is
ical time machines has taken two main routes. Novikovs irrelevant, and only a qubit travels in the CTC. Also asrule applied to the density matrix itself gives the Deutsch sume during the course around the time machine, the
prescription. Applied instead to the state vector, the same value of the qubit is ipped according to the unitary oprule gives nonunitary physics with a dual description in erator
terms of post-selection.
U=

Deutschs prescription

(
0
1

1
0

The most general xed-point solution is given by

[2]

In 1991, David Deutsch came up with a proposal for

the time evolution equations, with special note as to how
it resolves the grandfather paradox and nondeterminism. However, his resolution to the grandfather paradox
is considered unsatisfactory to some people, because it
states the time traveller reenters another parallel universe,
and that the actual quantum state is a quantum superposition of states where the time traveller does and does not
exist.

(1
CTC =

1
2

where a is a real number between 1/2 and 1/2 . This

is an example of the nonuniqueness of solutions. The
solution maximizing the von Neumann entropy is given
by a = 0 . We can think of this as a mixture
(not
superposition)
between
the
states
(|0
+
|1)
/
2 and

(|0 |1) / 2 . This leads to an interesting interpretation that if the qubit starts o with a value of 0, it will end
up with a value of 1, and vice versa, but this should not be
problematic according to Deutsch because the qubit ends
up in a dierent parallel universe in the many worlds interpretation.

He made the simplifying assumption that we can split the

quantum system into a subsystem A external to the closed
timelike curve, and a CTC part. Also, he assumed that we
can combine all the time evolution between the exterior
and the CTC into a single unitary operator U. This presupposes the Schrdinger picture. We have a tensor product for the combined state of both systems. He makes the Later researchers have noted that if his prescription
further assumption there is no correlation between the ini- turned out to be right, computers in the vicinity of a time
tial density state of A and the density state of the CTC. machine can solve PSPACE-complete problems.[3]
This assumption is not time-symmetric, which he tried to
justify by appealing to measurement theory and the second law of thermodynamics. He proposed that the density
2 Lloyds prescription
state restricted to the CTC is a xed-point of

An alternative proposal was later presented by Seth

Lloyd[4][5] based upon post-selection and path integrals.
CTC
In particular, the path integral is over single-valued elds,
He showed that such xed points always exist. He jus- leading to self-consistent histories. He assumed it is illtied this choice by noting the expectation value of any dened to speak of the actual density state of the CTC
[
]
= TrA U (A CTC ) U

itself, and we should only focus upon the density state

outside the CTC. His proposal for the time evolution of
the external density state is
f =

Ci C
Tr[Ci C ]

, where C = TrCTC [U ] .

]
[
If Tr Ci C = 0 , no solution exists due to destructive
interference in the path integral. For instance, the grandfather paradox has no solution, and leads to an inconsistent state. If a solution exists, it is clearly unique. Now,
quantum computers using time machines can only solve
PP-complete problems.

Entropy and computation

The same description of CTC physics was derived independently in 2001 by Michael Devin, and applied to
thermodynamics.[6][7] The same model with the introduction of a noise term allowing for inexact periodicity, allows the grandfather paradox to be resolved, and claries
the computational power of a time machine assisted computer. Each time traveling qubit has an associated negentropy, given approximately by the logarithm of the noise
of the communication channel. Each use of the time machine can be used to extract as much work from a thermal bath. In a brute force search for a randomly generated password, the entropy of the unknown string can be
eectively reduced by a similar amount. Because the negentropy and computational power diverge as the noise
term goes to zero, complexity class may not be the best
way to describe the capabilities of time machines.

Nonlinear time evolution

Bennett[8] et al. have pointed some of the problems which

arise when unitarity breaks down and quantum evolution
becomes nonlinear.

See also
Novikov self-consistency principle
grandfather paradox
ontological paradox

References

[1] Friedman, John; Morris, Michael; Novikov, Igor;

Echeverria,
Fernando;
Klinkhammer,
Gunnar;
Thorne, Kip;
Yurtsever, Ulvi (15 September
Cauchy problem in spacetimes with
1990).
closed timelike curves.
Physical Review.
D 42

REFERENCES

(6): 19151930.
Bibcode:1990PhRvD..42.1915F.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.42.1915.
[2] Deutsch, David (15 Nov 1991). Quantum mechanics near closed timelike lines. Physical Review. D
44 (10): 31973217. Bibcode:1991PhRvD..44.3197D.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.44.3197.
[3] Aaronson, Scott;
Watrous, John (Feb 2009).
Closed Timelike Curves Make Quantum and
Classical Computing Equivalent.
Proceedings
of the Royal Society.
A 465 (2102): 631647.
arXiv:0808.2669.
Bibcode:2009RSPSA.465..631A.
doi:10.1098/rspa.2008.0350.
[4] Lloyd, Seth; Maccone, Lorenzo; Garcia-Patron, Raul;
Giovannetti, Vittorio; Shikano, Yutaka; Pirandola,
Stefano; Rozema, Lee A.; Darabi, Ardavan; Soudagar,
Yasaman; Shalm, Lynden K.; Steinberg, Aephraim
M. (27 January 2011). Closed Timelike Curves via
Postselection: Theory and Experimental Test of Consistency. Physical Review Letters 106 (4): 040403.
arXiv:1005.2219.
Bibcode:2011PhRvL.106d0403L.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.040403.
[5] Lloyd, Seth; Maccone, Lorenzo; Garcia-Patron, Raul;
Giovannetti, Vittorio; Shikano, Yutaka (19 July 2010).
The quantum mechanics of time travel through postselected teleportation. arXiv:1007.2615.
[6] Devin, Michael (2001). Thermodynamics of Time Machines(unpublished) (Thesis). University of Arkansas.
[7] Devin, Michael. Thermodynamics of Time Machines.
arXiv:1302.3298.
[8] Charles, Bennett; Leung, Debbie; Smith, Graeme;
Smolin, John (21 Oct 2009). Can Closed Timelike
Curves or Nonlinear Quantum Mechanics Improve
Quantum State Discrimination or Help Solve Hard
Problems?". Physical Review Letters 103 (17): 2009.
arXiv:0908.3023.
Bibcode:2009PhRvL.103q0502B.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.170502.

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