The Science & Fiction of Time Travel

THE SCIENCE & FICTION OF TIME TRAVEL

Time travel is a concept often explored in science fiction, involving moving between different points in time, similar to how we move through space. There are two main types of time travel often discussed:

1. Forward Time Travel: This involves moving into the future at a different rate than normal, which is theoretically possible according to Einstein’s theory of relativity. As one approaches the speed of light, time slows down for that individual relative to others, allowing them to effectively “travel” into the future.

2. Backward Time Travel: This involves traveling to the past, which is far more controversial and speculative. Various paradoxes, such as the “grandfather paradox” (where a person could theoretically prevent their own existence by changing events in the past), present challenges to the concept.

Many theories, such as the multiverse or parallel universe hypotheses, attempt to address these paradoxes by suggesting alternate timelines or dimensions where changes to the past don’t affect the present.

Time travel remains theoretical, and no evidence currently supports its feasibility, but it continues to capture imaginations and fuel creative storytelling across books, movies, and academic thought experiments. Would you like to explore any specific theories, paradoxes, or stories related to time travel?

Mr. Satish Purohit
Assistant Professor Physics, PWCIT