Closed Timelike Curves via Postselection: Theory and Experimental Test of Consistency

Author(s)
Lloyd, Seth; Maccone, Lorenzo; Garcia-Patron Sanchez, Raul; Giovannetti, Vittorio; Shikano, Yutaka; ... Show more
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Abstract
Closed timelike curves (CTCs) are trajectories in spacetime that effectively travel backwards in time: a test particle following a CTC can interact with its former self in the past. A widely accepted quantum theory of CTCs was proposed by Deutsch. Here we analyze an alternative quantum formulation of CTCs based on teleportation and postselection, and show that it is inequivalent to Deutsch’s. The predictions or retrodictions of our theory can be simulated experimentally: we report the results of an experiment illustrating how in our particular theory the “grandfather paradox” is resolved.
Date issued
2011-01
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/63096
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering; W. M. Keck Foundation Center for Extreme Quantum Information Theory
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Lloyd, Seth, et al. "Closed Timelike Curves via Postselection: Theory and Experimental Test of Consistency." American Physical Society, 2011, 106:4, © 2011 The American Physical Society.
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0031-9007
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