A physicist suggests that spinning lasers could make time travel a reality.

Physicist Ronald Mallett believes that a spinning laser loop can bend time, leading to time travel. He even has a prototype to test the idea.

Ronald Mallett, a former physics professor at the University of Connecticut, has been working to create a real-life time machine that utilizes lasers, a passion he has had since childhood. Mallett, now 77 years old, believes that by creating a loop of spinning lasers, time can be bent. However, the laws of physics, as we currently understand them, do not permit backward time travel in a way that aligns with causality, where events must occur after their causes. While theories like general relativity and wormholes suggest the possibility of time travel, they remain speculative and require technology that is beyond our current capabilities. Mallett, however, proposes a different approach. By generating an artificial black hole that can produce a gravitational field, time loops could be created, potentially enabling travel to the past. Despite the many hurdles, Mallett and his team have produced a continuously rotating light beam since 2019, offering a glimmer of hope for their time travel ambitions.

Mallett posits that light has the ability to affect time because it can generate gravity, which in turn can influence time. To illustrate this concept, he uses the example of a cup of coffee being stirred with a spoon. The swirling motion of the coffee is analogous to the way a rotating black hole behaves. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, space and time are interrelated, which is why the term space-time is used. As a black hole rotates, it causes a twisting of time due to the relationship between space and time.

And you must begin this complex concept somewhere. Several years ago, he stated, “The Wright Brothers didn’t simply build an airplane.”

To determine the best designs for aircraft wings, a wind tunnel was initially constructed, as explained by Mallett. He states that the wind tunnel must be created before building the plane, in the context of constructing a time machine. Consequently, Mallett developed a prototype machine that he believes could work, although it has not been successful so far. Additionally, the time machine’s ability to travel back in time is restricted to when the loop was created. However, Mallett is optimistic and suggests that the machine’s potential applications, such as predicting earthquakes and tsunamis or discovering cures for diseases, could be groundbreaking if his invention becomes a reality.