In Brief
Through a remarkable experiment, an international team of scientists has found that it is possible to reverse the arrow of time without violating the second law of thermodynamics. Their research confirms that we still have much to learn about the world around us.
The Arrow of Time
The second law of thermodynamics states that in an isolated system, entropy will increase with time and the movement of heat will always flow from hotter bodies to cooler ones. However, a new experiment by an international team of researchers shows that this thermodynamic “arrow of time” is not an absolute concept.
For their experiment, the researchers looked at correlated particles. These are conceptually similar to the entangled particles at the core of quantum research, but they are not as closely bonded.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGDJO2M7RBg
The researchers started their experiment with the molecule trichloromethane, which is made up of hydrogen and carbon. They then made the nucleus of the hydrogen atom warmer than the nucleus of the carbon atom and watched the flow of energy.
When the nuclei of the two atoms were uncorrelated, heat flowed from the hotter to the cooler nucleus, as expected. But when the nuclei were correlated, heat flowed “backwards” — the hotter nucleus grew hotter and the cooler nucleus grew cooler.
According to the researchers, their experiment doesn’t violate the second law of thermodynamics because the law doesn’t take into account correlated particles — their experiment simply reveals an exception to the rule. A paper outlining this research has been uploaded to the arXiv server.
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https://futurism.com/scientists-experimentally-demonstrate-reversal-arrow-time/