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Did the Big Bang create a parallel universe where time goes backwards?
Radical new research suggests that at the same time the Big Bang created our universe, another where time goes in the opposite direction was also born
A scientific breakthrough could redefine how the universe is understood.
Radical new research led by a British scientist has suggested that there may be a second universe where time runs backwards.
The theoretical claims put forward in thePhysical Review Lettersjournal could revolutionise the field of research into the origin and future of the universe.
In the paper titled 'Identification of a Gravitational Arrow of Time', an international team of world renowned scientists led by Oxfordshire-based Dr Julian Barbour challenge assumptions about the so called 'arrow of time'.
The 'arrow of time' is the theory that time is symmetric and therefore time moves forward. They contend that there is no scientific reason that a mirror universe could not have been created where time moved in an distinct way from our own.
But in a quirk of science it is thought that if a parallel universe did exist where time moved backward, any sentient beings there would consider that time in our universe in fact moved backward.
The arrow of time is also known as the 'one-way' direction of time and was devised by a British scientist, Dr Arthur Eddington, in the twenties.
VIDEO: Proof of the Big Bang
Dr Barbour told the MailOnline that the mirror universe was a possibilitybecause all of the laws of physics apply no matter which way time is moving and therefore there is no scientific impediment to such a parallel universe.
He said: "Time is a mystery. Basically, all the known laws of physics look exactly the same whichever way time runs, and in the world in which we live in everything goes in one direction."
"If you look at a simple model with a swarm of bees in the middle of the Big Bang but breaking up in either direction, then you would say there are two arrows of time, pointing in opposite direction from the swarm. One arrow would be forwards and one backwards."
However Dr Barbour acknowledges that locating the 'other' universe in practical terms is an altogether different question.
"Our results are a proof of principle," he said.
Radical new research suggests that at the same time the Big Bang created our universe, another where time goes in the opposite direction was also born
A scientific breakthrough could redefine how the universe is understood.
Radical new research led by a British scientist has suggested that there may be a second universe where time runs backwards.
The theoretical claims put forward in thePhysical Review Lettersjournal could revolutionise the field of research into the origin and future of the universe.
In the paper titled 'Identification of a Gravitational Arrow of Time', an international team of world renowned scientists led by Oxfordshire-based Dr Julian Barbour challenge assumptions about the so called 'arrow of time'.
The 'arrow of time' is the theory that time is symmetric and therefore time moves forward. They contend that there is no scientific reason that a mirror universe could not have been created where time moved in an distinct way from our own.
But in a quirk of science it is thought that if a parallel universe did exist where time moved backward, any sentient beings there would consider that time in our universe in fact moved backward.
The arrow of time is also known as the 'one-way' direction of time and was devised by a British scientist, Dr Arthur Eddington, in the twenties.
VIDEO: Proof of the Big Bang
Dr Barbour told the MailOnline that the mirror universe was a possibilitybecause all of the laws of physics apply no matter which way time is moving and therefore there is no scientific impediment to such a parallel universe.
He said: "Time is a mystery. Basically, all the known laws of physics look exactly the same whichever way time runs, and in the world in which we live in everything goes in one direction."
"If you look at a simple model with a swarm of bees in the middle of the Big Bang but breaking up in either direction, then you would say there are two arrows of time, pointing in opposite direction from the swarm. One arrow would be forwards and one backwards."
However Dr Barbour acknowledges that locating the 'other' universe in practical terms is an altogether different question.
"Our results are a proof of principle," he said.
