It is widely known among scientists that light sometimes appears to exit a material before it has even entered. This odd “negative time” phenomenon was long seen as an illusion caused by the way waves become distorted by matter.
Over time, many considered it a harmless quirk of physics, dismissed without much further investigation. Now, fresh experiments suggest that this behavior might carry deeper implications related to “negative time.”
Researchers recently posted findings on the preprint server arXiv, drawing global interest and some reservations about what it all means.
“Negative time” is no longer theoretical
Aephraim Steinberg, a University of Toronto professor in experimental quantum physics, has seen how people can misunderstand discussions about negative time.
“This is tough stuff, even for us to talk about with other physicists. We get misunderstood all the time,” he said. His team contends that negative time is not just theoretical but may exist in a measurable way.
They remain cautious in describing their experiments, emphasizing that the results reflect a subtle effect in quantum mechanics.
“That time turned out to be negative,” Steinberg explained. Their data points to strange interactions between light and matter that defy everyday assumptions.
https://www.earth.com/news/negative-time-observed-measured-tangible-in-new-quantum-experiments/
Experimental evidence that a photon can spend a negative amount of time in an atom cloud