https://bgr.com/science/new-theory-suggests-time-is-an-illusion-created-by-quantum-entanglement/
A new definition of time suggests that what we once thought was a fundamental element of reality is actually just a byproduct.
This is the original paper https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.13386
I, uh, studied quantum physics at the undergraduate level several years ago and can confidently say that I am thoroughly lost trying to understand what they are talking about.
I consider myself a science enthusiast, having studied it a bit and following the news. I'm not at all an expert, and don't contribute to science, but I like to think I know about science. I thought I understood quantum entanglement, but I'm lost when they start talking about measuring the particles without entangling with them.
The best I can come up with is that this new theory suggests that what we perceive as time is just our observation that things change state in a way that seems like a linear progression but the state change observed is due to particles being entangled/interconnected (?) and not as a consequence of time as some sort of force. Then and now are illusory mechanisms of coping with non-illusory change of our surroundings but that coping mechanism/perception isn't a physical thing that is an underlying cause of the change we observe (because it's being caused by subatomic particles being instantly affected by their entangled partner particles elsewhere in physical space)?
I am in a car driving 100km at an average of 50km/h and get to my destination having experienced 2 hours of time. I am in a car driving the same 100km in the opposite direction at a average of 100km/h and get to my destination having experienced 1 hour of time. The same trip driving slower means my experience is more time passing across the same distance (time passes at an accelerated rate for me, comparatively), and driving faster means I experience less time passing across the same distance (time passes at a decelerated rate for me, comparatively) - given that both things are taking place in the same place, obviously it isn't time that is changing to cause my differing experiences of how much time passes, it's my physical actions that explain my differing experiences of how much time passes. I think they're saying that this holds true for entangled particles anywhere - what is perceived as relative time differences is actually just an observation of things behaving comparatively differently in the physical sense?
I'm probably hilariously off about all of this.