An experimentally tested theorem by the Northern Irish physicist John Bell says there is no вЂњtrueвЂќ state of the particle the probabilities are the only reality that can be ascribed to it. For example, at a particular moment, a particle might have a 50 percent chance of spinning clockwise and a 50 percent chance of spinning counterclockwise.

An elementary particle lacks definite physical properties and is defined only by probabilities of being in various states. If the new line of research is correct, then the story of timeвЂ™s arrow begins with the quantum mechanical idea that, deep down, nature is inherently uncertain. вЂњIf I knew more, could I reverse the event, put together all the molecules of the egg that broke? Why am I relevant?вЂќ Original story reprinted with permission from Simons Science News, an editorially independent division of whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.вЂњIn classical physics, we were struggling,вЂќ said Sandu Popescu, a professor of physics at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

By those laws, it seemed that if someone knew the paths of all the particles in the universe and flipped them around, energy would accumulate rather than disperse: Tepid coffee would spontaneously heat up, buildings would rise from their rubble and sunlight would slink back into the sun. The astronomer-philosopher Sir Arthur Eddington in 1927 cited the gradual dispersal of energy as evidence of an irreversible вЂњarrow of time.вЂќД«ut to the bafflement of generations of physicists, the arrow of time does not seem to follow from the underlying laws of physics, which work the same going forward in time as in reverse. Coffee cools, buildings crumble, eggs break and stars fizzle out in a universe that seems destined to degrade into a state of uniform drabness known as thermal equilibrium.

Cameron wake