Could ‘ring lasers’ make time travel possible? 

March 10, 2023

Maybe—according to Professor Ronald Mallett, a retired physics professor from the University of Connecticut. The Guardian’s recent interview with the Professor details the backstory behind his career as a physicist, and outlines his theory for ring laser time travel.

“Prof Ronald Mallett thinks he has cracked time travel. The secret, he says, is in twisting the fabric of space-time with a ring of rotating lasers to make a loop of time that would allow you to travel backwards.”

Mallett lost his father at the age of 10, and faced racism, before the discovery of a book that would alter the course of his life. 

“Mallett picked up a copy of HG Wells’s The Time Machine and had an epiphany: he was going to build his own time machine, travel back to 1955 and save his father’s life.”

Mallett’s theory involves utilising black holes. In his own words:

“It turns out that rotating black holes can create a gravitational field that could lead to loops of time being created that can allow you to go to the past.”

Although accessing a black hole presents some difficulties, Mallett believes that an artificial alternative can be found in a ‘ring laser’—a device that can “create an intense and continuous rotating beam of light.” 

Professor Ronald Mallett's theory on time travel may seem like a work of science fiction, but it is grounded in real physics. His work could potentially unlock a new era of scientific discovery. It is a testament to the human spirit of inquiry that scientists like Mallett continue to push the boundaries of our understanding of the universe.

If Professor Mallet is able to realise his theory, we hope he remembers to pop back to 2009 for Professor Stephen Hawking’s Party for Time Travellers.

Cover image credit: Dr. Ronald Mallett

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