Here is a hypothesis: Time reversal would require universal inversion of all forces and interactions

Crackpot physics

This builds from the idea of time as emergent. Julian Barbour, a British physicist, states change is real, but time is not; time is a reflection of change, encoded in static configurations.

The Wikipedia page on Julian Barbour, last updated January 13, 2004, notes that he argues "we have no evidence of the past other than our memory of it, and no evidence of the future other than our belief in it," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barbour

For time to be reversed

As an idea on top of the notion above, what if all the fundamental forces of the universe are suddenly inversed. Gravity would push, Momentums would go the opposite direction. As well as the rates of change. A rock rolling down a mountain would need pushing gravity getting weaker as it reaches where it came from.

for time to be reveresed, as intertwined as the universe is, EVERYTHING would have to experience the opposite of a force it exeriences as time flows forward.

For a specific matter to travel back in time

Matter, in its current state, would have to participate in everything that is being reversed. otherwise it would imply it getting out of the universe or ceasing to exist. Even then, its absence would cause a difference in the process of "reversing time". as its existence would would cause a change in the undoing of everything. which would cause a universally different state even by a bit.

PS: I am not in the field of physics and would just want to know how a real person on the field would think about this. I know my refernces aren't rigid as well. but this post is not intended to establish anything but to dwell on an idea with knowledgable peers.

References:
Barbour, J. (1999). The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe. Oxford University Press.

Posted Jul 6, 2025, 7:27 PM UTC

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