2009/11/11 by M. Villata, Massimo Villata, Villata, Massimo
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #General Physics (physics.gen-ph) #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #physics.gen-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0911.2106
11 pages, written in 1994, but still/again interesting due to the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe
arxiv created 2009/11/11 · openalex publication_date 2009/11/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Antiparticles may be interpreted as ordinary particles travelling backwards in time and the two descriptions are considered equivalent, at least in special relativity and relativistic quantum mechanics. It is suggested that, vice versa, the discovery of antimatter should be the confirmation that our world is "endowed" with two opposite time-arrows and such a description could be more useful and convenient from the point of view of the understanding of the world itself, at least for a simple reason: whenever phenomena are observed from a "reference frame" from which the world appears more symmetric, it is easier to understand the physical laws which regulate it. If, in the future, it is possible to discover how a macroscopic system of antimatter behaves, it will be also possible to confirm (or not) the "reality" of the two arrows of time.