Shivani Bapatla

Practical Time Travel via Gravitational Time Dilation

Started Apr. 28, 2023

Abstract or project description

General relativity describes gravity as the curvature of space-time. As a result, large masses (e.g. planets and stars) get distort time around them. They induce what is known as "gravitational time dilation," meaning clocks physically run slower in the vicinity of a massive object. This affords the ability to "time travel" by visiting regions in which clocks run slow with respect to Earth such that upon returning to Earth, a significant amount of time has passed. But how effective is this time travel in a realistic setting? This work will attempt to quantify the maximal amount of time travel that can be performed around known astrophysical bodies.