Time Reversibility Discovered in Glass at Molecular Level

German researchers make first-ever direct measurement of material aging, uncovering unexpected time reversibility within glass, but emphasize this does not mean aging of materials can be reversed.

German researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt have made the first-ever direct measurement of material aging in glass, discovering unexpected time reversibility at the molecular level.
The concept of 'material time' is used to describe the internal clock of a material, ticking at a different pace based on how quickly the molecules within the material reorganize.
To measure material aging, the researchers directed a laser beam into a glass sample and used state-of-the-art video cameras to record the scattered light patterns, which were then analyzed using statistical methods.
The researchers found that the fluctuations of the molecules within the glass are time-reversible, meaning they do not change if the material time is allowed to tick backwards.
Despite this discovery, the researchers emphasize that this does not mean the aging of materials can be reversed, and many questions remain about the potential reversibility of the physical laws of nature and the variability of the internal clock within different materials.