Time and space might not even be real things—they could just be the "exhaust" from quantum batteries storing information.
arXiv · March 13, 2026 · 2603.11079
Why it matters
This research suggests that time dilation and the physical fabric of the universe emerge from quantum interactions rather than being a pre-existing stage. By treating a charging battery as a clock, scientists were able to recreate the complex physics of a black hole using only quantum equations.
From the abstract
Is spacetime fundamental or can it be derived through quantum interactions? We propose here a way to describe time dilation solely from quantum mechanics. First we start by observing that any operational notion of time must imply some sort of regular motion and, crucially, some sort of memory. Thus the clock model we use here is a simple example of a quantum memory: a charging battery. We describe here the charging of such batteries with quantum open dynamics. The expected value of these batteri