Feynman Diagrams and the Nature of Time

Feynman Diagrams and the Nature of Time

Feynman diagrams in quantum field theory depict particle interactions, often showing particles moving both forward and backward in time. How does this fit with the idea that time is instantiated by process?

A. Time in Feynman Diagrams is Not Fundamental

• In traditional interpretations, anti-particles can be seen as particles moving backward in time.
• However, if time is not fundamental but only instantiated by process, then “moving backward in time” is just an interpretation, not an actual reversal of an independent time axis.
• The diagrams don’t show real “motion through time” but rather relational processes instantiated at different points.

B. Virtual Particles and the Instantiation of Time

• Virtual particles in Feynman diagrams are mathematical constructs that do not instantiate time in the same way as real particles.
• If time only exists when processes unfold, then virtual particles do not have a time-dimension in the usual sense—they represent potential processes that don’t instantiate their own time until interaction occurs.

C. Quantum Fluctuations and the Blurring of Time

• If quantum fluctuations are constantly happening in a vacuum, then time is being instantiated at the quantum level even in “empty” space.
• This suggests that time, rather than being a fixed background, is continuously instantiated at varying scales, depending on the scale of the processes unfolding.

Key Takeaway for Feynman Diagrams

👉 Time in quantum field theory is best understood as an emergent relation between interactions rather than a background timeline.

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Broader Implications of This View

1. No absolute past and future in quantum physics – Particles and anti-particles don’t “move through time” but instantiate time relationally.
2. Fluctuations instantiate local time – Even in apparent emptiness, time is being instantiated at quantum scales.

This reformulation moves us away from the Newtonian, container-like view of time and aligns with both modern cosmology and quantum field theory.