Physicists confirm 'negative time' in quantum study of light-atom interactions

In a Toronto laboratory, physicists have done what theory long promised but experiment struggled to deliver: they have measured negative time in the interaction between light and matter. By asking atoms directly how long photons dwelled within them, researchers found that the atoms reported durations with a negative sign — a result that does not unravel the laws of physics, but quietly deepens the mystery of what time means at the quantum scale. It is a reminder that even the most familiar phenomena, light passing through matter, can still hold secrets after a century of scrutiny.