The Universe Writes Itself Into Existence Moment by Moment

Physicist Avshalom Elitzur, known for the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-testing experiment, presents a new, not-yet-published framework that unifies quantum mechanics and gravity by taking the reality of time’s passage as a foundational assumption. Instead of a block universe where all times coexist, he proposes that events are continuously created anew in the present moment (“becoming”), and that space-time itself emerges from quantum interactions occurring in a pre-existing nothingness outside space and time. This approach yields several surprising, experimentally supported predictions, most notably the transient existence of negative mass.

Elitzur’s unconventional background and the problem of unification

• PhD with Yakir Aharonov without a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
• Co-created the bomb-testing experiment, which he considers more profound than the double-slit: a bomb that could explode but didn’t leaves a physical trace.
• Unification must be guided by simplicity and beauty, not extra dimensions or complexity.
• The black-hole information paradox is simple, so its solution should be simple too—a criterion unmet by current string-theory approaches.

The case for time’s passage being real

• Relativity treats all times as equally real and the “now” as an illusion, but Elitzur finds this deeply unsatisfying and points to multiple unexplained time asymmetries: thermodynamic (entropy increase), cosmological (expansion, not contraction), gravitational (black holes but no white holes), and particle-physics (T-violation).
• These asymmetries suggest a master asymmetry: becoming itself—the continuous creation of new events—from which the others may derive.

Quantum events can “un-happen”

• Work with Eliahu Cohen shows quantum mechanics allows events to occur and then be obliterated, a phenomenon they call “quantum oblivion”.
• In an electron–positron annihilation setup, if no photons are detected, the electron’s momentum is changed while the positron is completely unaffected—violating classical action–reaction, explained by an event that briefly existed and was then undone.
• This underlies interaction-free measurement (the bomb-testing experiment): a bomb that didn’t explode still affects the photon because the explosion almost happened.

Two-State Vector Formalism (TSVF) and retroaction

• Yakir Aharonov’s TSVF uses two wave functions—one evolving forward from the past, one backward from the future—to describe a quantum system.
• This yields new, testable predictions: certainty between non-commuting measurements at intermediate times, and an elegant explanation of non-locality via a four-dimensional “zigzag” (similar to the transactional interpretation).
• Elitzur notes that the past is not completely fixed, leaving room for limited retroaction without enabling time travel.

Experimentally confirmed negative mass

• In a nested Mach–Zehnder interferometer (Vaidman’s setup), post-selecting cases where a detector did not click creates overlapping “fake past” and “fake future” paths.
• A test particle reveals a real particle briefly existing on a path where no particle went and from which none returned.
• The algebra forces a minus sign, which Aharonov assigns to mass, producing a transient “negaparticle” (negative mass, not antiparticle).
• Weak measurements by Vaidman show the mirror is pulled, not pushed, confirming negative mass effects.
• Elitzur argues this negative mass is absent from the Standard Model and may be key to understanding quantum mysteries.

Space-time from nothing: the unification proposal

• Becoming means future events objectively do not exist; therefore space-time does not extend beyond the present moment—the future is “nowhere, no-when.”
• The wave function’s collapse creates not only the particle but also the empty space where the particle could have been.
• Quantum interactions between force-carrying particles (photons, gravitons) in pre-space-time generate space-time itself, making these interactions more fundamental than space-time.
• This offers a path to unify gravity with electromagnetism: just as mass curves space-time, charges and masses could emerge from pre-space-time quantum interactions, yielding attraction and repulsion naturally.
• The approach echoes Mach’s principle—space and time have no meaning without events—and reframes the Big Bang as an ongoing creation of new “now” layers.

Schrödinger’s cat and delayed choice revisited

• A sealed box containing a superposed cat has no space-time inside; opening it creates the cat’s entire history (lean live cat or decomposed dead cat), analogous to Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment.
• This reinforces the idea that becoming fills in space-time corridors retroactively.

Advice for young physicists

• Don’t chase salary; if you love foundational physics, accept slower career progress for deeper rewards.
• Don’t fear asking simple, profound questions, even under publish-or-perish pressure.
• Form study groups with peers to think aloud and support each other—collaboration fuels discovery.
• Friendships and intellectual community are as vital as technical skill.