Time has a fundamentally different character in quantum mechanics and when in general relativity. In quantum theory, events develop in a fixed order while in general relativity temporal order is affected by the distribution of matter.

Now, a team of international scientists has discovered a new kind of quantum time order. Through this study, scientists sought to determine: what happens when an object massive enough to influence the flow of time is placed in a quantum state?

The disclosure emerged from a test the group intended to bring together elements of the two significant physics theories developed in the past century.