Hollywood blockbusters have never strayed away from the imaginative possibilities that time-travel brings whether it be the flux capacitor of Back to the Future, or the killer robots of the Terminator franchise. Science-fiction has always relished the ideas of quantum leaping and defying the most difficult dimension to transverse through, time.
To me, time is the fourth dimension. Imagine every object in the universe can be defined, relatively a frame of reference, by four dimensions. For example, a person relative to the earth can be defined in terms of latitude, or longitude, being x and y dimensions, and altitude, in z dimensions. Finally, he can also be defined in the fourth dimension in t. However, unlike the other three which man can manipulate through simply walking, time is not so easy to travel through (note: time zone travel is not real travel). It seems we are almost imprisoned in the dimension of time, unable to go backwards, or forwards with any free will. Of course, we are relatively going forward in time but not with much ability to change the speed of this change in time. However, this definition of time as such may be the reason for the limitations in understanding time for man is trying to reduce something unknown into something we can comprehend when perhaps it is not so. We are confining time to the dimensions of matter, and space, such arises the idea of the space-time continuum where the two are invariably linked. Similarly, the SI unit for second is defined through oscillations of matter, but i believe that, although i too have such a understanding of time, it is hindering the possibilities of time.
Now that i have expressed my thoughts on the definition of time, lets suppose for a second that time travel were possible and we could transverse the fourth dimension. There are many problems that arise from this which many use as a "Proof by contradiction" that time-travel is impossible. The main defining problem would be the temporal paradoxes that arise from time travel. Let's consider Mr X who travels back in time five minutes to kill himself. If time is linear, that would mean that Mr X kills himself before traveling back in time to kill himself, so if he is unable to travel back in time in the first place, how can he be the one who kills himself. Most of this is explained either by the idea that the time-space continuum will implode upon itself, or by a theory called Tangent Universes, or parallel universes where a alternate reality is created thus Mr X can still exist, seeing how he killed Past Mr X but still continues to exist in the alternate reality as Future Mr X. However, a problem in this arises through the Grandfather paradox, where Mr X goes back in time to kill his own grandfather. How can Future Mr X exist, at anytime, if he is not born to begin with. The answer is that Mr X exists in a tangent universe where his grandfather did exist and Mr X was born, however by traveling back and killing his grandfather, he has created an alternate universe where he is not born, yet can still exist in that universe seeing how he is there already (after killing his grandfather) however the question now remains is he able to travel back to the same alternate universe as before? Yes he can for in the first universe, his grandfather is not dead, and everything will be normal. However this second universe, his identity will be unknown if he were to travel forward through it to a point of time with a similar date to the first universe. Hence, in my opinion time travel is only possible if one were able to transverse multiple universes, as well as time.
However, if one were able to travel back five minutes, and do it over and over again, would there not be an infinite number of oneself in a universe, defying the notion of the conservation of matter and energy in the universe? The answer is no, since the energy required to travel to an alternate universe/back in time would have to be equal to the amount of matter of the new person in the universe. Then however you are transferring energy from one universe to a difference universe which also defies the law of conservation of energy/matter. The solution is simple, there is a multiverse, a universe greater than just one where there is a finite amount of energy and matter. There is also another idea which might also help explain this, for if a car travels from location A to location B, the car does no longer exist at location A, similarly why is time not subservient to the same ideals. If one were to travel through time chronologically ie. right now just normally letting time go second by second, if one were to travel back, does one really exist at point A in time as well as point B? or would Mr X encounter an empty world, devoid of matter as we know it? An object can exist simultaneously at different times but cannot exist simultaneously at the same time, unless forced to do so. (Much like the law of inertia).
On the philosophical sides of things, time travel also brings up notions of predetermination and lack of free will as we know it. For, if one can travel into a future of onself, and look upon his future self, did he actually have free will to develop chronologically into said future self? The problem here is, using the tangent universe idea, that the person ceased to exist in that particular universe when he travelled in time, hence can only exist in a alternate universe fwhere he did not time travel to begin with - this would be where the aforementioned future self can exist. So, in literature where such invention of machine can look into the future, or around the time space continuum sometimes described as elliptical, it is more ideal to think of it as a machine that can look at parallel universes. Pre-determination therefore cannot exist, since any new choice can make another alternate universe, and there is no set universe of which one can continue to exist. Hence one is traveling through alternate universes every time one makes a decision, but has no choice which alternate universe to travel towards, as far as one that is not predetermined by one's decision. However, the idea that there are infinite potential to be infinite alternate universes would defy the idea that there is a finite amount of energy in the multiverse. The only solution to this is that everytime a alternate universe is created, another must be destroyed hence meaning that travelling between different alternate universes is not possible, and that ultimately, time travel is impossible unless the conservation of energy/matter is wrong to begin with meaning that the multiverse has unlimited energy/matter, but parallel universes have limited energy/matter but there are infinite parallel universes which make up the multiverse in which case time-travel is possible. Either way, i doubt you bothered reading the entirety of this rant to begin with.
N.B: These are my thoughts and are no way substantiated by any scientific or other proofs just ideas.
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