Related papers: Environment Induced Time Arrow and the Closed Time…

We introduce a quasiclassical Green function approach describing the unitary yet irreversible dynamics of quantum systems effectively acting as their own environment. Combining a variety of concepts of quantum many-body theory, notably the…

Thermal machines are physical systems designed to convert thermal energy into practical work through cyclic state transformations. A key component in such a machine is a clock-equipped control element that dictates which interaction…

Recent research on the thermodynamic arrow of time, at the microscopic scale, has questioned the universality of its direction. Theoretical studies showed that quantum correlations can be used to revert the natural heat flow (from the hot…

This paper extends the work of a previous paper [arXiv:1208.2611] on the flow of time, to consider the origin of the arrow of time. It proposes that a `past condition' cascades down from cosmological to micro scales, being realized in many…

We discuss the arrow of time in terms of the increase of correlations between the system and its environment. Here we show that the existence of the arrow of time, based on deleting correlations, requires a strict absence of initial…

It is shown that the time-dependent equations (Schr\"odinger and Dirac) for a quantum system can be always derived from the time-independent equation for the larger object of the system interacting with its environment, in the limit that…

The existence of small amounts of advanced radiation, or a tilt in the arrow of time, makes the basic equations of physics mixed-type functional differential equations. The novel features of such equations point to a microphysical structure…

The relationship between 'information' and 'time' is explored in order to look for a 'solution' to the 'Problem of Time'. 'Time' is found to be the result of the conversion of energy into 'information'. The 'time' number or label we assign…

The thermodynamics of quantum systems coupled to periodically modulated heat baths and work reservoirs is developed. By identifying affinities and fluxes, the first and second law are formulated consistently. In the linear response regime,…

We introduce the idea of weakly coherent collisional models, where the elements of an environment interacting with a system of interest are prepared in states that are approximately thermal, but have an amount of coherence proportional to a…

Frauchiger and Renner recently cast doubt on the universal applicability of Quantum Mechanics [1]. In the following, it is pointed out that their conclusion of one of three common-sense conditions, demanded for Quantum Mechanics, being…

Quantum transition amplitudes are formulated for a model system with local internal time, using path integrals. The amplitudes are shown to be more regular near a turning point of internal time than could be expected based on existing…

We investigate the dynamics of open quantum systems which are initially correlated with their environment. The strategy of our approach is to analyze how given, fixed initial correlations modify the evolution of the open system with respect…

Here we investigate the impact of temporal entanglement on a system's ability to perform thermodynamical work. We show that while the quantum version of the Jarzynski equality remains satisfied even in the presence of temporal entanglement,…

A classical field theory is proposed for the electric current and the electromagnetic field interpolating between microscopic and macroscopic domains. It represents a generalization of the density functional for the dynamics of the current…

In this paper we lay out an argument that generically the psychological arrow of time should align with the thermodynamic arrow of time where that arrow is well-defined. This argument applies to any physical system that can act as a memory,…

The nature of time has beguiled philosophers for nearly three millennia. There are myriad types of time including cosmological time, biological time, psychological time, physical time, historical time, and even theological time. My brief…

This work explores the implications of assuming time symmetry and applying bridge-type, time-symmetric temporal boundary conditions to deterministic laws of nature with random components. The analysis, drawing on the works of Kolmogorov and…

A practical way to deal with the problem of time in quantum cosmology and quantum gravity is proposed. The main tool is effective equations, which mainly restrict explicit considerations to semiclassical regimes but have the crucial…

We introduce the notion of time reversal in open quantum systems as represented by linear quantum operations, and a related generalization of classical entropy production in the environment. This functional is the ratio of the probability…