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We investigate the detailed properties of Observational entropy, introduced by \v{S}afr\'{a}nek et al. [Phys. Rev. A 99, 010101 (2019)] as a generalization of Boltzmann entropy to quantum mechanics. This quantity can involve multiple…
Statistical mechanics descriptions of the second law of thermodynamics generally imply point-like particles driven by a dissipative overall mechanism for their simultaneous time-evolution. As the number of involved particles grows larger,…
We argue that the entanglement entropy for a very small subsystem obeys a property which is analogous to the first law of thermodynamics when we excite the system. In relativistic setups, its effective temperature is proportional to the…
Regardless of studies and debates over a century, the statistical origin of the second law of thermodynamics still remains illusive. One essential obstacle is the lack of a proper theoretical formalism for non-equilibrium entropy. Here I…
Uncovering the origin of the arrow of time remains a fundamental scientific challenge. Within the framework of statistical physics, this problem was inextricably associated with the second law of thermodynamics, which declares that entropy…
We examine the consequences of a universe with a non-constant cosmological term in Einstein's equations and find that the Bianchi identities reduce to the first law of thermodynamics when cosmological term is identified as being…
Statistical Mechanics deals with ensembles of microstates that are compatible with fixed constraints and that on average define a thermodynamic macrostate. The evolution of a small system is normally subjected to changing constraints and…
It is suggested that dark energy in a brane world can help reconcile an infinitely cyclic cosmology with the second law of thermodynamics. A cyclic cosmology is described, in which dark energy with constant equation of state leads to a…
In a causal world the direction of the time arrow dictates how past causal events in a variable $X$ produce future effects in $Y$. $X$ is said to cause an effect in $Y$, if the predictability (uncertainty) about the future states of $Y$…
Ordinary, macroscopic systems, naturally tend to a state of maximum entropy compatible with their constraints. However, this might not hold for gravity-dominated systems since their entropy may increase without bound unless this is…
The assumption that a complete description of an early state of the universe does not privilege any position or direction in space leads to a unified account of probability in cosmology, macroscopic physics, and quantum mechanics. Such a…
Discussions on indeterminism in physics focus on the possibility of an open future, i.e. the possibility of having potential alternative future events, the realisation of one of which is not fully determined by the present state of affairs.…
We investigate fundamental connections between thermodynamics and quantum information theory. First, we show that the operational framework of thermal operations is nonequivalent to the framework of Gibbs-preserving maps, and we comment on…
We derive the arrows of time of our universe that follow from the no-boundary theory of its quantum state (NBWF) in a minisuperspace model. Arrows of time are viewed four-dimensionally as properties of the four-dimensional Lorentzian…
The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system can only increase over time. This appears to conflict with the reversible evolution of isolated quantum systems under the Schr\"odinger equation, which preserves…
The notions of cause and effect are widely employed in science. I discuss why and how they are rooted into thermodynamics. The entropy gradient (i) explains in which sense interventions affect the future rather than the past, and (ii)…
In the Cadassian universe, one can explain the acceleration of the universe without introducing dark energy component. However, the dynamical equations of this model can not be directly obtained from the action principle. Recently, works on…
The concept of entropy in statistical physics is related to the existence of irreversible macroscopic processes. In this work, we explore a recently introduced entropy formula for a class of stochastic processes with more than one absorbing…
The origin of classical predictability is investigated for the one dimensional harmonic chain considered as a closed quantum mechanical system. By comparing the properties of a family of coarse-grained descriptions of the chain, we conclude…
In this paper we work out a multiverse scenario whose physical characteristics enable us to advance the following the conjecture that whereas the physics of particles and fields is confined to live in the realm of the whole multiverse…