Related papers: The problem of time: a path integral view
We discuss how the classical notions of time and causal structure may emerge together with quantum-mechanical probabilities from a universal quantum state. For this, the process of decoherence between semiclassical branches is important.…
The local conservation of a physical quantity whose distribution changes with time is mathematically described by the continuity equation. The corresponding time parameter, however, is defined with respect to an idealized classical clock.…
We argue that (1) our perception of time through change and (2) the gap between reality and our observation of it are at the heart of both quantum mechanics and the dynamical mechanism of physical systems. We suggest that the origin of…
Quantum gravity, the initial low entropy state of the Universe, and the problem of time are interlocking puzzles. In this article, we address the origin of the arrow of time from a cosmological perspective motivated by a novel approach to…
This paper presents a unified formulation of the origin of the arrow of time in classical and quantum mechanics. We begin with a mechanical analysis of a one-dimensional three-particle system, which provides a concrete example in which…
We observe that the Schrodinger equation may be written as two real coupled Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ)-like equations, each involving a quantum potential. Developing our established programme of representing the quantum state through exact…
The use of a relational time in quantum mechanics is a framework in which one promotes to quantum operators all variables in a system, and later chooses one of the variables to operate like a ``clock''. Conditional probabilities are…
A simplified Heisenberg spin model is studied in order to examine the idea of decoherence in closed quantum systems. For this purpose, we present a quantifiable definition to quantum coherence $\Xi$, and discuss in some detail a general…
The spread of the time arrows from the environment to an observed subsystem is followed within a harmonic model. A similarity is pointed out between irreversibility and a phase with spontaneously broken symmetry. The causal structure of…
Quantum systems can exhibit a great deal of universality at low temperature due to the structure of ground states and the critical points separating distinct states. On the other hand, quantum time evolution of the same systems involves all…
We present a suggestion on the interpretation of canonical time evolution when gravitation is present, based on the nonlinear gauge approach to gravity. Essentially, our proposal consists of an internal-time concept, with the time variable…
The basic tenet of the present work is the assumption of the lack of external and fixed time in the Universe. This assumption is best embodied by general relativity, which replaces the fixed space-time structure with the gravitational…
Linear evolution equations are considered usually for the time variable being defined on an interval where typically initial conditions or time-periodicity of solutions are required to single out certain solutions. Here we would like to…
A free quantum field in 1+1 dimensions admits unitary Schrodinger picture dynamics along any foliation of spacetime by Cauchy curves. Kuchar showed that the Schrodinger picture state vectors, viewed as functionals of spacelike embeddings,…
We conduct a case study analysis of a proposal for the emergence of time based upon the approximate derivation of three grades of temporal structure within an explicit quantum cosmological model which obeys a Wheeler-DeWitt type equation…
General aspects of the quantization of field theories non-local in time are discussed. The path integral on the basis of Schwinger's action principle and the Bjorken-Johnson-Low prescription, which helps to recover the canonical structure…
The extrinsic quantum mechanical arrow of time is understood to be a consequence of the interaction between quantum systems and their environment. A choice of boundary conditions for the Schr\"odinger equation results in a different time…
Loop Quantum Gravity faces challenges in constructing a well-defined Hamiltonian constraint and understanding the quantum notion of time. In this paper these issues are studied by quantizing the $U(1)^3$ model, a simplified system…
Transport and scattering phenomena in open quantum-systems with a continuous energy spectrum are conveniently solved using the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. In the time-dependent picture, the evolution of an initially localized…
The emergent semiclassical time approach to resolving the problem of time in quantum gravity involves heavy slow degrees of freedom providing via an approximately Hamilton-Jacobi equation an approximate timestandard with respect to which…