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Related papers: Computational Complexity as a Source of Thermodyna…

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Inspired by the universality of computation, we advocate for a principle of spacetime complexity, where gravity arises as a consequence of spacetime optimizing the computational cost of its own quantum dynamics. This principle is explicitly…

High Energy Physics - Theory · Physics 2022-12-14 Juan F. Pedraza , Andrea Russo , Andrew Svesko , Zachary Weller-Davies

There is a widespread assumption that the universe in general, and the Earth's biosphere in particular, is becoming more complex over time. This paper formulates this assumption as a macroscopic law, the law of increasing complexity, for a…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2026-03-02 Tatsuaki Okamoto

Strand displacement and tile assembly systems are designed to follow prescribed kinetic rules (i.e., exhibit a specific time-evolution). However, the expected behavior in the limit of infinite time--known as thermodynamic equilibrium--is…

Emerging Technologies · Computer Science 2017-09-26 David Doty , Trent A. Rogers , David Soloveichik , Chris Thachuk , Damien Woods

According to thermodynamics, the inevitable increase of entropy allows the past to be distinguished from the future. From this perspective, any clock must incorporate an irreversible process that allows this flow of entropy to be tracked.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-03-18 Emanuel Schwarzhans , Maximilian P. E. Lock , Paul Erker , Nicolai Friis , Marcus Huber

The recent surge of interest in the origin of the temporal asymmetry of thermodynamical systems (including the accessible part of the universe itself) put forward two possible explanatory approaches to this age-old problem. Hereby we show…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Milan M. Cirkovic

The universal symmetry, or conservation, of complexity underlies any law or principle of system dynamics and describes the unceasing transformation of dynamic information into dynamic entropy as the unique way to conserve their sum, the…

General Physics · Physics 2014-05-15 Andrei P. Kirilyuk

Microphysical laws are time reversible, but macrophysics, chemistry and biology are not. This chapter explores how this asymmetry (a classic example of a broken symmetry) arises due to the cosmological context, where a non-local Direction…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2020-03-18 George F R Ellis , Barbara Drossel

Within the general formalism of quantum theory irreversibility and the arrow of time in the evolution of various physical systems are studied. Irreversible behavior often manifests itself in the guise of entropy production. This motivates…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2022-02-10 Jürg Fröhlich

Developing a thermodynamic theory of computation is a challenging task at the interface of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and computer science. In particular, this task requires dealing with difficulties such as stochastic halting times,…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2024-05-14 Gonzalo Manzano , Gülce Kardeş , Édgar Roldán , David Wolpert

The problem of defining and studying complexity of a time series has interested people for years. In the context of dynamical systems, Grassberger has suggested that a slow approach of the entropy to its extensive asymptotic limit is a sign…

Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability · Physics 2009-11-07 William Bialek , Ilya Nemenman , Naftali Tishby

Numerical solutions to Newton's equations of motion for chaotic self gravitating systems of more than 2 bodies are often regarded to be irreversible. This is due to the exponential growth of errors introduced by the integration scheme and…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2018-03-14 Simon Portegies Zwart , Tjarda Boekholt

Usually, it is supposed that irreversibility of time appears only in macrophysics. Here, we attempt to introduce the microphysical arrow of time assuming that at a fundamental level nature could be non-associative. Obtaining numerical…

General Physics · Physics 2022-11-02 Merab Gogberashvili

We investigate the relationship between computation and spacetime structure, focussing on the role of closed timelike curves (CTCs) in promoting computational speedup. We note first that CTC traversal can be interpreted in two distinct…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2011-03-08 Mike Stannett

Why time is a one-way corridor? What's the origin of the arrow of time? We attribute the thermodynamic arrow of time as the direction of increasing quantum state complexity. Inspired by the work of Nielsen, Susskind and Micadei, we checked…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2017-12-20 Xiao Dong , Ling Zhou

In this paper we show that the existence of a primarily discrete space-time may be a fruitful assumption from which we may develop a new approach of statistical thermodynamics in pre-relativistic conditions. The discreetness of space-time…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2010-05-17 J. P. Badiali

Time-asymmetric behavior as embodied in the second law of thermodynamics is observed in {\it individual macroscopic} systems. It can be understood as arising naturally from time-symmetric microscopic laws when account is taken of a) the…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2007-09-06 Joel L. Lebowitz

We investigate the origin of the arrow of time in quantum mechanics in the context of quantum cosmology. The ``Copenhagen'' quantum mechanics of measured subsystems incorporates a fundamental arrow of time. Extending discussions of…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2009-09-25 Murray Gell-Mann , James B. Hartle

This article presents a general solution to the problem of computational complexity. First, it gives a historical introduction to the problem since the revival of the foundational problems of mathematics at the end of the 19th century.…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2023-12-25 Rami Zaidan

Consider a microscopic system of $N$ hard spheres that are initially independent (modulo the exclusion condition on particle positions) and identically distributed in $\mathbb{R}^3$. When the number $N$ of particles goes to infinity and the…

Analysis of PDEs · Mathematics 2026-02-05 Thierry Bodineau , Isabelle Gallagher , Laure Saint-Raymond , Sergio Simonella

Newtonian dynamics is derived from prior information codified into an appropriate statistical model. The basic assumption is that there is an irreducible uncertainty in the location of particles so that the state of a particle is defined by…

Classical Physics · Physics 2009-05-27 Ariel Caticha , Carlo Cafaro