Related papers: Three's a Crowd: On Causes, Entropy, and Physical …
In this paper we discuss the traditional approaches to the problem of the arrow of time. On the basis of this discussion we adopt a global and non-entropic approach, according to which the arrow of time has a global origin and is an…
Different approaches to quantum gravity, such as loop quantum cosmology and group field theory, predict the resolution of the initial cosmological singularity via a bounce: a regular spacetime region that connects the expanding branch of…
It is shown in the framework of a harmonic system that the thermodynamical time arrow is induced by the environmental initial conditions in a manner similar to spontaneous symmetry breaking. The Closed Time Path formalism is introduced in…
064<p type="texpara" tag="Body Text" et="abstract" bin="clone" >There are two schools, or lines of thought, that try to unify the apparently divergent laws of dynamics and thermodynamics and to explain the observed time-asymmetry of the…
We advance a new viewpoint on the connection between the the thermodynamical and cosmological arrows of time, which can be traced via the properties of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. We show that in the…
According to statistical mechanics, micro-states of an isolated physical system (say, a gas in a box) at time $t_0$ in a given macro-state of less-than-maximal entropy typically evolve in such a way that the entropy at time $t$ increases…
This thesis addresses two major problems in the philosophy of physics. The first is how to identify the minimal physical content of a theory; that is, what features of a theory are truly needed to make predictions, and what can be removed…
The epistemic arrow of time is the fact that our knowledge of the past seems to be both of a different kind and more detailed than our knowledge of the future. Just like with the other arrows of time, it has often been speculated that the…
We postulate a principle stating that the initial condition of a physical system is typically algorithmically independent of the dynamical law. We argue that this links thermodynamics and causal inference. On the one hand, it entails…
The Sapient Paradox is the apparently unexplainable time delay of several ten thousand years following the arrival of Homo sapiens in Asia and Europe and before the introduction of impressive innovations with the agricultural revolution.…
This article describes the third law of thermodynamics. This law is often poorly known and is often decried, or even considered optional and irrelevant to describe weather and climate phenomena. This, however, is inaccurate and contrary to…
The recent Letter by Wissner-Gross and Freer [1] proposes a relationship between intelligence and entropy maximization based on a causal generalization of entropic forces over configuration space paths, which may beautifully induce…
Probably not, because there are lots of manifestly unanthropic ways of producing entropy. We demonstrate that the Causal Entropic Principle (CEP), as a replacement for the anthropic principle to explain the properties of the observed…
Our universe seems to be radiation dominated at early times, and vacuum energy dominated at late times. When we consider the maximal analytic extension of this spacetime, its symmetries and complex analytic properties suggest a picture in…
Exact relations between the QCD thermal pressure and the trace anomaly are derived. These are used, first, to prove the equivalence of the thermodynamic and the hydrodynamic pressure in equilibrium in the presence of the trace anomaly,…
Despite the success of our best models in Theoretical Physics, especially concerning Cosmology and Particle Physics, we still face persistent challenges. Among them we have the cosmological singularity problem, understanding the late-time…
This paper explores the evolution of the so called "anthropic reasoning" in a historical perspective. It takes under scrutiny the appearance of "anthropic" considerations in various stages of modern cosmology, focusing also on some very…
Renewed interest in deriving gravity (more precisely, the Einstein equations) from thermodynamics considerations [1, 2] is stirred up by a recent proposal that 'gravity is an entropic force' [3] (see also [4]). Even though I find the…
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…
We review recent progress in understanding certain aspects of the thermodynamics of black holes and other horizons. Our discussion centers on various ``entropy bounds'' which have been proposed in the literature and on the current…