Related papers: Time symmetry in Rigged Hilbert Spaces
The upside-down simple harmonic oscillator system is studied in the contexts of quantum mechanics and classical statistical mechanics. It is shown that in order to study in a simple manner the creation and decay of a physical system by ways…
Based on the hypothesis that the (non-reversible) arrow of time is intrinsic in any system, no matter how small, the consequences are discussed. Within the framework of local quantum physics it is shown how such a semi-group action of time…
It is well known that nonrelativistic quantum mechanics presents a clear asymmetry between space and time. Much of this asymmetry is attributed to the lack of Lorentz invariance of the theory. Nonetheless, a recent work [Phys. Rev. A…
The second law of thermodynamics points to the existence of an `arrow of time', along which entropy only increases. This arises despite the time-reversal symmetry (TRS) of the microscopic laws of nature. Within quantum theory, TRS underpins…
Collapse models are modifications of quantum theory where the wave function is treated as physically real and the collapse of the wave function is a physical process. This appears to introduce a time reversal asymmetry into the dynamics of…
Together with the concept of reversibility, another relevant physical notion is time-symmetry, which expresses that there is no way of distinguishing between backward and forward time directions. This notion, found in physical theories, has…
Fundamental interactions are either fully or nearly symmetric under time reversal. But macroscopic phenomena have a definite arrow of time. Though there is no convergence on the origin of time's preferential direction, many researchers…
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…
The fundamental problem on which Ilya Prigogine and the Brussels-Austin Group have focused can be stated briefly as follows. Our observations indicate that there is an arrow of time in our experience of the world (e.g., decay of unstable…
The second law of thermodynamics - the usual statement of the arrow of time - has been called the most fundamental law of physics. It is thus difficult to conceive that a single dynamical system could contain subsystems, in significant…
Deriving an arrow of time from time-reversal symmetric microscopic dynamics is a fundamental open problem in many areas of physics, ranging from cosmology, to particle physics, to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Here we focus on…
Arno Bohm and Ilya Prigogine's Brussels-Austin Group have been working on the quantum mechanical arrow of time and irreversibility in rigged Hilbert space quantum mechanics. A crucial notion in Bohm's approach is the so-called…
This paper relates both to the metaphysics of probability and to the physics of time asymmetry. Using the formalism of decoherent histories, it investigates whether intuitions about intrinsic time directedness that are often associated with…
A framework for wave function collapse models that is symmetric under time reversal is presented. Within this framework there are equivalent pictures of collapsing wave functions evolving in both time directions. The backwards-in-time Born…
Hamiltonian trajectories are strictly time-reversible. Any time series of Hamiltonian coordinates {q} satisfying Hamilton's motion equations will likewise satisfy them when played "backwards", with the corresponding momenta changing signs :…
It is argued that the standard quantum mechanical description of the Bell correlations between entangled subsystems is in conflict with relativistic space-time symmetry. Proposals to abandon relativistic symmetry, in the sense of explicitly…
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…
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…
I explain in what sense the structure of space and time is probably vague or indefinite, a notion I define. This leads to the mathematical representation of location in space and time by a vague interval. From this, a principle of…
A dynamical system is said to be reversible if, given an output, the input can always be recovered in a well-posed manner. Nevertheless, we argue that reversible systems that have a time-reversal symmetry, such as the Nonlinear…