Related papers: Stochasticity, decoherence and an arrow of time fr…
With a choice of boundary conditions for solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation, state vectors and density operators even for closed systems evolve asymmetrically in time. For open systems, standard quantum mechanics consequently predicts…
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…
A model quantum cosmology is used to illustrate how arrows of time emerge in a universe governed by a time-neutral dynamical theory constrained by time asymmetric initial and final boundary conditions represented by initial and final…
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…
A canonical formalism and constraint analysis for discrete systems subject to a variational action principle are devised. The formalism is equivalent to the covariant formulation, encompasses global and local discrete time evolution moves…
We examine the properties of open quantum systems with respect to their time evolution in different regimes, Markovian and non-Markovian. We analyze their behaviour with respect to their coherent or decoherent time evolution by means of…
Inspired by the discrete evolution implied by the recent work on loop quantum cosmology, we obtain a discrete time description of usual quantum mechanics viewing it as a constrained system. This description, obtained without any…
Time evolution of macroscopic systems is re-examined primarily through further analysis and extension of the equation of motion for the density matrix $\rho(t)$. Because $\rho$ contains both classical and quantum-mechanical probabilities it…
We discuss the notion of quantum mechanical coherence in its connection with time evolution and stationarity. The transition from coherence to decoherence is examined in terms of an equation for the time dependence of the density matrix. It…
The outcome of a single quantum experiment is unpredictable, except in a pure-state limit. The definite process that takes place in the apparatus may either be intrinsically random or be explainable from a deeper theory. While the first…
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…
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…
Non-relativistic quantum theory of non-interacting particles in the spacetime containing a region with closed time-like curves (time-machine spacetime) is considered with the help of the path-integral technique. It is argued that, in…
We propose a new point of view regarding the problem of time in quantum mechanics, based on the idea of replacing the usual time operator $\mathbf{T}$ with a suitable real-valued function $T$ on the space of physical states. The proper…
We study classical Hamiltonian systems in which the intrinsic proper time evolution parameter is related through a probability distribution to the physical time, which is assumed to be discrete. In this way, a physical clock with discrete…
The time evolution of a physical system is generally described by a differential equation, which can be solved numerically by adopting a difference scheme with space-time discretization. This discretization, as a numerical artifact, results…
We consider N identical oscillators coupled to a single environment and show that the conditions for the existence of decoherence free subspaces are degeneracy of the oscillator frequencies and separability of the coupling with the…
The time evolution problem for non-self adjoint second order differential operators is studied by means of the path integral formulation. Explicit computation of the path integral via the use of certain underlying stochastic differential…
The formalism of Quantum Mechanics is based by definition on conserving probabilities and thus there is no room for the description of dissipative systems in Quantum Mechanics. The treatment of time-irreversible evolution (the arrow of…
A direct classical analog of the quantum dynamics of intrinsic decoherence in Hamiltonian systems, characterized by the time dependence of the linear entropy of the reduced density operator, is introduced. The similarities and differences…