Related papers: The Arrow of Time in Rigged Hilbert Space Quantum …
Two approaches toward the arrow of time for scattering processes have been proposed in rigged Hilbert space quantum mechanics. One, due to Arno Bohm, involves preparations and registrations in laboratory operations and results in two…
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 observed probabilities of quantum mechanics possess a time asymmetry which is based on the truism that a state must be prepared before an observable can be measured in it. While Hilbert space quantum theory cannot incorporate this arrow…
Despite the fact that the fundamental physical laws are symmetric in time, most observed processes do not show this symmetry. Especially the phenomenon of decay seems to involve a kind of irreversibility that makes the definition of a…
This second part of a two-part essay discusses recent developments in the Brussels-Austin Group after the mid 1980s. The fundamental concerns are the same as in their similarity transformation approach (see Part I), but the contemporary…
After a review of the arrows of time, we describe the possibilities of a time-asymmetry in quantum theory. Whereas Hilbert space quantum mechanics is time-symmetric, the rigged Hilbert space formulation, which arose from Dirac's bra-ket…
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…
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…
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…
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…
In two recent papers by the author, a new approach was suggested for quantising space-time, or space. This involved developing a procedure for quantising a system whose configuration space--or history-theory analogue--is the set of objects,…
The arrow of time is an irreversible phenomenon for a system of particles undergoing reversible dynamics. Since the time of Boltzmann to this day, the arrow of time has led to debate and research. However, the enormous growth of…
We derive the arrows of time of our universe that follow from the no-boundary theory of its quantum state (NBWF) in a minisuperspace model. Arrows of time are viewed four-dimensionally as properties of the four-dimensional Lorentzian…
It is brought forward that viable theories of the physical world that have no variable at all that can play the role of time, do not exist; some notion of time is one of the very first ingredients a candidate theory should possess. Almost…
While the microscopic laws of physics are often symmetric under time reversal, most natural processes that we observe are not. The emergent asymmetry between typical and time-reversed processes is referred to as the arrow of time. In…
The familiar textbook quantum mechanics of laboratory measurements incorporates a quantum mechanical arrow of time --- the direction in time in which state vector reduction operates. This arrow is usually assumed to coincide with the…
The meaning of time asymmetry in quantum physics is discussed. On the basis of a mathematical theorem, the Stone--von Neumann theorem, the solutions of the dynamical equations, the Schr\"odinger equation (1) for states or the Heisenberg…
Time-asymmetric spacetime structures, in particular those representing black holes and the expansion of the universe, are intimately related to other arrows of time, such as the second law and the retardation of radiation. The nature of the…
Quantum mechanics in the Rigged Hilbert Space formulation describes quasistationary phenomena mathematically rigorously in terms of Gamow vectors. We show that these vectors exhibit microphysical irreversibility, related to an intrinsic…
In [Sch05a], it is argued that Boltzmann's intuition, that the psychological arrow of time is necessarily aligned with the thermodynamic arrow, is correct. Schulman gives an explicit physical mechanism for this connection, based on the…