Related papers: Time Symmetry in Microphysics
The evident contrast between the time symmetry of fundamental microscopic laws and the time asymmetry of macroscopic processes is a challenging physical problem. The observation of unitary evolution of a general physical system by an…
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…
We argue that (1) our perception of time through change and (2) the gap between reality and our observation of it are at the heart of both quantum mechanics and the dynamical mechanism of physical systems. We suggest that the origin of…
The ordinary time-dependent perturbation theory of quantum mechanics, that describes the interaction of a stationary system with a time-dependent perturbation, predicts that the transition probabilities induced by the perturbation are…
Despite the widely-held premise that initial boundary conditions (BCs) corresponding to measurements/interactions can fully specify a physical subsystem, a literal reading of Hamilton's principle would imply that both initial and final BCs…
We investigate two types of temporal symmetry in quantum mechanics. The first type, time symmetry, refers to the inclusion of opposite time orientations on an equivalent physical footing. The second, event symmetry, refers to the inclusion…
In understanding the world of matter, the introduction of symmetry principles following experimentation or using the predictive power of symmetry principles to guide experimentation is most profound. The conservation of energy, linear…
Fundamental laws of physics are symmetric under time reversal ($T$) symmetry, but the $T$ symmetry is strongly broken in the macroscopic world. In this Perspective, I review $T$ symmetry breaking frameworks: \textit{second law of…
A qualification is suggested for the counterfactual reasoning involved in some aspects of time-symmetric quantum theory (which involves ensembles selected by both the initial and final states). The qualification is that the counterfactual…
This essay examines our fundamental conceptions of time, spacetime, the asymmetry of time, and the motion of a quantum mechanical particle. The concept of time has multiple meanings and these are often confused in the literature and must be…
Beginning with the principle that a closed mechanical composite system is timeless, time can be defined by the regular changes in a suitable position coordinate (clock) in the observing part, when one part of the closed composite observes…
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…
$\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics has been considered an important theoretical framework for understanding physical phenomena in $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric systems, with a number of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry related applications. This…
Many macroscopic physical processes are known to occur in a time-directed way despite the apparent time-symmetry of the known fundamental laws. A popular explanation is to postulate an unimaginably atypical state for the early universe -- a…
In the paper, elements of the system theory of time are presented, mathematical models for time are constructed, and various properties are deduced from the main principles of the system theory of time. This theory is a far-reaching…
It has been shown that the combination of a broken spatial symmetry in the potential (or ratchet potential) and time correlations in the driving are crucial, and enough to allow transformation of the fluctuations into work. The required…
The second law of thermodynamics is asymmetric with respect to time as it says that the entropy of the universe must have been lower in the past and will be higher in the future. How this time-asymmetric law arises from the time-symmetric…
It is explained how the unification of resonance and decay phenomena into a consistent mathematical theory leads to quantum mechanical time-asymmetry. This provides the theoretical basis for a subsequent paper II in which the interpretation…
We proved that the uncertainty relation fits in with many-particle system and the equality of the relation corresponds to the thermodynamic equilibrium state, the inequality of the relation corresponds to the thermodynamic non-equilibrium…
Time-reversal had always been assumed to be a symmetry of physics at the fundamental level. In this paper we will explore the violations of time-reversal symmetry at the fundamental level and the consequences on thermodynamic systems.…