Reversibility and Irreversibility within the Quantum Formalism
Abstract
The discussion on time-reversal in quantum mechanics exists at least since Wigner's ``Uber die Operation der Zeitumkehr in der Quantenmechanik'' paper in 1932. If and how the dynamics of the quantum world is time-reversible has been the subject of many controversies. Some have seen quantum mechanics as fundamentally time-irreversible, see for example von Neumann, and some have seen in that the ultimate cause of time's arrow and second law behavior. In his best-selling book ``The Emperor's New Mind'', Roger Penrose argues similarly and concludes that ``our sought-for quantum gravity must be a time-asymmetric theory'' [p.351]. Not so long ago, we read yet about another project in Physicalia 26: to extend quantum mechanics into new fundamentally irreversible equations, thus proposing a new theory giving ``... une description fondamentale irreversible de tout systeme physique''.
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0508041,
title = {Reversibility and Irreversibility within the Quantum Formalism},
author = {Tim Jacobs and Christian Maes},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0508041},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
16 pages