Irreversibility and the arrow of time

zbMATH Open1500.82009arXiv2202.04619MaRDI QIDQ2164191FDOQ2164191

Authors: Jürg Fröhlich 

Publication date: 12 August 2022

Abstract: 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 me to begin this paper with a brief review of quantum-mechanical entropy, a subject that Elliott Lieb has made outstanding contributions to, followed by an enumeration of examples of irreversible behavior and of an arrow of time analyzed in later sections. Subsequently, a derivation of the laws of thermodynamics from (quantum) statistical mechanics, and, in particular, of the Second Law of thermodynamics, in the forms given to it by Clausius and Carnot, is presented. In a third part, results on diffusive (Brownian) motion of a quantum particle interacting with a quasi-free quantum-mechanical heat bath are reviewed. This is followed by an outline of a theory of friction by emission of Cherenkov radiation of sound waves in a system consisting of a particle moving through a Bose- Einstein condensate and interacting with it. In what may be the most important section of this paper, the fundamental arrow of time inherent in Quantum Mechanics is discussed.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.04619

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Brownian motion (60J65) Reaction-diffusion equations (35K57) Classical and relativistic thermodynamics (80A10) Unified quantum theories (81V22) Phase transitions (general) in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B26) Statistical thermodynamics (82B30) Irreversible thermodynamics, including Onsager-Machlup theory (82B35) Quantum entropies (81P17) Bosonic systems in quantum theory (81V73)

Cited In (11)

• Irreversibilities in quantum mechanics
• The thermodynamic arrow-of-time and quantum mechanics
• NONEXISTENCE OF IRREVERSIBLE PROCESSES IN COMPACT SPACE–TIME
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• Entropy, time-irreversibility and the Schrödinger equation in a primarily discrete spacetime
• Microscopic irreversibility
• Time-reversal, irreversibility and arrow of time in quantum mechanics
• Irreversibility of time for quasi-isolated systems
• Lawlike reversibility, factlike irreversibility. The symmetry of time in physics
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