scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2079128

Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to classical thermodynamics (80-02) Classical and relativistic thermodynamics (80A10) Irreversible thermodynamics, including Onsager-Machlup theory (82B35) Relativistic cosmology (83F05)

Review text

An important issue in physics is the existence of an arrow of time associated with macroscopic systems. Besides the existence, another fundamental question is why that arrow has a well defined direction and not the opposite one? One may try to answer these questions by realizing that the arrow of time has a deep connection with one of the most remarkable laws of physics: the second law of thermodynamics. Due to this connection, the arrow of time is sometimes called the thermodynamic arrow of time. The second law of thermodynamics tells that when a macroscopic system goes from a thermodynamic state of equilibrium to another one, the entropy of the system always increases. Many physicists have tried to explain that law in at least three different ways. The first way is in terms of asymmetric conditions imposed on reversible microscopic laws. The second is based on the interaction of microscopic subsystems that form the macroscopic system. Finally, the third is by taking into account the existence of a cosmological arrow of time. Since it is a well established fact that the Universe is expanding, and not contracting, we have another arrow with a well defined direction. It is reasonable to think that both the time and the cosmological arrows are related. In the present paper the author shows a consistent way to explain the existence and direction of the cosmological arrow of time and that this direction may be reversed. He also shows that within some large system it is possible that there are two subsystems, in significant mutual contact, possessing arrows of time that point in opposite directions. In this way, we could have, in our Universe, two separate regions where: in the first one the entropy increases while in the other the entropy diminishes. In order to show the above results he uses a technique from ergodic theory, the so-called \textit{cat map}. The \textit{cat map} is a mixing transformation (\(\phi\)) of the unit square (\(I^2\)) onto itself. The physical systems considered by the author are those that can be represented by a collection of non-interacting atoms, an ideal gas. The way by which the author models the evolution of an ideal gas using the \textit{cat map} is by placing several hundred points in \(I^2\) and allowing each to move independently under \(\phi\). In order to explain the existence and direction of the cosmological arrow of time the author proposes that one should give boundary conditions at two widely separated instants of time and look for the emergence of an arrow between them. He considers in his model of the Universe that it has a beginning (big bang) followed by expansion and subsequent contraction, leading to an end (big crunch). Therefore, he sets symmetric boundary conditions at these two fundamental instants. The boundary conditions are such that one must consider the matter and radiation distributions as roughly homogeneous at some time interval both after the big bang and before the big crunch. The way to translate these conditions to an ideal gas the evolution of which is modeled by points that move under the \textit{cat map} in \(I^2\) is by noting that homogeneity is a far, far from equilibrium state when the dynamics of the system is dominated by gravity. The \textit{cat map} gas would be in a state out of equilibrium if it were concentrated in a small region. So, the author models the evolution of the matter and radiation in the Universe by the \textit{cat map} gas and sets boundary conditions such that at two separated instants all the points are located in two small regions in \(I^2\), one for each instant. This means that at these locations the entropy (\(S\)) vanishes. He performs a numerical simulation of the \textit{cat map} gas evolution under these conditions and plots a graphic of \(S\) versus the time (\(t\)). From the graphic it is clear that an arrow of time is developed for the entropy increasing from zero up to a maximum value. Indeed, due to the symmetry of the boundary conditions, after a while the arrow of time is reversed and the entropy goes to zero. Next, the author considers the question whether it is possible that within some large system there are two subsystems, in significant mutual contact, possessing arrows of time that point in opposite directions. He formulates that problem in the following way. First, he takes a system with just two component subsystems. Both subsystems are represented by \textit{cat map} gases. He denotes one of the subsystems \(A\) and gives boundary conditions such that its entropy is zero at \(t=0\) and maximum (\(S_M\)) at a later time \(t=T\). Then, the other subsystem, which he denotes \(B\), has an entropy which is equal to \(S_M\) at \(t=0\) and zero at \(t=T\). The interaction between \(A\) and \(B\) is given by an additional map that he denotes \(\psi_\alpha (u,v)\). Where \(\alpha\) is a constant that gives the intensity of the coupling between the two subsystems and \(u\) and \(v\) are coordinates in the squares of \(A\) (\(I^2_A\)) and \(B\) (\(I^2_B\)). Therefore, the evolution of the subsystems \(A\) and \(B\) is given by the initial application of \(\psi_\alpha (u,v)\) under points of \(I^2_A\) and \(I^2_B\) and later application of the usual \textit{cat map} for points of \(I^2_A\) and \(I^2_B\), separately. He performs a numerical simulation of the system evolution under these conditions and plots several graphics. Some of them are plots of \(S\) versus the time (\(t\)) for different values of \(\alpha\). From the graphics it is clear that both subsystems develop arrows of time which have opposite directions. Also, one notices that the effect of \(A\) on \(B\) or vice-versa is essentially noise because the stronger the coupling the longer the period that the subsystems stay in a state of maximum entropy. Finally, the author discusses the physical implications of two regions in the Universe with opposite arrows of time. He starts by showing that if two such regions were present, they would be able to communicate between them. In order to show that, the author considers once more the system formed by two subsystems \(A\) and \(B\). He repeats the procedure described above, used for the demonstration of the existence of two regions in the Universe with opposite arrows. The only difference is that at a particular intermediate time (\(t_0\)), the subsystem \(A\) is \textit{wiggled} while nothing happens to subsystem \(B\). Based on the results of a numerical simulation and a graphic, one can see that although almost nothing happens to \(A\) at \(t_0\), \(B\) indeed responds to the {\ wiggling} of \(A\). Another important issue is the possible physical origin of opposite-arrow regions. In the author's opinion, if such regions do indeed exist, the only explanation is that we live in a big bang-big crunch Universe. In this Universe some regions managed the isolation needed to pass through the epoch of maximal expansion with its arrow intact. What should be the appearance of the material in a region with an arrow which has opposite direction than ours? Since it should be a \textit{relic} from the future it must be very old. Therefore that material is unlikely to have hydrogen burning and would probably be invisible at optical frequencies. So it would have gravitational interactions but it would be invisible, which makes it another \textit{dark matter} candidate. The author finishes the paper considering possible paradoxes and causal loops arising from opposite-arrow regions. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1027.00009].

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