T violation and the unidirectionality of time

Abstract

An increasing number of experiments at the Belle, BNL, CERN, DAΦNE and SLAC accelerators are confirming the violation of time reversal invariance (T). The violation signifies a fundamental asymmetry between the past and future and calls for a major shift in the way we think about time. Here we show that processes which violate T symmetry induce destructive interference between different paths that the universe can take through time. The interference eliminates all paths except for two that represent continuously forwards and continuously backwards time evolution. Evidence from the accelerator experiments indicates which path the universe is effectively following. This work may provide fresh insight into the long-standing problem of modeling the dynamics of T violation processes. It suggests that T violation has previously unknown, large-scale physical effects and that these effects underlie the origin of the unidirectionality of time. It may have implications for the Wheeler-DeWitt equation of canonical quantum gravity. Finally it provides a view of the quantum nature of time itself.

24 pages, 5 figures. Final version accepted for publishing in Foundations of Physics. The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/y3h4174jw2w78322/

References in corpus (3)

• Big-Bang nucleosynthesis (Particle Data Group mini-review)
• The Cosmological Parameters 2006
• CP Violation and Arrows of Time Evolution of a Neutral $K$ or $B$ Meson from an Incoherent to a Coherent State

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Quantum asymmetry between time and space
• Locally-acting mirror Hamiltonians
• Thermodynamics of memory erasure via a spin reservoir
• T violation and the Unidirectionality of Time: further details of the interference
• An anomaly in space and time and the origin of dynamics
• Flow of entropy in the evolution of the B^0 anti B^0 system: Upper bound on CP violation from unidirectionality