Decomposing the local arrow of time in interacting systems

Abstract

We show that the evidence for a local arrow of time, which is equivalent to the entropy production in thermodynamic systems, can be decomposed. In a system with many degrees of freedom, there is a term that arises from the irreversible dynamics of the individual variables, and then a series of non--negative terms contributed by correlations among pairs, triplets, and higher--order combinations of variables. We illustrate this decomposition on simple models of noisy logical computations, and then apply it to the analysis of patterns of neural activity in the retina as it responds to complex dynamic visual scenes. We find that neural activity breaks detailed balance even when the visual inputs do not, and that this irreversibility arises primarily from interactions between pairs of neurons.

6 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Dissipation: The phase-space perspective
• Improved bounds on entropy production in living systems
• Estimating entropy production from waiting time distributions
• Non-equilibrium brain dynamics as a signature of consciousness
• Multipartite information flow for multiple Maxwell demons
• Emergence of local irreversibility in complex interacting systems

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Inference in non-equilibrium systems from incomplete information: the case of linear systems and its pitfalls
• Emergence of local irreversibility in complex interacting systems