Reversing the Arrow of Time

Abstract

The arrow of time refers to the curious asymmetry that distinguishes the future from the past. Reversing the Arrow of Time argues that there is an intimate link between the symmetries of 'time itself' and time reversal symmetry in physical theories, which has wide-ranging implications for both physics and its philosophy. This link helps to clarify how we can learn about the symmetries of our world; how to understand the relationship between symmetries and what is real, and how to overcome pervasive illusions about the direction of time. Roberts explains the significance of time reversal in a way that intertwines physics and philosophy, to establish what the arrow of time means and how we can come to know it. This book is both mathematically and philosophically rigorous yet remains accessible to advanced undergraduates in physics and philosophy of physics.

arXiv comment251 pages, 48 figues, Open Access CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Available to purchase in print

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Revisiting quantum field theory in Rindler spacetime with superselection rules
• Towards a unitary formulation of quantum field theory in curved spacetime: the case of de Sitter spacetime
• On the modeling of irreversibility by relaxator Liouville dynamics
• CMB parity asymmetry from unitary quantum gravitational physics