scholarly journals Time and Causality: A Thermocontextual Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison Crecraft
Keyword(s):  
Hidden Variables ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Irreversible Thermodynamic ◽  
Arrow Of Time ◽  
Physical Explanation ◽  
Reference Time ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Wavefunction Collapse ◽  
Zero Reference ◽  
System Time

The Thermocontextual Interpretation (TCI) is proposed here as an alternative to existing interpretations of physical states and time. Prevailing interpretations are based on assumptions rooted in classical mechanics. Logical implications include the determinism and reversibility of change, and an immediate conflict. Determinism underlies causality, but causality implies a distinction between cause and effect and an arrow of time, conflicting with reversibility. Prevailing interpretations also fail to explain the empirical irreversibility of wavefunction collapse without untestable and untenable metaphysical implications. They fail to reconcile nonlocality and relativity without invoking superdeterminism or unexplained superluminal correlations. The Thermocontextual Interpretation defines a system’s state with respect to its actual surroundings at a positive ambient temperature. The TCI bridges existing physical interpretations and thermodynamics as special cases, which define states either with respect to an absolute-zero reference or with respect to a thermally equilibrated reference. The TCI defines system time as a complex property of state spanning both reversible mechanical time and irreversible thermodynamic time, and it distinguishes between system time and the reference time of relativity and causality, as measured by an observer’s clock. And, the TCI provides a physical explanation for nonlocality, consistent with relativity, without hidden variables, superdeterminism, or “spooky action.”

scholarly journals Time and Causality: A Thermocontextual Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison Crecraft
Keyword(s):  
Hidden Variables ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Irreversible Thermodynamic ◽  
Arrow Of Time ◽  
Physical Explanation ◽  
Reference Time ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Wavefunction Collapse ◽  
Zero Reference ◽  
System Time

The Thermocontextual Interpretation (TCI) is proposed here as an alternative to existing interpretations of physical states and time. Prevailing interpretations are based on assumptions rooted in classical mechanics. Logical implications include the determinism and reversibility of change, and an immediate conflict. Determinism underlies causality, but causality implies a distinction between cause and effect and an arrow of time, conflicting with reversibility. Prevailing interpretations also fail to explain the empirical irreversibility of wavefunction collapse without untestable and untenable metaphysical implications. They fail to reconcile nonlocality and relativity without invoking superdeterminism or unexplained superluminal correlations. The Thermocontextual Interpretation defines a system’s state with respect to its actual surroundings at a positive ambient temperature. The TCI bridges existing physical interpretations and thermodynamics as special cases, which define states either with respect to an absolute-zero reference or with respect to a thermally equilibrated reference. The TCI defines system time as a complex property of state spanning both reversible mechanical time and irreversible thermodynamic time, and it distinguishes between system time and the reference time of relativity and causality, as measured by an observer’s clock. And, the TCI provides a physical explanation for nonlocality, consistent with relativity, without hidden variables, superdeterminism, or “spooky action.”

scholarly journals Time and Causality: A Thermocontextual Perspective

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1705
Author(s):  
Harrison Crecraft
Keyword(s):  
Hidden Variables ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Irreversible Thermodynamic ◽  
Time Symmetry ◽  
Thermodynamic Irreversibility ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Relativistic Causality ◽  
Wavefunction Collapse ◽  
Zero Reference ◽  
System Time

The thermocontextual interpretation (TCI) is an alternative to the existing interpretations of physical states and time. The prevailing interpretations are based on assumptions rooted in classical mechanics, the logical implications of which include determinism, time symmetry, and a paradox: determinism implies that effects follow causes and an arrow of causality, and this conflicts with time symmetry. The prevailing interpretations also fail to explain the empirical irreversibility of wavefunction collapse without invoking untestable and untenable metaphysical implications. They fail to reconcile nonlocality and relativistic causality without invoking superdeterminism or unexplained superluminal correlations. The TCI defines a system’s state with respect to its actual surroundings at a positive ambient temperature. It recognizes the existing physical interpretations as special cases which either define a state with respect to an absolute zero reference (classical and relativistic states) or with respect to an equilibrium reference (quantum states). Between these special case extremes is where thermodynamic irreversibility and randomness exist. The TCI distinguishes between a system’s internal time and the reference time of relativity and causality as measured by an external observer’s clock. It defines system time as a complex property of state spanning both reversible mechanical time and irreversible thermodynamic time. Additionally, it provides a physical explanation for nonlocality that is consistent with relativistic causality without hidden variables, superdeterminism, or “spooky action”.

scholarly journals On deformations of classical mechanics due to Planck-scale physics

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 2050070
Author(s):  
Olga I. Chashchina ◽  
Abhijit Sen ◽  
Zurab K. Silagadze
Keyword(s):  
Quantum System ◽  
Evolution Equations ◽  
Hidden Variables ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Planck Scale ◽  
Leibniz Rule ◽  
Uncertainty Relations ◽  
Interesting Possibility ◽  
Heisenberg Uncertainty ◽  
Space Formulation

Several quantum gravity and string theory thought experiments indicate that the Heisenberg uncertainty relations get modified at the Planck scale so that a minimal length do arises. This modification may imply a modification of the canonical commutation relations and hence quantum mechanics at the Planck scale. The corresponding modification of classical mechanics is usually considered by replacing modified quantum commutators by Poisson brackets suitably modified in such a way that they retain their main properties (antisymmetry, linearity, Leibniz rule and Jacobi identity). We indicate that there exists an alternative interesting possibility. Koopman–von Neumann’s Hilbert space formulation of classical mechanics allows, as Sudarshan remarked, to consider the classical mechanics as a hidden variable quantum system. Then, the Planck scale modification of this quantum system naturally induces the corresponding modification of dynamics in the classical substrate. Interestingly, it seems this induced modification in fact destroys the classicality: classical position and momentum operators cease to be commuting and hidden variables do appear in their evolution equations.

scholarly journals The fundamental equations of quantum mechanics

1925 ◽  
Vol 109 (752) ◽  
pp. 642-653 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Classical Theory ◽  
Correspondence Principle ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Stationary States ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Restricted Region ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fundamental Equations ◽  
Limiting Case ◽  
Mathematical Operations

It is well known that the experimental facts of atomic physics necessitate a departure from the classical theory of electrodynamics in the description of atomic phenomena. This departure takes the form, in Bohr’s theory, of the special assumptions of the existence of stationary states of an atom, in which it does not radiate, and of certain rules, called quantum conditions, which fix the stationary states and the frequencies of the radiation emitted during transitions between them. These assumptions are quite foreign to the classical theory, but have been very successful in the interpretation of a restricted region of atomic phenomena. The only way in which the classical theory is used is through the assumption that the classical laws hold for the description of the motion in the stationary states, although they fail completely during transitions, and the assumption, called the Correspondence Principle, that the classical theory gives the right results in the limiting case when the action per cycle of the system is large compared to Planck’s constant h , and in certain other special cases. In a recent paper Heisenberg puts forward a new theory, which suggests that it is not the equations of classical mechanics that are in any way at fault, but that the mathematical operations by which physical results are deduced from them require modification. All the information supplied by the classical theory can thus be made use of in the new theory.

scholarly journals Maxwell’s Demon in Quantum Mechanics

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Orly Shenker ◽  
Meir Hemmo
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Thought Experiment ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Arrow Of Time ◽  
Maxwell’S Demon ◽  
Counter Example ◽  
Maxwell's Demon

Maxwell’s Demon is a thought experiment devised by J. C. Maxwell in 1867 in order to show that the Second Law of thermodynamics is not universal, since it has a counter-example. Since the Second Law is taken by many to provide an arrow of time, the threat to its universality threatens the account of temporal directionality as well. Various attempts to “exorcise” the Demon, by proving that it is impossible for one reason or another, have been made throughout the years, but none of them were successful. We have shown (in a number of publications) by a general state-space argument that Maxwell’s Demon is compatible with classical mechanics, and that the most recent solutions, based on Landauer’s thesis, are not general. In this paper we demonstrate that Maxwell’s Demon is also compatible with quantum mechanics. We do so by analyzing a particular (but highly idealized) experimental setup and proving that it violates the Second Law. Our discussion is in the framework of standard quantum mechanics; we give two separate arguments in the framework of quantum mechanics with and without the projection postulate. We address in our analysis the connection between measurement and erasure interactions and we show how these notions are applicable in the microscopic quantum mechanical structure. We discuss what might be the quantum mechanical counterpart of the classical notion of “macrostates”, thus explaining why our Quantum Demon setup works not only at the micro level but also at the macro level, properly understood. One implication of our analysis is that the Second Law cannot provide a universal lawlike basis for an account of the arrow of time; this account has to be sought elsewhere.

scholarly journals Quantum measurement arrow of time and fluctuation relations for measuring spin of ultracold atoms

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maitreyi Jayaseelan ◽  
Sreenath K. Manikandan ◽  
Andrew N. Jordan ◽  
Nicholas P. Bigelow
Keyword(s):  
Ultracold Atoms ◽  
Quantum Spin ◽  
Arrow Of Time ◽  
Quantum Thermodynamics ◽  
Many Body ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Fluctuation Relations ◽  
Time Problem ◽  
Body Dynamics ◽  
Wavefunction Collapse

AbstractThe origin of macroscopic irreversibility from microscopically time-reversible dynamical laws—often called the arrow-of-time problem—is of fundamental interest in both science and philosophy. Experimentally probing such questions in quantum theory requires systems with near-perfect isolation from the environment and long coherence times. Ultracold atoms are uniquely suited to this task. We experimentally demonstrate a striking parallel between the statistical irreversibility of wavefunction collapse and the arrow of time problem in the weak measurement of the quantum spin of an atomic cloud. Our experiments include statistically rare events where the arrow of time is inferred backward; nevertheless we provide evidence for absolute irreversibility and a strictly positive average arrow of time for the measurement process, captured by a fluctuation theorem. We further demonstrate absolute irreversibility for measurements performed on a quantum many-body entangled wavefunction—a unique opportunity afforded by our platform—with implications for studying quantum many-body dynamics and quantum thermodynamics.

scholarly journals The indeterminist objectivity of quantum mechanics versus the determinist subjectivity of classical physics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasil Dinev Penchev
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Hidden Variables ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Niels Bohr ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
Physical Universe ◽  
Max Born

Indeterminism of quantum mechanics is considered as an immediate corollary from the theorems about absence of hidden variables in it, and first of all, the Kochen – Specker theorem. The base postulate of quantum mechanics formulated by Niels Bohr that it studies the system of an investigated microscopic quantum entity and the macroscopic apparatus described by the smooth equations of classical mechanics by the readings of the latter implies as a necessary condition of quantum mechanics the absence of hidden variables, and thus, quantum indeterminism. Consequently, the objectivity of quantum mechanics and even its possibility and ability to study its objects as they are by themselves imply quantum indeterminism. The so-called free-will theorems in quantum mechanics elucidate that the “valuable commodity” of free will is not a privilege of the experimenters and human beings, but it is shared by anything in the physical universe once the experimenter is granted to possess free will. The analogical idea, that e.g. an electron might possess free will to “decide” what to do, scandalized Einstein forced him to exclaim (in a letter to Max Born in 2016) that he would be а shoemaker or croupier rather than a physicist if this was true. Anyway, many experiments confirmed the absence of hidden variables and thus quantum indeterminism in virtue of the objectivity and completeness of quantum mechanics. Once quantum mechanics is complete and thus an objective science, one can ask what this would mean in relation to classical physics and its objectivity. In fact, it divides disjunctively what possesses free will from what does not. Properly, all physical objects belong to the latter area according to it, and their “behavior” is necessary and deterministic. All possible decisions, on the contrary, are concentrated in the experimenters (or human beings at all), i.e. in the former domain not intersecting the latter. One may say that the cost of the determinism and unambiguous laws of classical physics, is the indeterminism and free will of the experimenters and researchers (human beings) therefore necessarily being out of the scope and objectivity of classical physics. This is meant as the “deterministic subjectivity of classical physics” opposed to the “indeterminist objectivity of quantum mechanics”.

scholarly journals A Contextual Foundation for Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison Crecraft
Keyword(s):  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Positive Temperature ◽  
Spontaneous Transition ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Measurable Rate ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Evolutionary Paths

The prevailing interpretations of physics are based on deeply entrenched assumptions, rooted in classical mechanics. Logical implications include: the denial of entropy and irreversible change as fundamental properties of state; the inability to explain random quantum measurements and nonlocality without unjustifiable assumptions and untestable metaphysical implications; and the inability to explain or even define the evolution of complexity. The dissipative conceptual model (DCM) is based on empirically justified assumptions. It generalizes mechanics’ definition of state by acknowledging the contextual relationship between a physical system and its positive-temperature ambient background, and it defines the DCM entropy as a fundamental contextual property of physical states. The irreversible production of entropy establishes the thermodynamic arrow of time and a system’s process of dissipation as fundamental. The DCM defines a system’s utilization by the measurable rate of internal work on its components and as an objective measure of stability for a dissipative process. The spontaneous transition of dissipative processes to higher utilization and stability defines two evolutionary paths. The evolution of life proceeded by both competition for resources and cooperation to evolve and sustain higher functional complexity. The DCM accommodates classical and quantum mechanics and thermodynamics as idealized non-contextual special cases.

scholarly journals Real numbers are the hidden variables of classical mechanics

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Gisin
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Hidden Variables ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Real Numbers ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
The Common ◽  
Physical Variables

Abstract Do scientific theories limit human knowledge? In other words, are there physical variables hidden by essence forever? We argue for negative answers and illustrate our point on chaotic classical dynamical systems. We emphasize parallels with quantum theory and conclude that the common real numbers are, de facto, the hidden variables of classical physics. Consequently, real numbers should not be considered as “physically real” and classical mechanics, like quantum physics, is indeterministic.

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