On the statistical arrow of time

Andreas Henriksson

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arXiv · 1905.06187

On the statistical arrow of time

Andreas Henriksson

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Abstract

What is the physical origin of the arrow of time? It is a commonly held belief in the physics community that it relates to the increase of entropy as it appears in the statistical interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics. At the same time, the subjective information-theoretical interpretation of probability, and hence entropy, is a standard viewpoint in the foundations of statistical mechanics. In this article, it is argued that the subjective interpretation is incompatible with the philosophical point of view that the arrow of time is a fundamental property of Nature. The subjectivist can only uphold this philosophy if the role played by the second law of thermodynamics in defining time's arrow is abandoned.

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Andreas Henriksson. 2019-05-13. On the statistical arrow of time. https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.06187

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