arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Bryan W Roberts.
We show that heat defines a gauge connection on a line bundle over work configurations. Vanishing curvature is equivalent to the local existence of entropy and temperature functions such that heat can be expressed as $TdS$. A conjecture of Jauch, that entropy and temperature arise from a conservation law, is shown to follow as a special case. Global equilibrium may nevertheless fail in the presence of a thermal analogue of geometric phase.
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.