The Arrow of Time
The Arrow of Time
Olimpia Lombardi, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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GBPThe 'arrow of time,' a concept first introduced by Sir Arthur Eddington, reflects the one-way flow of time and its association with various physical asymmetries in thermodynamics, cosmology, quantum mechanics, field theories, and beyond. Yet, the foundations of the arrow of time continues to challenge physicists and philosophers, having profound implications across multiple theories and disciplines.This volume compiles insights from the international colloquium 'The Arrow of Time: From Local Systems to the Whole Univers' held in Buenos Aires in 2023. It explores diverse perspectives on the arrow of time in thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and cosmology, its relation to counterfactual reasoning, free will and the growing-block universe, the interplay between consciousness and time, and the implications of time-reversal invariance. Collectively, these contributions provide a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of the enduring enigma of time's unidirectional nature.
- Provides a comprehensive, up-to-date exploration of the problem of the arrow of time, spanning multiple areas and disciplines
- Offers new solutions to classical problems in the field as well as opens new problems and challenges
- Includes thirteen chapters contributed by leading experts in the field, offering valuable insights into this complex and multifaceted topic
Product details
November 2025Hardback
9781009581578
326 pages
244 × 170 mm
Not yet published - available from November 2025
Table of Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I. Local Systems:
- 1. The direction of time: from the cosmos to local systems David Albert
- 2. Thermodynamics with and without irreversibility David Wallace
- 3. Thermodynamics without time Francesca Vidotto
- Part II. The Arrow of Time and Philosophical Issues:
- 4. Explaining the psychological arrow of time in time-symmetric physics Meir Hemmo and Orly Shenker
- 5. The consequence argument meets the mentaculus Barry Loewer
- 6. 'Freedom from inside out'. Revisited Carl Hoefer
- 7. The arrow of time is alive and well but forbidden under the received view in physics Ruth E. Kastner
- Part III. The Arrow of Time and Time-Reversal Invariance:
- 8. Time for pancakes: ontology and time reversal Valia Allori
- 9. Insights into quantum time reversal from the classical Schrödinger equation Craig Callender
- 10. Saving the appearances: the direction of time and time-reversal invariance Cristian López
- Part IV. The Whole Universe:
- 11. Following Earman's time direction heresy: from the global arrow of time to local irreversible processes Olimpia Lombardi
- 12. The seeds of cosmic structure, the black hole information puzzle and the entropic arrow of time Daniel Sudarsky and ElÃas Okón
- 13. Finding time for Wheeler-DeWitt cosmology Nick Huggett , Karim Thébault
- Index.
