dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaQuantum computer inverting time arrow for macroscopic systems
| Authors | B. Georgeot, D. L. Shepelyansky |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0105149 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0105149 |
| DOI | 10.1140/epjd/e20020077 |
| Journal | Eur. Phys. J. D v.19 p.263 (2002) |
Abstract
A legend tells that once Loschmidt asked Boltzmann on what happens to his statistical theory if one inverts the velocities of all particles, so that, due to the reversibility of Newton's equations, they return from the equilibrium to a nonequilibrium initial state. Boltzmann only replied ``then go and invert them''. This problem of the relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic descriptions of the physical world and time-reversibility has been hotly debated from the XIXth century up to nowadays. At present, no modern computer is able to perform Boltzmann's demand for a macroscopic number of particles. In addition, dynamical chaos implies exponential growth of any imprecision in the inversion that leads to practical irreversibility. Here we show that a quantum computer composed of a few tens of qubits, and operating even with moderate precision, can perform Boltzmann's demand for a macroscopic number of classical particles. Thus, even in the regime of dynamical chaos, a realistic quantum computer allows to rebuild a specific initial distribution from a macroscopic state given by thermodynamic laws.
{
"annotation_id": "0002724c-d6c5-4dfe-8ef6-2be05f1eaf6b",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:45.511000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:45.511000Z",
"file_hash": "d793f56e57b39f611da901991a7bd905b51b22560ff71ae84166c81dd5d1b8c2",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "A legend tells that once Loschmidt asked Boltzmann on what happens to his\nstatistical theory if one inverts the velocities of all particles, so that, due\nto the reversibility of Newton\u0027s equations, they return from the equilibrium to\na nonequilibrium initial state. Boltzmann only replied ``then go and invert\nthem\u0027\u0027. This problem of the relationship between the microscopic and\nmacroscopic descriptions of the physical world and time-reversibility has been\nhotly debated from the XIXth century up to nowadays. At present, no modern\ncomputer is able to perform Boltzmann\u0027s demand for a macroscopic number of\nparticles. In addition, dynamical chaos implies exponential growth of any\nimprecision in the inversion that leads to practical irreversibility. Here we\nshow that a quantum computer composed of a few tens of qubits, and operating\neven with moderate precision, can perform Boltzmann\u0027s demand for a macroscopic\nnumber of classical particles. Thus, even in the regime of dynamical chaos, a\nrealistic quantum computer allows to rebuild a specific initial distribution\nfrom a macroscopic state given by thermodynamic laws.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0105149",
"authors": [
"B. Georgeot",
"D. L. Shepelyansky"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph",
"cond-mat",
"nlin.CD"
],
"doi": "10.1140/epjd/e20020077",
"journal_ref": "Eur. Phys. J. D v.19 p.263 (2002)",
"title": "Quantum computer inverting time arrow for macroscopic systems",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0105149"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "ca19e34e-3f11-4f71-808a-ba8ff02872b8",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}