dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaNote on the Time Reversal Asymmetry of Equations of Motion
| Authors | H. D. Zeh |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/9903046 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9903046 |
| Journal | Found.Phys.Lett. 12 (1999) 193-196 |
Abstract
Rohrlich's recent claim that the equation of motion for a point charge be symmetric under time reversal is shown to be the result of an unusual definition. The equation of motion for a charged sphere of finite size, which in contrast is claimed to be asymmetric because of the finite propagation time of its (retarded) self-forces, is shown to possess the same asymmetry (or the same symmetry, depending on the definition) as that for a point charge. Similar arguments apply to other effective equations of motion (such as those describing friction or decoherence).
{
"annotation_id": "39c7ebbb-53a6-4348-bb49-d044dffcf3b5",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:24.526000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:24.526000Z",
"file_hash": "abbf89993f3bc4a2d194bab8b00d673cb5ecdc55ed003253ff5c18c28f4bba17",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Rohrlich\u0027s recent claim that the equation of motion for a point charge be\nsymmetric under time reversal is shown to be the result of an unusual\ndefinition. The equation of motion for a charged sphere of finite size, which\nin contrast is claimed to be asymmetric because of the finite propagation time\nof its (retarded) self-forces, is shown to possess the same asymmetry (or the\nsame symmetry, depending on the definition) as that for a point charge. Similar\narguments apply to other effective equations of motion (such as those\ndescribing friction or decoherence).",
"arxiv_id": "physics/9903046",
"authors": [
"H. D. Zeh"
],
"categories": [
"physics.class-ph",
"gr-qc",
"hep-th"
],
"journal_ref": "Found.Phys.Lett. 12 (1999) 193-196",
"title": "Note on the Time Reversal Asymmetry of Equations of Motion",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9903046"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "ed02e87b-8977-4830-8961-909ac1e16673",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}