dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaTime Symmetry in Microphysics
| Authors | Huw Price |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9610036 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9610036 |
Abstract
Physics takes for granted that interacting physical systems with no common history are independent, before their interaction. This principle is time-asymmetric, for no such restriction applies to systems with no common future, after an interaction. The time-asymmetry is normally attributed to boundary conditions. I argue that there are two distinct independence principles of this kind at work in contemporary physics, one of which cannot be attributed to boundary conditions, and therefore conflicts with the assumed T (or CPT) symmetry of microphysics. I note that this may have interesting ramifications in quantum mechanics.
{
"annotation_id": "d57274d7-6040-4af9-ac99-c6b1f1e8db0d",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:02:38.217000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:02:38.217000Z",
"file_hash": "2659c43fb3d375295420897da77923f8c9e890259062e22fc68bf237abe5be98",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Physics takes for granted that interacting physical systems with no common\nhistory are independent, before their interaction. This principle is\ntime-asymmetric, for no such restriction applies to systems with no common\nfuture, after an interaction. The time-asymmetry is normally attributed to\nboundary conditions. I argue that there are two distinct independence\nprinciples of this kind at work in contemporary physics, one of which cannot be\nattributed to boundary conditions, and therefore conflicts with the assumed T\n(or CPT) symmetry of microphysics. I note that this may have interesting\nramifications in quantum mechanics.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9610036",
"authors": [
"Huw Price"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "Time Symmetry in Microphysics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9610036"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "cee82fd9-52dd-4679-9639-742bc6056906",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}