The Physical Basis of The Direction of Time

Four previous editions of this book were published in 1989, 1992, 1999, and 2001. They were preceded by a German version (Zeh 1984) that was based on lectures I had given at the University of Heidelberg. My interest in this subject arose originally from the endeavor to better - derstand all aspects of irreversibility that might be relevant for the statistical natureandinterpretationofquantumtheory. Thequantummeasurementp- cess is often claimed to represent an 'ampli?cation' of microscopic properties to the macroscopic scale in close analogy to the origin of classical ?uctuations, whichmayleadtothelocalonsetofaphasetransition,forexample. Thisclaim can hardly be upheld under the assumption of universal unitary dynamics, as is well known from the example of Schr¨ odinger's cat. However, the classical theoryofstatisticalmechanicso?ersmanyproblemsandmisinterpretationsof its own, which are in turn related to the oft-debated retardation of radiation, irreversible black holes with their thermodynamical aspects, and - last but not least - the expansion of the Universe. So the subject o?ered a great and exciting 'interdisciplinary' challenge. My interest was also stimulated by Paul Davies' (1977) book that I used successfully for my early lectures. Quantum gravity, that for consistency has to be taken into account in cosmology, even requires a complete revision of the concept of time, which leads to entirely novel and fundamental questions of interpretation (Sect. 6. 2). Many of these interesting ?elds and applications have seen considerable progress since the last edition came out.

List of contents

The Physical Concept of Time.- The Time Arrow of Radiation.- The Thermodynamical Arrow of Time.- The Quantum Mechanical Arrow of Time.- The Time Arrow of Spacetime Geometry.- The Time Arrow in Quantum Cosmology.- Epilog.

About the author

H. Dieter Zeh studierte Physik in Braunschweig und Heidelberg, wo er sich anschließend zunächst mit Problemen der theoretischen Niederenergie-Kernphysik beschäftigte. Nach einem einjährigen Forschungsaufenthalt am California Institute of Technology arbeitete er an der Universität von Kalifornien in San Diego über die kosmische Synthese der schweren Atomkerne. Von dort kehrte er nach Heidelberg zurück, wo er Vorlesungen auf verschiedenen Gebieten der Theoretische Physik hielt und seit 1990 emeritiert ist.§Seine Arbeiten zum Verständnis von kollektiven Bewegungen von Atomkernen führten ihn schon früh auf das Problem des Übergangs von quantenmechanischen zu klassischen Erscheinungsformen physikalischer Objekte. Dieses ist eng verknüpft mit dem umstrittenen quantenmechanischen Meßprozeß, der seinerseits einen grundlegenden Aspekt irreversibler Prozesse in der Natur bildet. Indem Zeh die Begriffe der Quantenmechanik im Gegensatz zur vorherrschenden Tradition konsequent auf alle Systeme anwandte, erkannte er die Bedeutung von deren unkontrollierbar zunehmender globaler Verschränkung , was zu dem heute als Dekohärenz bezeichneten Begriff und Forschungsprogramm führte.

Summary

Four previous editions of this book were published in 1989, 1992, 1999, and 2001. They were preceded by a German version (Zeh 1984) that was based on lectures I had given at the University of Heidelberg. My interest in this subject arose originally from the endeavor to better - derstand all aspects of irreversibility that might be relevant for the statistical natureandinterpretationofquantumtheory. Thequantummeasurementp- cess is often claimed to represent an ‘ampli?cation’ of microscopic properties to the macroscopic scale in close analogy to the origin of classical ?uctuations, whichmayleadtothelocalonsetofaphasetransition,forexample. Thisclaim can hardly be upheld under the assumption of universal unitary dynamics, as is well known from the example of Schr¨ odinger’s cat. However, the classical theoryofstatisticalmechanicso?ersmanyproblemsandmisinterpretationsof its own, which are in turn related to the oft-debated retardation of radiation, irreversible black holes with their thermodynamical aspects, and – last but not least – the expansion of the Universe. So the subject o?ered a great and exciting ‘interdisciplinary’ challenge. My interest was also stimulated by Paul Davies’ (1977) book that I used successfully for my early lectures. Quantum gravity, that for consistency has to be taken into account in cosmology, even requires a complete revision of the concept of time, which leads to entirely novel and fundamental questions of interpretation (Sect. 6. 2). Many of these interesting ?elds and applications have seen considerable progress since the last edition came out.

Additional text

From the reviews of the fifth edition:
"Why does one never see a broken cup on the floor, jump back on the table? A question that many will have heard during lectures on statistical physics … . Dieter Zeh addresses this and similar phenomena expressing the asymmetric evolution of time. … I would like to recommend this book to those who have a deep interest in the problems associated with the arrow of time, as it contains a enormous amount of information on the subject and explains the problems very well." (J. Dubbeldam, Kwantitatieve Methoden, 2008)

Report

From the reviews of the fifth edition:
"Why does one never see a broken cup on the floor, jump back on the table? A question that many will have heard during lectures on statistical physics ... . Dieter Zeh addresses this and similar phenomena expressing the asymmetric evolution of time. ... I would like to recommend this book to those who have a deep interest in the problems associated with the arrow of time, as it contains a enormous amount of information on the subject and explains the problems very well." (J. Dubbeldam, Kwantitatieve Methoden, 2008)

Product details

• Authors: H Dieter Zeh, H. Dieter Zeh
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 12.10.2010
• EAN: 9783642087608
• ISBN: 978-3-642-08760-8
• No. of pages: 233
• Dimensions: 172 mm x 14 mm x 239 mm
• Weight: 376 g
• Illustrations: VIII, 233 p.
• Series: The Frontiers Collection; The Frontiers Collection
• Subject: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Thermodynamics