Quantum physics is surprising in many ways. One surprise is the threat to locality implied by Bell's Theorem. Another surprise is the capacity of quantum computation, which poses a threat to the complexity-theoretic Church-Turing thesis. In both cases, the surprise may be due to taking for granted a certain strict arrow-of-time assumption, whose applicability may be limited to the classical domain. This possibility has been noted repeatedly in the context of Bell's Theorem. The argument concerning quantum computation is described here. Further development of models which violate this strong arrow-of-time assumption, replacing it by a weaker arrow, is called for.
It is shown that position-momentum correlation is never decreasing and therefore it is a good candidate as a quantum arrow of time devoid of shortcomings of other proposals.
Arno Bohm and Ilya Prigogine's Brussels-Austin Group have been working on the quantum mechanical arrow of time and irreversibility in rigged Hilbert space quantum mechanics. A crucial notion in Bohm's approach is the so-called preparation/registration arrow. An analysis of this arrow and its role in Bohm's theory of scattering is given. Similarly, the Brussels-Austin Group uses an excitation/de-excitation arrow for ordering events, which is also analyzed. The relationship between the two approaches is initially discussed focusing on their semi-group operators and time arrows. Finally a possibl…
We express quantum computations (with measurements) using the arrow calculus extended with monadic constructions. This framework expresses quantum programming using well-understood and familiar classical patterns for programming in the presence of computational effects. In addition, the five laws of the arrow calculus provide a convenient framework for equational reasoning about quantum computations that include measurements.
Why time is a one-way corridor? What's the origin of the arrow of time? We attribute the thermodynamic arrow of time as the direction of increasing quantum state complexity. Inspired by the work of Nielsen, Susskind and Micadei, we checked this hypothesis on both a simple two qubit and a three qubit quantum system. The result shows that in the two qubit system, the thermodynamic arrow of time always points in the direction of increasing quantum state complexity. For the three qubit system, the heat flow pattern among subsystems is closely correlated with the quantum state complexity of the sub…
We discuss the arrow of time in terms of the increase of correlations between the system and its environment. Here we show that the existence of the arrow of time, based on deleting correlations, requires a strict absence of initial correlations between the system and the environment. We discuss our work in relation to other approaches addressing the same problem and emphasise similarities and differences.
We propose a quantum voting system, in the spirit of quantum games such as the quantum Prisoner's Dilemma. Our scheme enables a constitution to violate a quantum analog of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. Arrow's Theorem is a claim proved deductively in economics: Every (classical) constitution endowed with three innocuous-seeming properties is a dictatorship. We construct quantum analogs of constitutions, of the properties, and of Arrow's Theorem. A quantum version of majority rule, we show, violates this Quantum Arrow Conjecture. Our voting system allows for tactical-voting strategies reliant …
The connection between the micro and macro-arrow of time is discussed in the frame of the stochastic quantum hydrodynamic analogy (SQHA). The presence of fluctuations that in the case on non-linear interactions leads to the breaking of the quantum mechanics on large scale and then to the macroscopic irreversibility with a defined arrow of time, gives also rise to the time reversal breaking in the micro-scale quantum evolution (micro-arrow of time). The quantum irreversibility with time reversal asymmetry is briefly discussed.
A generalized framework is developed which uses a set description instead of wavefunction to emphasize the role of the observer. Such a framework is found to be very effective in the study of the measurement problem and time's arrow. Measurement in classical and quantum theory is given a unified treatment. With the introduction of the concept of uncertainty quantum which is the basic unit of measurement, we show that the time's arrow within the uncertainty quantum is just opposite to the time's arrow in the observable reality. A special constant is discussed which explains our sensation of tim…
Recently David Jennings and Terry Rudolph published two papers as reaction on Maccone's paper "Quantum Solution to the Arrow-of-Time Dilemma". In these papers, the authors suppose that second law of thermodynamics is not relevant for quantum systems. Unfortunately, these papers did not get relevant reply from Maccone. The reason of this is following. Both Maccone and the above-mentioned authors use thermodynamic law and thermodynamic-like terminology for non-thermodynamic systems, for example, microscopic system of three qubits. However, big size of a system (quantum or classic) is also not an…
Introduction (in German) to a novel approach to sector analysis in theories with long range forces which avoids notorious infrared problems; cf. arXiv:1304.2794
The importance of the global nature of the arrow of time is shown. Classical Reichenbach diagram and quantum Bohm-Reichenbach diagram, for the universe are introduced. They are used to show the increase of entropy in closed systems, the global nature of the quantum measurement, and the relation among the different arrows of time.
Recently, a substantial amount of debate has grown up around a proposed quantum resolution to the `arrow of time dilemma' that is based on the role of classical memory records of entropy-decreasing events. In this note we show that the argument is incomplete and furthermore, by providing a counter-example, argue that it is incorrect. Instead of quantum mechanics providing a resolution in the manner suggested, it allows enhanced classical memory records of entropy-decreasing events.
We investigate the statistical arrow of time for a quantum system being monitored by a sequence of measurements. For a continuous qubit measurement example, we demonstrate that time-reversed evolution is always physically possible, provided that the measurement record is also negated. Despite this restoration of dynamical reversibility, a statistical arrow of time emerges, and may be quantified by the log-likelihood difference between forward and backward propagation hypotheses. We then show that such reversibility is a universal feature of non-projective measurements, with forward or backward…
I acknowledge a flaw in the paper "A quantum solution to the arrow of time dilemma": as pointed out by Jennings and Rudolph, (classical) mutual information is not an appropriate measure of information. This can be traced back to the quantum description underlying my analysis, where quantum mutual information is the appropriate measure of information. The core argument of my paper (summarized in its abstract) is not affected by this flaw. Nonetheless, I point out that such argument may not be adequate to account for all phenomena: it seems necessary to separately postulate a low entropy initial…
The environment -- external or internal degrees of freedom coupled to the system -- can, in effect, monitor some of its observables. As a result, the eigenstates of these observables decohere and behave like classical states: Continuous destruction of superpositions leads to environment-induced superselection (einselection). Here I investigate it in the context of quantum chaos (i. e., quantum dynamics of systems which are classically chaotic).
It is shown in the framework of a harmonic system that the thermodynamical time arrow is induced by the environmental initial conditions in a manner similar to spontaneous symmetry breaking. The Closed Time Path formalism is introduced in classical mechanics to handle Green functions for initial condition problems by the action principle, in a systematic manner. The application of this scheme for quantum systems shows the common dynamical origin of the thermodynamical and the quantum time arrows. It is furthermore conjectured that the quantum-classical transition is strongly coupled.
Two approaches toward the arrow of time for scattering processes have been proposed in rigged Hilbert space quantum mechanics. One, due to Arno Bohm, involves preparations and registrations in laboratory operations and results in two semigroups oriented in the forward direction of time. The other, employed by the Brussels-Austin group, is more general, involving excitations and de-excitations of systems, and apparently results in two semigroups oriented in opposite directions of time. It turns out that these two time arrows can be related to each other via Wigner's extensions of the spacetime …
It is brought forward that viable theories of the physical world that have no variable at all that can play the role of time, do not exist; some notion of time is one of the very first ingredients a candidate theory should possess. Almost by definition, time has an arrow. In contrast, time reversibility, or even the possibility to run the equations of motion backwards in time, is not at all a primary requirement. This means that the direction of the arrow of time may well be uniquely defined in the theory, even locally. We explain these statements in terms of the author's favoured deterministi…
It is shown that the `arrow of time' operator, M_F, recently suggested by Strauss et al., in arXiv:0802.2448v1 [quant-ph], is simply related to the sign of the canonical `time' observable, T (apparently first introduced by Holevo). In particular, the monotonic decrease of < M_F > corresponds to the fact that < sgn T > increases monotonically with time. This relationship also provides a physical interpretation of the property M_F < 1. Some further properties and possible generalisations are pointed out, including to almost-periodic systems.
Recently, the paper B. Georgeot and D.L. Shepelyansky, Phys. Rev. Lett._86_, 5393 (2001) has been criticized [C. Zalka, quant-ph/0110019; L. Di'osi, quant-ph/0110026]. The Letter claims an exponential speedup and reduction in error sensitivity, when phase-space density evolution under the Arnold cat map is performed on a quantum computer. On the one hand, some points have not yet been made by previous respondents. On the other, the authors' reaction [quant-ph/0110142] raises new issues. The present note addresses both.
Microscopic physical laws are time-symmetric, hence, a priori there exists no preferential temporal direction. However, the second law of thermodynamics allows one to associate the "forward" temporal direction to a positive variation of the total entropy produced in a thermodynamic process, and a negative variation with its "time-reversal" counterpart. This definition of a temporal axis is normally considered to apply in both classical and quantum contexts. Yet, quantum physics admits also superpositions between forward and time-reversal processes, whereby the thermodynamic arrow of time becom…
In order to describe the quantum electrodynamic measurement process in a relativistic observer-participant manner, an operator symmetry of "microscopic observer-participation" called Measurement Color (MC) is incorporated into the field theoretic structure of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) in the Heisenberg Picture. It is found that the resultant Measurement Color Quantum Electrodynamics (MC-QED) contains a microscopic quantum electrodynamic arrow of time that emerges dynamically, independent of any thermodynamic or cosmological assumptions. This occurs because the photon has a negative time pa…
Unlike classical physics, quantum mechnanics is sensitive to mistaken choice of chiralities or time-arrows of local reference systems. Quantum correlations between distant electron spins, for instance, would reveal a mistaken local chirality. Local polarization measurements and classical communication enable the distant partners to compare their local chiralities. Local time-arrows can be calibrated in a similar way.
We introduce a self-adjoint operator that indicates the direction of time within the framework of standard quantum mechanics. That is, as a function of time its expectation value decreases monotonically for any initial state. This operator can be defined for any system governed by a Hamiltonian with a uniformly finitely degenerate, absolutely continuous and semibounded spectrum. We study some of the operator's properties and illustrate them for a large equivalence class of scattering problems. We also discuss some previous attempts to construct such an operator, and show that the no-go theorem…
Modern approaches to causal modeling give a central role to interventions, which require the active input of an observer and introduces an explicit `causal arrow of time'. Causal models typically adopt a mechanistic interpretation, according to which the direction of the causal arrow is intrinsic to the process being studied. Here we investigate whether the direction of the causal arrow might be a contribution from the observer, rather than an intrinsic property of the process. Working within a counterfactual and non-mechanistic interpretation of causal modeling developed in arXiv:1806.00895, …
We show that the model of quantum computation based on density matrices and superoperators can be decomposed in a pure classical (functional) part and an effectful part modeling probabilities and measurement. The effectful part can be modeled using a generalization of monads called arrows. We express the resulting executable model of quantum computing in the programming language Haskell using its special syntax for arrow computations. The embedding in Haskell is however not perfect: a faithful model of quantum computing requires type capabilities which are not directly expressible in Haskell.
One of the basic assumptions underlying Bell's theorem is the causal arrow of time, having to do with temporal order rather than spatial separation. Nonetheless, the physical assumptions regarding causality are seldom studied in this context, and often even go unmentioned, in stark contrast with the many different possible locality conditions which have been studied and elaborated. In the present work, some retrocausal toy-models which reproduce the predictions of Quantum Mechanics for Bell-type correlations are reviewed. It is pointed out that a certain toy-model which is ostensibly superdete…
We discuss quantum entanglement in the context of the thermodynamic arrow of time. We review the role of correlations in entropy-decreasing events and prove that the occurrence of a transformation between two thermodynamic states constitutes a new type of entanglement witness, one not defined as a separating plane in state space between separable and entangled states, but as a physical process dependent on the local initial properties of the states. Extending work by Partovi, we consider a general entangled multipartite system that allows large reversals of the thermodynamic arrow of time. We …
In this work we analyse the structure of the thermodynamic arrow of time, defined by transformations that leave the thermal equilibrium state unchanged, in classical (incoherent) and quantum (coherent) regimes. We note that in the infinite-temperature limit the thermodynamic ordering of states in both regimes exhibits a lattice structure. This means that when energy does not matter and the only thermodynamic resource is given by information, the thermodynamic arrow of time has a very specific structure. Namely, for any two states at present there exists a unique state in the past consistent wi…
The operational formulations of quantum theory are drastically time oriented. However, to the best of our knowledge, microscopic physics is time-symmetric. We address this tension by showing that the asymmetry of the operational formulations does not reflect a fundamental time-orientation of physics. Instead, it stems from built-in assumptions about the $users$ of the theory. In particular, these formalisms are designed for predicting the future based on information about the past, and the main mathematical objects contain implicit assumption about the past, but not about the future. The main …
The familiar textbook quantum mechanics of laboratory measurements incorporates a quantum mechanical arrow of time --- the direction in time in which state vector reduction operates. This arrow is usually assumed to coincide with the direction of the thermodynamic arrow of the quasiclassical realm of everyday experience. But in the more general context of cosmology we seek an explanation of all observed arrows, and the relations between them, in terms of the conditions that specify our particular universe. This paper investigates quantum mechanical and thermodynamic arrows in a time-neutral fo…
According to the Second Law of thermodynamics, the evolution of physical systems has a preferred direction, that is characterized by some positive entropy production. Here we propose a direct way to measure the stochastic entropy produced while driving a quantum open system out of thermal equilibrium. The driving work is provided by a quantum battery, the system and the battery forming an autonomous machine. We show that the battery's energy fluctuations equal work fluctuations and check Jarzynski's equality. Since these energy fluctuations are measurable, the battery behaves as an embedded qu…
In a quantum world, a watched arrow never moves. This is the Quantum Zeno Effect (QZE). Repeatedly asking a quantum system "are you still in your initial state?" blocks its coherent evolution through measurement back-action. Quantum Zeno Dynamics (QZD) leaves more freedom to the system. Instead of pinning it to a single state, it sets a border in its evolution space. Repeatedly asking the system "did you cross the border?" makes it impenetrable. Since the border can be designed at will by choosing the measured observable, QZD allows one to tailor the system's evolution space. Recent proposals,…
The outcome of a single quantum experiment is unpredictable, except in a pure-state limit. The definite process that takes place in the apparatus may either be intrinsically random or be explainable from a deeper theory. While the first scenario is the standard lore, the latter implies that quantum mechanics is emergent. In that case, it is likely that one has to reconsider radiation by accelerated charges as a physical effect, which thus must be compensated by an energy input. Stochastic electrodynamics, for example, asserts that the vacuum energy arises from classical fluctuations with energ…
One of the stunning consequences of quantum correlations in thermodynamics is the reversal of the arrow of time, recently shown experimentally in [K. Micadei, et al., Nat. Commun. 10:2456 (2019)], and manifesting itself by a reversal of the heat flow (from the cold system to the hot one). Here, we show that contrary to what could have been expected, heat flow reversal can happen without reversal of the arrow of time. Moreover, contrasting with previous studies, no initial correlations between system and bath is required. Instead, the heat flow reversal only relies on internal quantum coherence…
The novelty of the Jean Pierre Badiali last scientific works stems to a quantum approach based on both (i) a return to the notion of trajectories (Feynman paths) and (ii) an irreversibility of the quantum transitions. These iconoclastic choices find again the Hilbertian and the von Neumann algebraic point of view by dealing statistics over loops. This approach confers an external thermodynamic origin to the notion of a quantum unit of time (Rovelli Connes' thermal time). This notion, basis for quantization, appears herein as a mere criterion of parting between the quantum regime and the thermo…
We try to obtain Born's principle as a result of a subquantum heat death, using classical ${\cal H}$-theorem and the definition of a proper quantum ${\cal H}$-theorem, within the framwork of Bohm's theory. We shall show the possibility of solving the problem of action-reaction asymmetry present in Bohm's theory and the arrow of time problem in our procedure.
We apply majorization theory to study the quantum algorithms known so far and find that there is a majorization principle underlying the way they operate. Grover's algorithm is a neat instance of this principle where majorization works step by step until the optimal target state is found. Extensions of this situation are also found in algorithms based in quantum adiabatic evolution and the family of quantum phase-estimation algorithms, including Shor's algorithm. We state that in quantum algorithms the time arrow is a majorization arrow.
Well-known Nuclear Magnetic Resonance experiments show that the time evolution according to (truncated) dipole-dipole interactions between n spins can be inverted by simple pulse sequences. Independent of n, the reversed evolution is only two times slower than the original one. Here we consider more general spin-spin couplings with long range. We prove that some are considerably more complex to invert since the number of required time steps and the slow-down of the reversed evolutions are necessarily of the order n. Furthermore, the spins have to be addressed separately. We show for which valu…
In [Sch05a], it is argued that Boltzmann's intuition, that the psychological arrow of time is necessarily aligned with the thermodynamic arrow, is correct. Schulman gives an explicit physical mechanism for this connection, based on the brain being representable as a computer, together with certain thermodynamic properties of computational processes. [Haw94] presents similar, if briefer, arguments. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the support for the link between thermodynamics and an arrow of time for computers. The principal arguments put forward by Schulman and Hawking will…
We present a quantum model for the motion of N point particles, implying nonlocal (i.e., superluminal) influences of external fields on the trajectories, that is nonetheless fully relativistic. In contrast to other models that have been proposed, this one involves no additional space-time structure as would be provided by a (possibly dynamical) foliation of space-time. This is achieved through the interplay of opposite microcausal and macrocausal (i.e., thermodynamic) arrows of time.
We consider the superposition of two semiclassical solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for a de Sitter universe, describing a quantized scalar vacuum propagating in a universe that is contracting in one case and expanding in the other, each identifying a opposite cosmological arrow of time. We discuss the suppression of the interference terms between the two arrows of time due to environment-induced decoherence caused by modes of the scalar vacuum crossing the Hubble horizon. Furthermore, we quantify the effect of the interference on the expectation value of the observable field mode corr…
This paper is a continuation of the papers [gr-qc/9409010, gr-qc/9505034, gr-qc/9603022, gr-qc/9609035] and is devoted to the riddle of the origin of the arrow of time. The problem of time orientation reduces to that of the difference between the past and the future. The riddle escapes solution in deterministic dynamics and in the dynamics of standard indeterministic quantum theory as well. In the dynamics of indeterministic quantum gravity, the past is reconstructible uniquely, whereas the future may be forecasted only on a probabilistic level. Thus the problems of the past and the future and…
We discuss the thermodynamic aspects of a single qubit based device, powered by weak quantum measurements, and feedback controlled by a quantum Maxwell's demon. We discuss both discrete and time-continuous operation of the measurement based device at finite temperature of the reservoir. In the discrete example where a demon acquires information via discrete weak measurements, we find that the thermodynamic variables including the heat exchanged, extractable work, and the entropy produced are completely determined by an information theoretic measure of the demon's perceived arrow of time. We al…
In both thermodynamics and quantum mechanics the arrow of time is characterized by the statistical likelihood of physical processes. We characterize this arrow of time for the continuous quantum measurement dynamics of a superconducting qubit. By experimentally tracking individual weak measurement trajectories, we compare the path probabilities of forward and backward-in-time evolution to develop an arrow of time statistic associated with measurement dynamics. We compare the statistics of individual trajectories to ensemble properties showing that the measurement dynamics obeys both detailed a…
The observed probabilities of quantum mechanics possess a time asymmetry which is based on the truism that a state must be prepared before an observable can be measured in it. While Hilbert space quantum theory cannot incorporate this arrow of time, the Rigged Hilbert Space (RHS) formulation of quantum mechanics provides a theory of time symmetric as well as time asymmetric quantum physics.
Leggett Garg inequalities (LGIs) test the incompatibility between the notion of macrorealism and quantum mechanics. For unitary dynamics, the optimal quantum violation of an LGI is constrained by the Lüders bound. However, the LGIs does not provide the necessary and sufficient for macrorealism. A suitably formulated set of no-signaling in time (NSIT) conditions along with the arrow-of-time (AOT) condition provides the same. In this paper, we study two formulations in the three-time LG scenario, viz., the standard LGIs and the recently formulated variant of LGIs when the system evolves under $\…
Conceptual problems regarding the arrow of time in classical physics, quantum physics, cosmology, and quantum gravity are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the dynamical role of the quantum indeterminism, and to various concepts of timelessness.
Quantum walks are powerful tools not only to construct the quantum speedup algorithms but also to describe specific models in physical processes. Furthermore, the discrete time quantum walk has been experimentally realized in various setups. We apply the concept of the quantum walk to the problems in quantum foundations. We show that randomness and the arrow of time in the quantum walk gradually emerge by periodic projective measurements from the mathematically obtained limit distribution under the time scale transformation.
Physical laws for elementary particles can be described by the quantum dynamics equation given a Hamiltonian. The solution are probability amplitudes in Hilbert space that evolve over time. A probability density function over position and time is given as the magnitude square of such probability amplitude. An entropy can be associated with these probability densities characterizing the position information of a particle. Coherent states are localized wave packets and may describe the spatial distribution for some particle states. We show that due to a dispersion property of Hamiltonians in qua…
We consider the so called Legget inequalities which are deduced from the assumption of general (local or non-local) realism plus the arrow of time preservation. Then, instead of assuming cryto-nonlocal hidden variables, we assume any (local or non-local) realism compatible with the joint and non-joint expected values dictated by quantum mwechaanics. Hence, we prove that this double assumption is not consistent, since the corresponding general Leggett inequalities are violated by quantum mechanics. Thus, realism plus arrow of time preservation and quntum mechanics are not compatible. In other w…
The auxiliary rules of quantum mechanics can be written without the Born rule by using what are called the nRules. The nRules are understood in part by making certain modifications in the Hamiltonian. In this paper, those modifications are written directly into the nRules, reducing their number from four to three. It is shown that the nRules in either form provide for a definite direction in time, guaranteeing that a statistically irreversible interaction is absolutely irreversible.
