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arXiv:1502.04012 · Proceedings of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences

Quantum asymmetry between time and space

Joan A. Vaccaro

Published Jan 1, 2016• 34 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

An asymmetry exists between time and space in the sense that physical systems inevitably evolve over time, whereas there is no corresponding ubiquitous translation over space. The asymmetry, which is presumed to be elemental , is represented by equations of motion and conservation laws that operate differently over time and space. If, however, the asymmetry was found to be due to deeper causes, this conventional view of time evolution would need reworking. Here we show, using a sum-over-paths formalism, that a violation of time reversal (T) symmetry might be such a cause. If T symmetry is obeyed, then the formalism treats time and space symmetrically such that states of matter are localized both in space and in time. In this case, equations of motion and conservation laws are undefined or inapplicable. However, if T symmetry is violated, then the same sum over paths formalism yields states that are localized in space and distributed without bound over time, creating an asymmetry between time and space. Moreover, the states satisfy an equation of motion (the Schrödinger equation) and conservation laws apply. This suggests that the time–space asymmetry is not elemental as currently presumed, and that T violation may have a deep connection with time evolution.

DOI
10.1098/rspa.2015.0670

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An asymmetry exists between time and space in the sense that physical systems inevitably evolve over time, whereas there is no corresponding ubiquitous translation over space. The asymmetry, which is presumed to be elemental , is represented by equations of motion and conservation laws that operate differently over time and space. If, however, the asymmetry was found to be due to deeper causes, this conventional view of time evolution would need reworking. Here we show, using a sum-over-paths formalism, that a violation of time reversal (T) symmetry might be such a cause. If T symmetry is obeyed, then the formalism treats time and space symmetrically such that states of matter are localized both in space and in time. In this case, equations of motion and conservation laws are undefined or inapplicable. However, if T symmetry is violated, then the same sum over paths formalism yields states that are localized in space and distributed without bound over time, creating an asymmetry between time and space. Moreover, the states satisfy an equation of motion (the Schrödinger equation) and conservation laws apply. This suggests that the time–space asymmetry is not elemental as currently presumed, and that T violation may have a deep connection with time evolution.
Collapse models are modifications of quantum theory where the wave function is treated as physically real and the collapse of the wave function is a physical process. This appears to introduce a time reversal asymmetry into the dynamics of the wave function since the collapses affect only the future state. This paper challenges this conclusion, showing that in three different examples of time asymmetries associated with collapse models, if the physically real part of the model can be reduced to the locations in space and time about which collapses occur, then such a model works both forward and backward in time, in each case satisfying the Born rule. Despite the apparent asymmetry of the collapse process, these models in fact have time reversal symmetry. Any physically observed time asymmetries that arise in such models are due to the asymmetric imposition of initial or final time boundary conditions, rather than from an inherent asymmetry in the dynamical law. This is the standard explanation of time asymmetric behaviour resulting from time symmetric laws.
This is Part 1 of a four part paper, intended to redress some of the most fundamental confusions in the subject of physical time directionality, and represent the concepts accurately. There are widespread fallacies in the subject that need to be corrected in introductory courses for physics students and philosophers. Parts 1 and 2 are about quantum mechanics, Part 3 is about fundamental concepts, and Part 4 is about cosmology. We start in Part 1 by analysing the time reversal symmetry of quantum probability laws. Time reversal symmetry is defined as the property of invariance under the time reversal transformation, T: t -> -t. It is shown that quantum mechanics (classical or relativistic) is strongly time asymmetric in its probability laws. This contradicts the orthodox analysis, found throughout the conventional literature on physical time, which claims that quantum mechanics is time symmetric or reversible. This is widely claimed as settled scientific fact, and large philosophical and scientific conclusions are drawn from it. But it is an error. The fact is that while quantum mechanics is widely claimed to be reversible on the basis of two formal mathematical properties (that it does have), these properties do not represent invariance under the time reversal transformation. A recent experiment (Batalhao at alia, 2015) showing irreversibility of quantum thermodynamics is discussed as an illustration of this result. Most physicists remain unaware of the errors, decades after they were first demonstrated. Orthodox specialists in the philosophy of time who are aware of the error continue to refer to the ‘time symmetry’ or ‘reversibility’ of quantum mechanics anyway – and exploit the ambiguity to claim false implications about physical time reversal symmetry in nature. The excuse for perpetrating the confusion is that, since it is has now become customary to refer to the formal properties of quantum mechanics as ‘reversibility’ or ‘time reversal symmetry’, we should just keep referring to them by this name, even though they are not time reversal symmetry. This causes endless confusion, in attempts to explain the physical irreversibility of our universe, and in philosophical discussions of implications of physics for the nature of time. The failure of time reversal symmetry in quantum mechanics changes the interpretation of modern physics in a deep way. It changes the problem of explaining the real irreversibility found throughout nature.
The first question to ask about the phenomenon of relaxation is why it occurs at all. Both the Newton and the Schrödinger equations are symmetrical under time reversal: The Newton equation, dx/dt = v ; dv/dt = −∂V/∂x, implies that particles obeying this law of motion will retrace their trajectory back in time after changing the sign of both the time t and the particle velocities v. The Schrödinger equation, ∂ψ/∂t = −(i/.h) Ĥ ψ, implies that if (ψ (t) is a solution then ψ *(−t) is also one, so that observables which depend on |ψ|2 are symmetric in time. On the other hand, nature clearly evolves asymmetrically as asserted by the second law of thermodynamics. How does this asymmetry arise in a system that obeys temporal symmetry in its time evolution? Readers with background in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics have encountered the intuitive answer: Irreversibility in a system with many degrees of freedom is essentially a manifestation of the system “getting lost in phase space”:Asystem starts from a given state and evolves in time. If the number of accessible states is huge, the probability that the system will find its way back to the initial state in finite time is vanishingly small, so that an observer who monitors properties associated with the initial state will see an irreversible evolution. The question is how is this irreversible behavior manifested through the reversible equations of motion, and how does it show in the quantitative description of the time evolution. This chapter provides an introduction to this subject using the time-dependent Schrödinger equation as a starting point. Chapter 10 discusses more advanced aspects of this problem within the framework of the quantum Liouville equation and the density operator formalism.
The structures are physical systems and/or their mathematical descriptions consisting of elements such as particles, fields, observables, operators etc and of relations between these elements: the equations of motion and the rules of quantum mechanics. Examples of symmetries are reflections, permutations of particles, time reversal. The physical system has a symmetry group means, then, that there is a group of transformations leaving the equations of motion and the rules of quantum mechanics invariant. The discrete symmetries lead to conservation laws frequently expressible in terms of quantum numbers, but sometimes requiring a more elaborate description. The observables corresponding to the super-selection quantum numbers can be measured without disturbing any other measurement; their values are always sharp. The chapter shows that the invariant subspace may be labelled by continuous quantum numbers (for instance momentum) when the direct sum becomes a direct integral.
Abstract Physicists believe that there is a corresponding conservation law for each principle of symmetry. In standard textbooks on quantum mechanics, however, it is asserted that the time-reversal symmetry does not lead to any conservation law. There seems to be a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle of the connection between the principles of symmetry and the conservation laws. In this paper, we resolve this difficulty by considering the time-reversal invariance of the transition probability a basic physical requirement of the time-reversal symmetry. We show that this requirement, together with the time-reversal covariance of the Schrödinger equation, guarantees the hermiticity of the Hamiltonian which ensures the probability conservation. Thus we complete the missing piece by demonstrating that the time-reversal symmetry leads to the probability conservation. The present paper can help undergraduate students gain deeper insight into the connection between the principles of symmetry and the conservation laws in quantum mechanics.
It is well known that nonrelativistic quantum mechanics presents a clear asymmetry between space and time. Much of this asymmetry is attributed to the lack of Lorentz invariance of the theory. Nonetheless, a recent work [Phys. Rev. A \textbf{95}, 032133 (2017)] showed that even though this is partially true, there is a broader physical scenario in which space and time can be handled in nonrelativistic quantum theory in a more symmetric way. In this space-time-symmetric formalism, an additional Hilbert space is defined so that time is raised to the status of operator and position becomes a parameter. As a consequence, the Hilbert space now requires a space-conditional quantum state governed by a new quantum dynamics. In this manuscript, we reveal some physical and mathematical properties of the space-time-symmetric formalism such as: symmetries between the Hamilton-Jacobi and the space-conditional equation; the general solution for a time-independent potential; and a new Lagrangian for a spinless particle in one dimensional. Finally, we present the space-conditional equation for a particle under the effect of an electromagnetic field, and the gauge invariance of this equation is proved.