The Relevance of the Invariance Under Time-Reversal to the Arrow of Time
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18270/rcfc.v22i44.3524Keywords:
arrow of time, time-reversal invariance, space-time, time-orientability, global time, time symmetry, four-dimensional energy flowAbstract
In this article is it argued that the existence of physical laws that are invariant under time-reversal is not an indispensable condition for the existence of the arrow of time. Such an arrow can be defined as a global and geometric property of space-time, which neither is based on entropic considerations nor requires the existence of time-reversal invariant laws. In turn, if the space-time satisfies certain conditions, the global arrow can be transferred to the local contexts as a four-dimensional energy flow that points to the same time direction in all space-time points.
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