Abstract
Knowledge as knowledge of facts is based on the appearance of time as fundamental difference between past and future. Taking asymmetry in time as precondition of experience, the time symmetry of the basic laws of physics has to be explained. We give an explanation founded on the abstraction leading from semigroups to groups and the essential role of the concept of groups to define stationary states and observables. We then present a short outline of the construction of an abstract quantum theory as theory of knowledge based on the asymmetry between facts and possibilities. It is well known that the second law of thermodynamics cannot be derived from theH-theorem without a further hypothesis. We show that the application of the concept of probability to the past yields inconsistency of theH-theorem and a derivation of the second law via a Boltzmann-type hypothesis. The question remains whether the distinction of facts and possibilities as precondition of a theory of knowledge is rooted in a theory of cognition itself.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aharonov, Y., and Albert, D. Z. (1980).Physical Review D,21, 3316–3324.
Aharonov, Y., Bergmann, P. G., and Lebowitz, J. L. (1964).Physical Review,134B, B1410-B1416.
Albert, D. Z., Aharonov, Y., and D'Amato, S. (1985).Physical Review Letters,54, 5–7.
Brouwer, L. E. J. (1908).Tijdsdr. voor Wijsbegeerte,2.
Bub, J., and Brown, H. (1986).Physical Review Letters,56, 2337–2340.
Drieschner, M., Görnitz, Th., and Weizsäcker, C. F. v. (1987).International Journal of Theoretical Physics,27, 289–306.
Ehrenfest, P. (1932).Zeitschrift für Physik,78, 555–559.
Gibbs, J. W. (1905).Statistische Mechanik, Leipzig, pp. 153–154.
Görnitz, Th. (1988).International Journal of Theoretical Physics,27, 659–666.
Görnitz, Th., and Ruhnau, E. (1989).International Journal of Theoretical Physics,28, 651–657.
Haag, R. (1990). Fundamental irreversibility and the concept of events, DESY 90–049.
Pauli, W. (1933).Zeitschrift für Physik,80, 573–586.
Penrose, R. (1979). Past singularities and time asymmetry, inAn Einstein Centenary Survey (S. W. Hawking and W. Israel, eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Ruhnau, E., and Pöppel, E. (1991).International Journal of Theoretical Physics,30, 1083–1090.
Weizsäcker, C. F. v. (1939).Annalen der Physik,36, 275.
Weizsäcker, C. F. v., and Görnitz, Th. (1990). Quantum theory as a theory of human knowledge, inProceedings of the Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics, Joensuu 1990 (P. Lahti and P. Mittelstaedt, eds.), World Scientific, Singapore.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Görnitz, T., Ruhnau, E. & Weizsäcker, C.F.v. Temporal asymmetry as precondition of experience. The foundation of the arrow of time. Int J Theor Phys 31, 37–46 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00674338
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00674338