TheAr

rowofTi
me

Thepercepti
ont hatt i
memov esonlyfor
war d,
knownast he"arr
owoftime,
"isaf undament al
aspectofourexper ienceofreali
ty.Thi
sphenomenonhasi ntri
guedsci
enti
stsandphi losopher
s
al
ike,asi
tcontrast swi t
hthelawsofphy sics,whicharemostlyti
me-sy
mmet ric.Thereare
sever
alperspectivesandconcept sinphy sicsthathel
pexplai
nwhyweexper iencetimeas
mov i
nginonedi rection:

1.Ther
mody
nami
cAr
rowofTi
me

Oneoft hemostsi gni

fi
cantexplanat
ionscomesf rom thermodynami cs,part
icul
arlytheSecond
LawofTher mody namics.Thisl
awst atesthatt
heentropy,ordisorder,ofanisolatedsyst
em
tendstoincreaseoverti
me.Ent r
opyisameasur eofthenumberofmi croscopicconf i
gur
ati
ons
thatcorr
espondt oamacr oscopicst
ate,andsystemsnat ural
l
yev olvetowardsst ateswit
h
higherentr
opy .

Ir
reversi
bil
it
y:Processessuchasmi xi
ngdif
fer
entsubstances,
thespreadingofgaspart
icl
esin
aroom, andthet r
ansferofheatf
rom ahotobj
ecttoacol doneareal
l examplesofi
rr
eversi
ble
processes.Theseprocessesonlyoccuri
nonedirect
ionbecausetheyleadtoanincr
easei n
entropy.

Stati
sti
calNat ure:
Whi l
et hemi cr
oscopicl
awsofphysicsarer
ev er
sibl
e,theover
whelming
probabil
i
tyofhi gherentropyst at
esdriv
esthemacroscopi
cdirecti
onoftime.Forinst
ance,
while
i
t'
st heor
eticall
ypossiblef orgaspart
icl
estospont
aneouslygatherinonecornerofaroom,iti
s
extr
aordinari
lyunli
kelycompar edtot
henumberofway stheycanbespr eadout.

2.Cosmol
ogi
cal
Arr
owofTi
me

Thecosmol
ogi
cal
arr
owoft
imei
srel
atedt
otheexpansi
onoft
heuni
ver
se:

Bi
gBangandExpansion:Theuni
ver
sebeganinahi ghl
yordered,l
ow-entr
opystat
eatt heBig
Bang.Ast
heuniv
erseexpands,i
tevol
vestowar
dsst at
esofhigherentr
opy.Thisexpansion
gi
vesadir
ect
iontoti
me,from ahi
ghlyor
deredpasttoamor edisorder
edfutur
e.

Entr
opyandt heUniv
erse:
Theover
all
ent
ropyoftheuniversehasbeeni
ncr
easi
ngsincet
heBi
g
Bang,providi
nganatur
alt
imeasymmetr
y.Thi
sincreaseinentr
opyonacosmicscal
e
contr
ibutestothear
rowofti
meweobserve.

3.Psy
chol
ogi
cal
Arr
owofTi
me
Thepsy
chol
ogi
cal
arr
owoft
imer
efer
stot
hewayhumansper
cei
vet
imeandr
ememberev
ent
s:

Memor yandPer cept

ion:Humanconsciousnessexper i
encestimeasf lowingfr
om pastto
presenttofut
ure.Wer ememberthepastandant i
cipatethefuture,
butnotv i
ceversa.Thi
s
percepti
onisti
edt ot
hei ncr
easeinent
ropy;ourbrains,asphysicalsy
st ems,pr
ocessandstor
e
i
nformationinawayt hatcorr
espondstothethermody namicarrowoft ime.

CausalRel
ati
onshi
ps:Weunder
standevent
si ntermsofcauseandeffect
,whi
chalsogi
vesa
di
rect
iontoti
me.Causespr
ecedeeffect
s,r
einforci
ngourpercept
ionofti
mefl
owinginone
di
rect
ion.

4.Quant
um Ar
rowofTi
me

I
nquant
um mechani
cs,
themeasur
ementpr
ocessi
ntr
oducesanar
rowoft
ime:

Wavefuncti
onCol l
apse:Inthestandardinter
pret
ati
onofquant
um mechanics,
theactof
measurementcausesaquant um system to"col
l
apse"f
rom asuper
posi
ti
onofstatestoa
def
ini
testate.Thiscol
lapseprocessintroducesanasymmetry
,aswedon'tobser
vesystemsun-
col
l
apsingbacki ntosuperposit
ions.

5.Ent
ropyandt
heAr
rowofTi
me

I
nsummar y,t
hemostwi del
yaccept edexplanati
onf ortheuni
directi
onalfl
owoft i
mei srelat
ed
toent r
opyandt heSecondLawofTher mody namics.Whi l
ethefundament all
awsofphy sicsare
ti
me- symmet ri
c(meaningtheydon' tdisti
nguishbetweenpastandf ut
ure),t
hecondit
ionsoft he
universe—start
ingfr
om alow-entropyst ateandmov ingtowardshigherentr
opy—createan
arr
owoft i
me.Thi sar
rowisrefl
ect edint hemacr oscopicphenomenaweobser ve,t
hestructure
oftheuni v
erse,andourpsychological experi
ences.

Theper cepti
onoft i
memov ingfor
wardisdeeplyconnect edt otheincr
easei nentropy
,the
expansionoft heuniverse,andthewayweexper i
enceandi nter
pretevents.Whilethe
fundament all
awsofphy sicsall
owf orti
me-r
eversalsymmet ry,
thespecificconditi
onsand
evolut
ionofouruni versegi v
er i
setoanapparentasy mmet r
yint i
me.Thisconceptr emainsa
ri
chareaofst udyinphy sicsandphi l
osophy,
asr esearcherscont i
nuetoexpl or
et henatureof
ti
meandi tsi
mpl i
cati
onsf orourunder st
andi
ngoft heuniv erse.