On The Origin Of The Classical And Quantum Electrodynamic Arrows Of Time

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new operator symmetry in quantum electrodynamics that naturally produces a microscopic arrow of time, supported by experimental evidence from nonlinear optics involving phase conjugate mirrors.

Contribution

It develops Measurement Color QED, incorporating observer participation, which leads to a dynamically generated quantum arrow of time without relying on thermodynamic or cosmological assumptions.

Findings

Photon has negative time parity in MC-QED.

Spontaneous T and CPT symmetry breaking occurs.

Experimental results support photon’s negative parity and arrow of time.

Abstract

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 parity in MC-QED. This causes a spontaneous breaking of the T and CPT symmetry to be generated by the physical requirement that a stable vacuum state exists in the MC-QED formalimm. This dynamically selects operator solutions containing a causal, retarded, quantum electrodynamic arrow of time due in the Heisenberg operator equations of motion. In support of the validity of this idea we show that a classic nonlinear optics experiment in the scientific literature, which involves a Michelson interferometer using combinations of ordinary mirrors and phase conjugate mirrors, contains experimental results which support the idea that the photon has a negative parity under Wigner time reversal and thus carries the arrow of time in the universe.