Between Being and Becoming: a meta-theoretical approach to irreversibility

TL;DR

This paper explores the relationship between reversible microscopic physics and irreversible macroscopic thermodynamics through a meta-theoretical framework, proposing a complementarity that resolves the apparent paradox.

Contribution

It introduces a meta-theoretical approach using asymptotic relations and complementarity to unify reversible and irreversible descriptions in physics.

Findings

Proposes a meta-complementarity relation between different physical levels.

Analyzes the paradox of micro-reversibility and macro-irreversibility.

Suggests a realist interpretation of the relationship between physical theories.

Abstract

The relationship between reversible-dynamical and irreversible-thermodynamic descriptions is analyzed from a meta-theoretical point of view. A network of inter-theoretical relations is drawn by means of asymptotic relations and complementarity. It is argued that the "paradox" between micro-reversibility and macro-irreversibility can be overcome by assuming a meta-complementarity relation existing between different levels of physical description, preserving a realist conception.