Entropy and Cosmological Arrows of Time

TL;DR

This paper examines dynamical systems with entropy minima that produce arrows of time, arguing that these arrows are related to increasing order rather than disorder, challenging traditional entropic interpretations.

Contribution

The paper refines conditions for solutions with entropy minima and proposes that these arrows of time are associated with increasing order, not entropy.

Findings

Solutions with entropy minima exist under specific conditions.

Arrows of time in these systems point towards increasing order.

Such arrows should not be interpreted as entropic.

Abstract

Deutsch and Aguirre have recently shown that the solutions of certain dynamical systems typically contain a point of minimum size that they identify as an entropy minimum and from which the size and entropy increase to infinity in both directions of time. They argue that in such systems entropic arrows of time exist without the need for a special condition imposed in the past. In this paper I sharpen and extend the conditions under which such solutions exist but argue that the resulting arrows of time should not be interpreted as entropic since they point towards greater order and not disorder.