Information break of time symmetry in the macroscopic limit

TL;DR

This paper investigates the apparent contradiction between microscopic time-symmetric laws and macroscopic time-asymmetric phenomena, focusing on how information processing limitations affect observations in the macroscopic limit.

Contribution

It introduces a full information framework to analyze how an observer's inability to access records at high-entropy times leads to an apparent time asymmetry in macroscopic systems.

Findings

In the macroscopic limit, observers cannot access records from high-entropy times.

A contradiction arises between observations and predictions at different times.

The study highlights the role of information constraints in the emergence of macroscopic time asymmetry.

Abstract

The evident contrast between the time symmetry of fundamental microscopic laws and the time asymmetry of macroscopic processes is a challenging physical problem. The observation of unitary evolution of a general physical system by an idealized observer whose recording and processing information is time neutral is studied in a full information context. In the macroscopic limit, a contradiction between observations and predictions done at different times appears. It implies that the observer cannot read records performed at times when the entropy of the system is larger.