A New Thermodynamics Featuring the Arrow in Time

TL;DR

This paper proposes an enhanced thermodynamic framework that incorporates the arrow of time, explaining how disordering processes drive the creation of order and sustain life in the universe.

Contribution

It introduces a new thermodynamics theory that explicitly includes the arrow of time, linking disorder and order creation in a dynamic context.

Findings

The arrow of time is fundamental to thermodynamics.

Disordering processes lead to the emergence of order and life.

A dynamic thermodynamics model explains universe's order from disorder.

Abstract

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all isolated macroscopic systems must be in want of ever greater disorder, with due apologies to Jane Austen for plagiarizing the opening line in her novel {\it Pride and Prejudice}. This common, everyday process, often referred to as the Arrow of Time, has not been able to find a comfortable home in the body of modern statistical physics. There is a hint of such a disordering arrow in the second law of traditional thermostatics but, properly stated, that law relates only to the static equilibrium state of confined, isolated macroscopic matter. We will attempt to enhance today's thermo{\it statics} with a true thermo{\it dynamics} in which the disordering arrow in time is shown to be responsible for all the order -- creation we find in the universe -- including the existential order needed to sustain life.