Black Hole Evaporation Entails an Objective Passage of Time |
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Authors: | Avshalom C. Elitzur Shahar Dolev |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.;(2) The Kohn Institute for the History and, Philosophy of Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel. |
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Abstract: | Time's apparent passage has long been debated by philosophers, with no decisive argument for or against its objective existence. In this paper we show that introducing the issue of determinism gives the debate a new, empirical twist. We prove that any theory that states that the basic laws of physics are time-symmetric must be strictly deterministic. It is only determinism that enables time reversal, whether theoretical or experimental, of any entropy-increasing process. A contradiction therefore arises between Hawking's [1] argument that physical law is time-symmetric and his controversial claim [2] that black-hole evaporation introduces a fundamental unpredictability into the physical world. The latter claim forcibly entails an intrinsic time-arrow independent of boundary conditions. A simulation of a simple system under time reversal shows how an intrinsic time arrow re-emerges, destroying the time reversal, when even the slightest failure of determinism occurs. This proof is then extended to the classical behavior of black holes. We conclude with pointing out the affinity between time's arrow and its apparent passage. |
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Keywords: | time's passage time's arrow determinism black holes information loss |
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