Can the Arrow of Time be understood from Quantum Cosmology?

Details Can the Arrow of Time be understood from Quantum Cosmology? Can the Arrow of Time be understood from Quantum Cosmology?

2009-10-30

arxiv.org/abs/0910.5836v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

14 pages, to appear in "The Arrow of Time", ed. by L. Mersini-Houghton and R. Vaas

Scientific paper

I address the question whether the origin of the observed arrow of time can be derived from quantum cosmology. After a general discussion of entropy in cosmology and some numerical estimates, I give a brief introduction into quantum geometrodynamics and argue that this may provide a sufficient framework for studying this question. I then show that a natural boundary condition of low initial entropy can be imposed on the universal wave function. The arrow of time is then correlated with the size of the Universe and emerges from an increasing amount of decoherence due to entanglement with unobserved degrees of freedom. Remarks are also made concerning the arrow of time in multiverse pictures and scenarios motivated by dark energy.

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