12/17/2014

2FuturesCanExplainTime'sMysteriousPastScientificAmerican

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SpaceNews

2FuturesCanExplainTime's
MysteriousPast
Newtheoriessuggestthebigbangwasnotthebeginning,andthatwemayliveinthepastofa
paralleluniverse
December8,2014 | ByLeeBillings |

Physicistshaveaproblemwith
time.

WhetherthroughNewtons
gravitation,Maxwells
electrodynamics,Einsteinsspecial
andgeneralrelativityorquantum
mechanics,alltheequationsthat
bestdescribeouruniversework
perfectlyiftimeflowsforwardor
backward.

Ofcoursetheworldweexperience
isentirelydifferent.Theuniverseis
expanding,notcontracting.Stars
emitlightratherthanabsorbit,
andradioactiveatomsdecayrather
thanreassemble.Omeletsdont
transformbacktounbrokeneggs
andcigarettesnevercoalescefrom

Intheevolutionofcosmicstructure,isentropyor
gravitythemoredominantforce?Theanswerto
thisquestionhasdeepimplicationsforthe
universe'sfuture,aswellasitspast.
Credit:NASAESAG.Illingworth,D.Magee,and
P.Oesch,UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruzR.
Bouwens,LeidenUniversityandtheHUDF09
Team

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smokeandashes.Weremember
thepast,notthefuture,andwegrowoldanddecrepit,notyoungandrejuvenated.For
us,timehasaclearandirreversibledirection.Itfliesforwardlikeamissile,equations
bedamned.

Formorethanacentury,thestandardexplanationfortimesarrow,asthe
astrophysicistArthurEddingtonfirstcalleditin1927,hasbeenthatitisanemergent
propertyofthermodynamics,asfirstlaidoutintheworkofthe19thcenturyAustrian
physicistLudwigBoltzmann.Inthisviewwhatweperceiveasthearrowoftimeis
reallyjusttheinexorablerearrangementofhighlyorderedstatesintorandom,useless
configurations,aproductoftheuniversaltendencyforallthingstosettletoward
equilibriumwithoneanother.

Informallyspeaking,thecruxofthisideaisthatthingsfallapart,butmoreformally,
itisaconsequenceofthesecondlawofthermodynamics,whichBoltzmannhelped
devise.Thelawstatesthatinanyclosedsystem(liketheuniverseitself),entropy
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disordercanonlyincrease.Increasingentropyisacosmiccertaintybecausethereare
alwaysagreatmanymoredisorderedstatesthanorderlyonesforanygivensystem,
similartohowtherearemanymorewaystoscatterpapersacrossadeskthantostack
themneatlyinasinglepile.

Thethermodynamicarrowoftimesuggestsourobservableuniversebeganinan
exceptionallyspecialstateofhighorderandlowentropy,likeapristinecosmicegg
materializingatthebeginningoftimetobebrokenandscrambledforalleternity.
FromBoltzmannseraonward,scientistsallergictothenotionofsuchanimmaculate
conceptionhavebeengrapplingwiththisconundrum.

Boltzmann,believingtheuniversetobeeternalinaccordancewithNewtonslaws,
thoughtthateternitycouldexplainalowentropyoriginfortimesarrow.Given
enoughtimeendlesstime,infactanythingthatcanhappenwillhappen,including
theemergenceofalargeregionofverylowentropyasastatisticalfluctuationfroman
ageless,highentropyuniverseinastateofnearequilibrium.Boltzmannmusedthat
wemightliveinsuchanimprobableregion,withanarrowoftimesetbytheregions
long,slowentropicslidebackintoequilibrium.

Todayscosmologistshaveatoughertask,becausetheuniverseaswenowknowit
isntagelessandunmoving:Theyhavetoexplaintheemergenceoftimesarrowwithin
adynamic,relativisticuniversethatapparentlybegansome14billionyearsagointhe
fieryconflagrationofthebigbang.Moreoftenthannottheexplanationinvolvesfine
tuningthecarefulandarbitrarytweakingofatheorysparameterstoaccordwith
observations.

Manyofthemodernexplanationsforalowentropyarrowoftimeinvolveatheory
calledinflationtheideathatastrangeburstofantigravityballoonedtheprimordial
universetoanastronomicallylargersize,smoothingitoutintowhatcorrespondstoa
verylowentropystatefromwhichsubsequentcosmicstructurescouldemerge.But
explaininginflationitselfseemstorequireevenmorefinetuning.Oneofthe
problemsisthatoncebegun,inflationtendstocontinueunstoppably.Thiseternal
inflationwouldspawninfinitudesofbabyuniversesaboutwhichpredictionsand
observationsare,atbest,elusive.Whetherthisisanundesirablebugorawonderful
featureofthetheoryisamatteroffiercedebateforthetimebeingitseemsthat
inflationsextremeflexibilityandexplanatorypowerarebothitsgreateststrengthand
itsgreatestweakness.

Forallthesereasons,somescientistsseekingalowentropyoriginfortimesarrow
findexplanationsrelyingoninflationslightlyunsatisfying.Therearemany
researchersnowtryingtoshowinsomenaturalwaywhyitsreasonabletoexpectthe
initialentropyoftheuniversetobeverylow,saysDavidAlbert,aphilosopherand
physicistatColumbiaUniversity.Thereareevensomewhothinkthattheentropy
beinglowatthebeginningoftheuniverseshouldjustbeaddedasanewlawof
physics.

Thatlatterideaistantamounttodespairingcosmologistssimplythrowinginthe
towel.Fortunately,theremaybeanotherway.

TentativenewworkfromJulianBarbouroftheUniversityofOxford,TimKoslowski
oftheUniversityofNewBrunswickandFlavioMercatiofthePerimeterInstitutefor
TheoreticalPhysicssuggeststhatperhapsthearrowoftimedoesntreallyrequirea
finetuned,lowentropyinitialstateatallbutisinsteadtheinevitableproductofthe
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fundamentallawsofphysics.Barbourandhiscolleaguesarguethatitisgravity,rather
thanthermodynamics,thatdrawsthebowstringtolettimesarrowfly.
TheirfindingswerepublishedinOctoberinPhysicalReviewLetters.

Theteamsconclusionscomefromstudyinganexceedinglysimpleproxyforour
universe,acomputersimulationof1,000pointlikeparticlesinteractingunderthe
influenceofNewtoniangravity.Theyinvestigatedthedynamicbehaviorofthesystem
usingameasureofits"complexity,"whichcorrespondstotheratioofthedistance
betweenthesystemsclosestpairofparticlesandthedistancebetweenthemost
widelyseparatedparticlepair.Thesystemscomplexityisatitslowestwhenallthe
particlescometogetherinadenselypackedcloud,astateofminimumsizeand
maximumuniformityroughlyanalogoustothebigbang.Theteamsanalysisshowed
thatessentiallyeveryconfigurationofparticles,regardlessoftheirnumberandscale,
wouldevolveintothislowcomplexitystate.Thus,thesheerforceofgravitysetsthe
stageforthesystemsexpansionandtheoriginoftimesarrow,allwithoutany
delicatefinetuningtofirstestablishalowentropyinitialcondition.

Fromthatlowcomplexitystate,thesystemofparticlesthenexpandsoutward
inbothtemporaldirections,creatingtwodistinct,symmetricandoppositearrowsof
time.Alongeachofthetwotemporalpaths,gravitythenpullstheparticlesintolarger,
moreorderedandcomplexstructuresthemodelsequivalentofgalaxyclusters,stars
andplanetarysystems.Fromthere,thestandardthermodynamicpassageoftimecan
manifestandunfoldoneachofthetwodivergentpaths.Inotherwords,themodelhas
onepastbuttwofutures.Ashintedbythetimeindifferentlawsofphysics,times
arrowmayinasensemoveintwodirections,althoughanyobservercanonlyseeand
experienceone.Itisthenatureofgravitytopulltheuniverseoutofitsprimordial
chaosandcreatestructure,orderandcomplexity,Mercatisays.Allthesolutions
breakintotwoepochs,whichgoonforeverinthetwotimedirections,dividedbythis
centralstatewhichhasverycharacteristicproperties.

Althoughthemodeliscrude,anddoesnotincorporateeitherquantummechanicsor
generalrelativity,itspotentialimplicationsarevast.Ifitholdstrueforouractual
universe,thenthebigbangcouldnolongerbeconsideredacosmicbeginningbut
ratheronlyaphaseinaneffectivelytimelessandeternaluniverse.Moreprosaically,a
twobranchedarrowoftimewouldleadtocuriousincongruitiesforobserverson
oppositesides.Thistwofuturessituationwouldexhibitasingle,chaoticpastinboth
directions,meaningthattherewouldbeessentiallytwouniverses,oneoneitherside
ofthiscentralstate,Barboursays.Iftheywerecomplicatedenough,bothsidescould
sustainobserverswhowouldperceivetimegoinginoppositedirections.Any
intelligentbeingstherewoulddefinetheirarrowoftimeasmovingawayfromthis
centralstate.Theywouldthinkwenowliveintheirdeepestpast.

Whatsmore,Barboursays,ifgravitationdoesprovetobefundamentaltothearrow
oftime,thiscouldsoonerorlatergeneratetestablepredictionsandpotentiallyleadto
alessadhocexplanationthaninflationforthehistoryandstructureofour
observableuniverse.

Thisisnotthefirstrigoroustwofuturessolutionfortimesarrow.Mostnotably,
CaliforniaInstituteofTechnologycosmologistSeanCarrollandagraduatestudent,
JenniferChen,producedtheirownbranchingmodelin2004,onethatsoughtto
explainthelowentropyoriginoftimesarrowinthecontextofcosmicinflationand
thecreationofbabyuniverses.Theyattributethearrowoftimesemergenceintheir
modelnotsomuchtoentropybeingverylowinthepastbutrathertoentropybeingso
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muchhigherinbothfutures,increasedbytheinflationdrivencreationofbaby
universes.

Adecadeon,Carrollisjustasbullishabouttheprospectthatincreasingentropyalone
isthesourcefortimesarrow,ratherthanotherinfluencessuchasgravity.
Everythingthathappensintheuniversetodistinguishthepastfromthefutureis
ultimatelybecausetheentropyislowerinonedirectionandhigherintheother,
Carrollsays.ThispaperbyBarbour,KoslowskiandMercatiisgoodbecausetheyroll
uptheirsleevesanddothecalculationsfortheirspecificmodelofparticlesinteracting
viagravity,butIdontthinkitsthemodelthatisinterestingitsthemodelsbehavior
beinganalyzedcarefully.Ithinkbasicallyanytimeyouhaveafinitecollectionof
particlesinareallybigspaceyoullgetthiskindofgenericbehaviortheydescribe.The
realquestionis,isouruniverselikethat?Thatsthehardpart.

TogetherwithAlanGuth,theMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologycosmologistwho
pioneeredthetheoryofinflation,Carrollisnowworkingonathermodynamic
responseofsortstothenewclaimsforagravitationalarrowoftime:Another
exceedinglysimpleparticlebasedmodeluniversethatalsonaturallygivesriseto
timesarrow,butwithouttheadditionofgravityoranyotherforces.The
thermodynamicsecrettothemodelssuccess,theysay,isassumingthattheuniverse
hasanunlimitedcapacityforentropy.

Ifweassumethereisnomaximumpossibleentropyfortheuniverse,thenanystate
canbeastateoflowentropy,Guthsays.Thatmaysounddumb,butIthinkitreally
works,andIalsothinkitsthesecretoftheBarbouretalconstruction.Iftheresno
limittohowbigtheentropycanget,thenyoucanstartanywhere,andfromthat
startingpointyoudexpectentropytoriseasthesystemmovestoexplorelargerand
largerregionsofphasespace.Eternalinflationisanaturalcontextinwhichtoinvoke
thisidea,sinceitlookslikethemaximumpossibleentropyisunlimitedinaneternally
inflatinguniverse.

Thecontroversyovertimesarrowhascomefarsincethe19thcenturyideasof
Boltzmannandthe20thcenturynotionsofEddington,butinmanyways,Barbour
says,thedebateatitscoreremainsappropriatelytimeless.Thisisopeningupa
completelynewwaytothinkaboutafundamentalproblem,thenatureofthearrowof
timeandtheoriginofthesecondlawofthermodynamics,Barboursays.Butreally
werejustinvestigatinganewaspectofNewtonsgravitation,whichhadntbeen
noticedbefore.Whoknowswhatmightflowfromthiswithfurtherworkand
elaboration?

ArthurEddingtoncoinedthetermarrowoftime,andfamouslysaidtheshufflingof
materialandenergyistheonlythingwhichnaturecannotundo,Barbouradds.And
hereweare,showingbeyondanydoubtreallythatthisisinfactexactlywhatgravity
does.Ittakessystemsthatlookextraordinarilydisorderedandmakesthem
wonderfullyordered.Andthisiswhathashappenedinouruniverse.Wearerealizing
theancientGreekdreamoforderoutofchaos.

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