Quantum Systems and the Arrow of Time: A Groundbreaking Discovery
2025-02-16
A study published in Scientific Reports explored the interaction of a quantum system with its environment (an open quantum system), attempting to explain why we perceive time as flowing in one direction. By simplifying the model and assuming a vast environment where energy and information don't return, researchers investigated how time emerges as a unidirectional phenomenon. Surprisingly, even under these assumptions, the system behaved identically whether time moved forward or backward. This provides a mathematical foundation for time-reversal symmetry still holding in open quantum systems, suggesting the arrow of time may not be as fixed as we experience.