Defining the Arrow of Time Using Energy Transfers
ABSTRACT :
Fundamental forces of nature are time-symmetric, that is, a system going forward and backward in time are indistinguishable. Yet, in daily life we observe that physical and biological systems evolve one way in time. Second law of thermodynamics is invoked to explain this asymmetry. In this talk we invoke the property of driven nonequilibrium systems that the energy flows from large scales to small scales where it is dissipated. This asymmetric energy flow breaks the time reversal symmetry, and hence can be used to define arrow of time. We conjecture that the above idea could be employed to cosmological time of universe as well.