Book contents
- The Arrow of Time
- The Arrow of Time
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Local Systems
- Part II The Arrow of Time and Philosophical Issues
- Part III The Arrow of Time and Time-Reversal Invariance
- 8 Time for Pancakes: Time Reversal and Ontology
- 9 Insights into Quantum Time Reversal from the Classical Schrödinger Equation
- 10 Saving the Appearances: The Direction of Time and Time-Reversal Invariance
- Part IV The Whole Universe
- Index
- References
9 - Insights into Quantum Time Reversal from the Classical Schrödinger Equation
from Part III - The Arrow of Time and Time-Reversal Invariance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2025
Book contents
- The Arrow of Time
- The Arrow of Time
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Local Systems
- Part II The Arrow of Time and Philosophical Issues
- Part III The Arrow of Time and Time-Reversal Invariance
- 8 Time for Pancakes: Time Reversal and Ontology
- 9 Insights into Quantum Time Reversal from the Classical Schrödinger Equation
- 10 Saving the Appearances: The Direction of Time and Time-Reversal Invariance
- Part IV The Whole Universe
- Index
- References
Summary
The need to implement time reversal via complex conjugation in quantum theory has always been a bit of a puzzle. Why should i go to –i under temporal reflection when it has no spatiotemporal dimensions? I’ll provide a new insight into this question by showing how the little-appreciated “quantum-looking” classical Schrödinger equation of Schiller and Rosen faces the exact same problem. Since we know how to escape this problem classically, this observation teaches us one way to solve the problem quantum mechanically too. Big picture: if I’m right, the puzzle over quantum time reversal is connected to the interpretation of quantum theory.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Arrow of TimeFrom Local Systems to the Whole Universe, pp. 184 - 197Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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