Direction of Time

This edited book presents the problems of time and direction from an interdisciplinary point of view, concentrating in particular on the following relations:

• Time and physics
• Time, philosophy and psychology
• Time, mathematics and information theory

It is a unique contribution by philosophers and scientists who are active in mathematics, physics, biology, engineering, information theory and psychology. Questions such as the existence of a Big Bang, the neurobiological basis regarding the coexistence of free will and determinism, intercultural aspects of time, mathematical models of time, psychopathological features of time, and micro reversibility versus macroscopic irreversibility are studied. It also provides a truly interdisciplinary study of the problematic 'arrow of time'.

Models of time.- On Abuse of Time-metaphors.- The Direction of Time, The Role of Reversibility/Irreversibility in the Study of Nature.- The Arrow of Time and Information Theory.- ASYMMETRIES, IRREVERSIBILITY, AND DYNAMICS OF TIME1.- IS TIME REAL?.- Is time directed?.- On the different aspects of time in the fundamental theories of physics.- Quantum Events and Irreversibility.- Time in modern philosophy of physics { a survey.- THE DIRECTION OF TIME IN DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS.- Physics and Our Intuitive Outlook on Time.- The philosophical significance of the relativistic conception of time.- The Direction of Time in Quantum Mechanics.- GEOMETRY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME.- A Computer’s Arrow of Time.- Two-way thermodynamics: Could it really happen?.- Where to Put It? The Direction of Time Between Axioms and Supplementary Conditions.- A Simple Model for Decoherence.- Two Arrows of Time in Nonlocal Particle Dynamics.- Boundary conditions, time reversal and measurements.- Remarks on the Compatibility of Opposite Arrows of Time.- Remarks on the Compatibility of Opposite Arrows of Time II1.