Why can't time run backwards?
Tuesday 24 November 2009
Nobel-prize winning scientist Sir Anthony J. Leggett will attempt to answer one of the deepest questions in physics when he visits St Andrews to give a public lecture later this week.Sir Anthony - who was awarded the Nobel prize in 2003 for his work on superfluidity - will ask why time can't run backwards in a much anticipated lecture, part of a high-profile series staged by the University of St Andrews involving Nobel laureates.
Leggett said, "We can all tell when a movie of some everyday event, such as a kettle boiling or a glass shattering, is run backwards.
"Similarly, we all feel that we can remember the past and affect the future, not vice versa. So there is a very clear "arrow" (direction) of time built into our interpretation of our everyday experience.
"Yet the fundamental microscopic laws of physics, be they classical or quantum-mechanical, look exactly the same if the direction of time is reversed. So what is the origin of the "arrow" of time?
"This is one of the deepest questions in physics; I will review some relevant considerations, but do not pretend to give a complete answer."
The lecture takes place on Friday November 27th at 4 p.m. in Lecture Theatre A, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, St Andrews.
The lecture is free, open to all and members of the public are warmly welcome to attend.
ENDS