Relativistic Thermodynamics and the Passage of Time

• Main Author: Friedel Weinert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente 2018-01-01
• Series: Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies
• Subjects: passage of time; Minkowski‟s geometric interpretation; relativistic thermodynamics
• Online Access: http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/235

The debate about the passage of time is usually confined to Minkowski‟s geometric interpretation of space-time. It infers the block universe from the notion of relative simultaneity. But there are alternative interpretations of space-time – so-called axiomatic approaches –, based on the existence of „optical facts‟, which have thermodynamic properties. It may therefore be interesting to approach the afore-mentioned debate from the point of view of relativistic thermodynamics, in which invariant parameters exist, which may serve to indicate the passage of time. Of particular interest is the use of entropic clocks, gas clocks and statistical thermometers, which suggest that two observers in Minkowski space-time could agree on an objective passing of time.