Gryb, Sean (2020) New Difficulties for the Past Hypothesis. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Many macroscopic physical processes are known to occur in a time-directed way despite the apparent time-symmetry of the known fundamental laws. A popular explanation is to postulate an unimaginably atypical state for the early universe --- a `Past Hypothesis' (PH) --- that seeds the time-asymmetry from which all others follow. I will argue that such a PH faces serious new difficulties. First I strengthen the grounds for existing criticism by providing a systematic analytic framework for assessing the status of the PH. I outline three broad categories of criticism that put into question a list of essential requirements of the proposal. The resulting analysis paints a grim picture for the prospects of providing an adequate formulation for an explicit PH. I then provide a new argument that substantively extends this criticism by showing that any time-independent measure on the space of models of the universe must necessarily break one of its gauge symmetries. The PH then faces a new dilemma: reject a gauge symmetry of the universe and introduce a distinction without difference or reject the time-independence of the measure and lose explanatory power.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Forthcoming in Philosophy of Science. | ||||||
| Keywords: | arrow of time, Past Hypothesis, cosmology, symmetry | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | Dr Sean Gryb | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 29 May 2020 03:35 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 29 May 2020 03:35 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 17253 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 28 May 2020 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/17253 |
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