WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: Forward Into The Past! Time Reversal and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

SPEAKER: Professor Richard Creswick,

Department of Physics
University of South Carolina

TIME: Thursday Sept. 29, 2005 at 4 PM

PLACE: George P. Williams, Jr. Lecture Hall, (Olin 101)

Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in the lounge. All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.

ABSTRACT

The laws of physics (except for the weak interaction!) are time reversal invariant. This means that the time-reversed version of every possible physical process is also possible. On the other hand, there is an obvious arrow of time that points from the past to the future, as is embodied in the second law of thermodynamics. In this talk I will explain the origin of the thermodynamic arrow of time and explore the possibility that violations of the second law might be observable.

100 Olin Physical Laboratory, 7507 Reynolda Station
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7507
Phone: (336) 758-5337, FAX: (336) 758-6142
E-mail: wfuphys@wfu.edu

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