Arrow of Time by MagikUnicorn
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Arrow of Time
The arrow of time, or time's arrow, is a concept developed in 1927 by the British astronomer Arthur Eddington involving the "one-way direction" or "asymmetry" of time. This direction, which can be determined, according to Eddington, by studying the organization of atoms, molecules and bodies, might be drawn upon a four-dimensional relativistic map of the world.
Physical processes at the microscopic level are believed to be either entirely or mostly time-symmetric: if the direction of time were to reverse, the theoretical statements that describe them would remain true. Yet at the macroscopic level it often appears that this is not the case: there is an obvious direction (or flow) of time.
The arrow of time is the "one-way direction" or "asymmetry" of time. The thermodynamic arrow of time is provided by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which says that in an isolated system, entropy tends to increase with time. Entropy can be thought of as a measure of microscopic disorder; thus the Second Law implies that time is asymmetrical with respect to the amount of order in an isolated system: as a system advances through time, it will statistically become more disordered. This asymmetry can be used empirically to distinguish between future and past though measuring entropy does not accurately measure time. Also in an open system entropy can decrease with time.
British physicist Sir Alfred Brian Pippard wrote, "There is thus no justification for the view, often glibly repeated, that the Second Law of Thermodynamics is only statistically true, in the sense that microscopic violations repeatedly occur, but never violations of any serious magnitude. On the contrary, no evidence has ever been presented that the Second Law breaks down under any circumstances.
However, there are a number of paradoxes regarding breakage of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, one of them due to the Poincaré recurrence theorem.
This arrow of time seems to be related to all other arrows of time and arguably underlies some of them, with the exception of the weak arrow of time.
The cosmological arrow of time
The cosmological arrow of time points in the direction of the universe's expansion. It may be linked to the thermodynamic arrow, with the universe heading towards a heat death (Big Chill) as the amount of usable energy becomes negligible. Alternatively, it may be an artifact of our place in the universe's evolution, with this arrow reversing as gravity pulls everything back into a Big Crunch.
If this arrow of time is related to the other arrows of time, then the future is by definition the direction towards which the universe becomes bigger. Thus, the universe expands - rather than shrinks - by definition.
The thermodynamic arrow of time and the Second law of thermodynamics are thought to be a consequence of the initial conditions in the early universe. Therefore they ultimately result from the cosmological set-up.

Comments (32)
Nice fractal of time.. very good work and great color use :)
That was a trip! :~p Great work Magik!
The universe exist only if the life forces that see and record it.if we did not exist these words would not be spoken. if time stopped and stared a gen we would be non the wiser
a great fractal and I like the gradients you chose
Amazing theories... but far too much for my brain to comprehend.
Very cool work and discussion
Beautifully done. Amazing colors!
Like the cosmos, cool work.
Fantastic!
Sweet! ")
Humm ......quoi dire Beau travail. J'ai changer mon auto???? mais bon la il faut la payer Grrrrrr((5++))
Magik, c'est une image fantastique que vous avez créé. J'ai bien aimé les couleurs de l'image, et les informations détaillées que vous avez fourni. J'étais fasciné par la flèche du temps
physics...gotta love it....so these theories could be used to investigate time travel and the cosmological arrow is pointing to THE END OF DISORDER!!! ya think??? awesome imagery and man did you just put my head in a spin as if it isn't already. I've been in a complicated program for the last 2 hours or so....whew...I think my time line is done for today and perhaps I should step out and view the cosmic one as the full moon approaches... :))) chills and thrills
Beautiful colors, MU. Corrie
Very interesting Magik but I can't say I understood a word of it!!
nice.
fabulous work
Cool cosmic scene.
Cool image.
cool
beautiful, excellent coloring and lighting
Beautiful, colours are amazing!!
SsssssssssPOOOOFFFFF!!!! That was the sound of my head exploding...... A gorgeous render, and wonderful light effects, Real! Now, if I can just get my brain re-connected...
Excellent work !!!
Nice colors. Aloha
La Fleche du Temps La « flèche du temps » est l'expression introduite en 1927 par Eddington pour décrire le fait que le temps nous semble s’écouler toujours dans la même direction. La question de la flèche du temps est compliquée par le fait que les équations fondamentales de la physique sont bien souvent invariantes lorsqu’on renverse la direction du temps. Un problème fondamental de la physique théorique est d’expliquer pourquoi, à partir d'une dynamique microscopique réversible, notre perception macroscopique du temps choisit une direction particulière. Ce temps linéaire (appelé aussi temps vectoriel) manifesté par cette flèche s’oppose au temps cyclique représenté par exemple par la roue du temps du tantra de kalachakra. Le second principe de la thermodynamique apporte un élément de réponse en imposant que la flèche du temps est orientée dans le sens d’une entropie grandissante. Selon Boltzmann, avoir une entropie faible est une chose à très faible probabilité. L’entropie plutôt basse de notre présent Univers serait le résultat d'une entropie encore plus basse, d’un état encore moins probable. La flèche du temps est donc bel et bien parallèle à l’entropie : celle-ci a considérablement plus de chance de grandir. Selon la physique quantique, le temps serait une succession de « clichés » de l’univers, qui mis bout à bout, formeraient l'histoire de l’univers, le « film cosmique ». La flèche du temps serait le fait que ces « clichés » se passent dans un certain sens. Si la flèche du temps n’existait pas, tous les changements ne pourraient plus avoir lieu car le temps ne s'écoulerait plus régulièrement. Le temps s’écoulerait dans un sens ou dans l'autre, très rapidement ou très lentement avec des variations énormes — un peu comme dans l'Ère de Planck.
Thanks for reviewing these theories for us and for creating the brilliant image.
Fantastic information & illustration!
beautiful fractal image, great colors
luv this me phriend!!!!! :) ph