I have a very dumb question about the thermodynamic arrow of time.
The usual story is that evolution of microstates is time-symmetric, but usually leads to more populous macrostates, pretty much by definition. The problem is that the same is true in reverse, most possible pasts of any system come from more populous macrostates as well.
For example, let’s say I have a glass of hot water with some ice cubes floating in it. The most likely future of that system is uniformly warm water. But then the most likely past of that system is also uniformly warm water. WTF?
I have a very dumb question about the thermodynamic arrow of time.
The usual story is that evolution of microstates is time-symmetric, but usually leads to more populous macrostates, pretty much by definition. The problem is that the same is true in reverse, most possible pasts of any system come from more populous macrostates as well.
For example, let’s say I have a glass of hot water with some ice cubes floating in it. The most likely future of that system is uniformly warm water. But then the most likely past of that system is also uniformly warm water. WTF?