- Time reversibility
Time reversibility is an attribute of some stochastic processes and some
deterministic processes.If a
stochastic process is time reversible, then it is not possible to determine, given the states at a number of points in time after running the stochastic process, which state came first and which state arrived later.If a
deterministic process is time reversible, then the time-reversed process satisfies the same dynamical equations as the original process, AKAreversible dynamics ; the equations are invariant or symmetric under a change in the sign of time.Classical mechanics andoptics are both time-reversible. Modern physics is not quite time-reversible; instead it exhibits a broader symmetry,CPT symmetry .Time reversibility generally occurs when, within a process, it can be broken up into sub-processes which undo the effects of each other. For example, in
phylogenetics , a time-reversible nucleotide substitution model such as thegeneralised time reversible model has the total overall rate into a certain nucleotide equal to the total rate out of that same nucleotide.Time Reversal, specifically in the field of
acoustics , is a process by which the linearity of sound waves is used to reverse a received signal; this signal is then re-emitted and a temporal compression occurs, resulting in a reverse of the initial excitation waveform being played at the initial source. Mathias Fink is credited with proving Acoustic Time Reversal by experiment.ee also
*
Reversible dynamics
*T-symmetry
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
