Abstract
It is argued that a fundamental time asymmetry could arise from the global structure of the space manifold. The proposed mechanism relies on the anomaly of certain chiral gauge theories defined over a multiply connected space manifold. The resulting time asymmetry (microscopic arrow of time) is illustrated by a simple thought experiment. The effect could, in principle, play a role in determining the initial conditions of the big bang.
- Received 26 November 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.66.047701
©2002 American Physical Society