Equation 7 · Part 9 · The Statistical Mechanics of Irreversibility at Molecular Scale
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What this part means
Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.
Its job in the formula
Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.
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The passage around this formula
Under broad conditions, total stochastic entropy production can be represented as a log-likelihood ratio, . This equation supplies a precise meaning for the arrow of time. If a path is far more probable under the forward process than its conjugate is under the reverse process, observing it provides evidence about temporal direction. If the probabilities are equal, the path itself carries no arrow-of-time information. Irreversibility is therefore related to statistical distinguishability, not to an absolute prohibition on reverse-looking motion.
Learn the underlying idea
Addition combines quantities; subtraction measures the signed difference between them. Parentheses show what is combined before the rest of the expression is evaluated.
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