2022/11/26 by Flavio Del Santo, Nicolas Gisin · 17 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #Epistemology #Philosophy #Philosophy of science #Physics #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Statistical Mechanics and Entropy #Statistical physics #Theoretical physics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10701-022-00645-y
published in Foundations of Physics 53(1), 4 (Springer Science+Business Media)
openalex publication_date 2022/11/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Discussions on indeterminism in physics focus on the possibility of an open future, i.e. the possibility of having potential alternative future events, the realisation of one of which is not fully determined by the present state of affairs. Yet, can indeterminism affect also the past, making it open as well? We show that by upholding principles of finiteness of information one can entail such a possibility. We provide a toy model that shows how the past could be fundamentally indeterminate, while also explaining the intuitive (and observed) asymmetry between the past-which can be remembered, at least partially-and the future-which is impossible to fully predict.