Entropy Production and Thermodynamic Arrow of Time in a Recollapsing Universe

Abstract

We investigate the thermodynamic arrow of time in a time-symmetrically recollapsing universe by calculating quantum mechanically the entropy production of a massive scalar field. It is found that even though the Hamiltonian has a time-reversal symmetry with respect to the maximum expansion of the universe, the entropy production is generic and the total entropy of the scalar field increases monotonically. We conclude that the thermodynamic arrow of time is a universal phenomenon even in the expanding and subsequently recollapsing universe due to the parametric interaction of matter field with gravity.