arrow of time
E611675
The arrow of time is the concept describing the one-way direction or asymmetry of time, most commonly associated with the increase of entropy and the distinction between past and future.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| arrow of time canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6679984 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: arrow of time Context triple: [The Direction of Time, mainTopic, arrow of time]
-
A.
The Direction of Time
The Direction of Time is a seminal philosophical work by Hans Reichenbach that analyzes the nature and asymmetry of time, especially in relation to causality and thermodynamics.
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B.
"Time's Arrow"
"Time's Arrow" is a two-part Star Trek: The Next Generation episode involving time travel, Data's severed head, and an investigation that spans 19th-century Earth and the 24th century.
-
C.
It's About Time
"It's About Time" is the Jonas Brothers' first studio album, introducing their pop rock sound and launching their rise to mainstream fame.
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D.
Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time is a 1993 charity Doctor Who special that brought together multiple Doctors and companions in a crossover with the British soap opera EastEnders.
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E.
Until the End of Time
"Until the End of Time" is a soulful R&B ballad by Justin Timberlake that appears on his 2006 album FutureSex/LoveSounds and showcases his romantic, slow-jam style.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: arrow of time Target entity description: The arrow of time is the concept describing the one-way direction or asymmetry of time, most commonly associated with the increase of entropy and the distinction between past and future.
-
A.
The Direction of Time
The Direction of Time is a seminal philosophical work by Hans Reichenbach that analyzes the nature and asymmetry of time, especially in relation to causality and thermodynamics.
-
B.
"Time's Arrow"
"Time's Arrow" is a two-part Star Trek: The Next Generation episode involving time travel, Data's severed head, and an investigation that spans 19th-century Earth and the 24th century.
-
C.
It's About Time
"It's About Time" is the Jonas Brothers' first studio album, introducing their pop rock sound and launching their rise to mainstream fame.
-
D.
Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time is a 1993 charity Doctor Who special that brought together multiple Doctors and companions in a crossover with the British soap opera EastEnders.
-
E.
Until the End of Time
"Until the End of Time" is a soulful R&B ballad by Justin Timberlake that appears on his 2006 album FutureSex/LoveSounds and showcases his romantic, slow-jam style.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
philosophical concept
ⓘ
physical concept ⓘ time asymmetry ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
distinction between past and future
ⓘ
increase of entropy ⓘ time-reversal symmetry breaking ⓘ |
| characterizedBy |
asymmetry between initial and final conditions
ⓘ
macroscopic irreversibility ⓘ one-way direction from past to future ⓘ time-ordered causation ⓘ |
| coinedBy |
Arthur Eddington
ⓘ
linked to:
Arthur Stanley Eddington
|
| contrastsWith | time-reversal symmetry of microscopic laws ⓘ |
| dependsOn | low-entropy initial conditions of the universe ⓘ |
| describes |
direction of time
ⓘ
temporal asymmetry ⓘ |
| discussedBy |
Arthur Eddington
ⓘ
linked to:
Arthur Stanley Eddington
|
| exampleOf | time asymmetry in nature ⓘ |
| explains |
why causes precede effects
ⓘ
why macroscopic processes are irreversible ⓘ why memories are of the past and not the future ⓘ |
| firstDescribedIn | The Nature of the Physical World ⓘ |
| hasType |
causal arrow of time
ⓘ
computational arrow of time ⓘ cosmological arrow of time ⓘ electromagnetic arrow of time ⓘ gravitational arrow of time ⓘ psychological arrow of time ⓘ quantum arrow of time ⓘ radiation arrow of time ⓘ thermodynamic arrow of time ⓘ |
| involves |
boundary conditions of the universe
ⓘ
coarse-graining of microstates ⓘ probabilistic behavior of many-particle systems ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
Boltzmann entropy
ⓘ
Loschmidt paradox ⓘ
linked to:
Loschmidt reversibility objection
Poincaré recurrence ⓘ
linked to:
Poincaré recurrence theorem
block universe ⓘ entropy gradient ⓘ presentism ⓘ |
| relatesTo |
causality
ⓘ
cosmology ⓘ entropy ⓘ irreversibility ⓘ second law of thermodynamics ⓘ statistical mechanics ⓘ thermodynamics ⓘ |
| studiedIn |
cosmology
ⓘ
philosophy of physics ⓘ physics ⓘ statistical mechanics ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: arrow of time Description of subject: The arrow of time is the concept describing the one-way direction or asymmetry of time, most commonly associated with the increase of entropy and the distinction between past and future.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.