Locality and indeterminism preserve the second law

Abstract It is argued that anything that outraces c contradicts not only relativity theory but also the second law of thermodynamics. The case of quantum-mechanical correlations is considered, where quantum indeterminism guarantees that no superluminal signal can be sent by such correlations. Discussing theories that seek to reestablish some form of quantum determinism, a distinction is introduced between “source determinism” and “collapse determinism”. Theories based on the former hypothesis seem to render the second law a mere secondary consequence of initial conditions. Theories of the latter type seem to allow superluminal communication as well as violations of the second law. Locality and quantum indeterminism are therefore deeply related to the second law. These conclusions impose fundamental constraints on any realistic model of wave-packet collapse or tachyons.

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