Mathematical Conversations

The reversibility paradox is the objection that it should not be possible to deduce an irreversible process from time-symmetric dynamics. A first result reconciling the fundamental microscopic physical processes (with time reversal symmetry) and macroscopic models (satisfying the second law of thermodynamics) has been proved 50 years ago by Lanford. Our recent work with T. Bodineau, I. Gallagher, and S. Simonella brings a new light on this asymptotic derivation, recovering some reversibility in the limit.