Bernegger, Stefan: Are Physical Time and the Passage of Time Fundamental or Emergent?

This work investigates whether the passage and direction of time are fundamental features of reality or emergent phenomena. Bridging physical theory with philosophy of time, the work reviews the treatment of time in classical mechanics, thermodynamics, and Einstein's special and general relativity, highlighting the constraints of human perception compared to the scales of the observable universe. The core of this work focuses on a critical discussion of Tim Maudlin's argument for a fundamental d