Time

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This eleventh volume in the Poincaré Seminar Series offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of Time, addressing some of science's most profound questions. Featuring articles by Fields medalist C. Villani, renowned physicists T. Damour and C. Jarzynski, experimentalist C. Salomon, and philosopher H. Price, the volume delves into the mathematical, physical, experimental, and philosophical dimensions of Time. The articles, stemming from lectures aimed at a wide scientific audience, are highly pedagogical. Key topics include fundamental physical issues related to time, particularly the shifts in perspective introduced by Special and General Relativity; a precise mathematical examination of irreversibility and entropy as articulated in Boltzmann's and Vlasov's equations; an overview of “thermodynamics at the nanoscale,” crucial for biological physics; and a description of the cold atom space clock PHARAO, set to be installed on the International Space Station in 2015. This clock will test Einstein's gravitational shift with unprecedented precision and investigate the stability of fundamental constants, a concept first proposed by Dirac in 1937. Additionally, the volume features a philosophical discussion on ‘Time's arrow,’ a term introduced by Eddington in 1928, complemented by a poetic reflection by C. de Mitry. This book is of broad interest to physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers alike.