  In non relativistic quantum mechanics time enters as a parameter in the
Schroedinger equation. However, there are various situations where the need
arises to view time as a dynamical variable. In this paper we consider the
dynamical role of time through the construction of a Lyapunov variable - i.e.,
a self-adjoint quantum observable whose expectation value varies monotonically
as time increases. It is shown, in a constructive way, that a certain class of
models admit a Lyapunov variable and that the existence of a Lyapunov variable
implies the existence of a transformation mapping the original quantum
mechanical problem to an equivalent irreversible representation. In addition,
it is proved that in the irreversible representation there exists a natural
time ordering observable splitting the Hilbert space at each t>0 into past and
future subspaces.
