Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass?
Some researchers suggest that information is a form of matter, calling it the fifth state of matter or the fifth element. Recent results from the general theory of information (GTI) contradict this. This paper aims to explain and prove that the claims of adherents of the physical nature of informati...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/13/11/540 |
| _version_ | 1827644340557578240 |
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| author | Mark Burgin Rao Mikkilineni |
| author_facet | Mark Burgin Rao Mikkilineni |
| author_sort | Mark Burgin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Some researchers suggest that information is a form of matter, calling it the fifth state of matter or the fifth element. Recent results from the general theory of information (GTI) contradict this. This paper aims to explain and prove that the claims of adherents of the physical nature of information are inaccurate due to the confusion between the definitions of information, the matter that represents information, and the matter that is a carrier of information. Our explanations and proofs are based on the GTI because it gives the most comprehensive definition of information, encompassing and clarifying many of the writings in the literature about information. GTI relates information, knowledge, matter, and energy, and unifies the theories of material and mental worlds using the world of structures. According to GTI, information is not physical by itself, although it can have physical and/or mental representations. Consequently, a bit of information does not have mass, but the physical structure that represents the bit indeed has mass. Moreover, the same bit can have multiple representations in the form of a physical substance (e.g., a symbol on a paper or a state of a flip-flop circuit, or an electrical voltage or current pulse.) Naturally, these different physical representations can have different masses, although the information is the same. Thus, our arguments are not against Landauer’s principle or the empirical results of Vopson and other adherents of the physical nature of the information. These arguments are aimed at the clarification of the theoretical and empirical interpretations of these results. As the references in this paper show, recently many publications in which it is claimed that information is a physical essence appeared. That is why it is so important to elucidate the true nature of information and its relation to the physical world eliminating the existing misconceptions in information studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:15:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d0225b1ce2447a3af5b216c49e06735 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-2489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:15:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d0225b1ce2447a3af5b216c49e067352023-11-24T08:45:30ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892022-11-01131154010.3390/info13110540Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass?Mark Burgin0Rao Mikkilineni1Department of Mathematics, University of California, 405 Hilgard Ave. Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USAAgeno School of Business, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA 94105, USASome researchers suggest that information is a form of matter, calling it the fifth state of matter or the fifth element. Recent results from the general theory of information (GTI) contradict this. This paper aims to explain and prove that the claims of adherents of the physical nature of information are inaccurate due to the confusion between the definitions of information, the matter that represents information, and the matter that is a carrier of information. Our explanations and proofs are based on the GTI because it gives the most comprehensive definition of information, encompassing and clarifying many of the writings in the literature about information. GTI relates information, knowledge, matter, and energy, and unifies the theories of material and mental worlds using the world of structures. According to GTI, information is not physical by itself, although it can have physical and/or mental representations. Consequently, a bit of information does not have mass, but the physical structure that represents the bit indeed has mass. Moreover, the same bit can have multiple representations in the form of a physical substance (e.g., a symbol on a paper or a state of a flip-flop circuit, or an electrical voltage or current pulse.) Naturally, these different physical representations can have different masses, although the information is the same. Thus, our arguments are not against Landauer’s principle or the empirical results of Vopson and other adherents of the physical nature of the information. These arguments are aimed at the clarification of the theoretical and empirical interpretations of these results. As the references in this paper show, recently many publications in which it is claimed that information is a physical essence appeared. That is why it is so important to elucidate the true nature of information and its relation to the physical world eliminating the existing misconceptions in information studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/13/11/540informationphysicsgeneral theory of informationmaterial carriermaterial representationknowledge |
| spellingShingle | Mark Burgin Rao Mikkilineni Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass? Information information physics general theory of information material carrier material representation knowledge |
| title | Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass? |
| title_full | Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass? |
| title_fullStr | Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass? |
| title_short | Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass? |
| title_sort | is information physical and does it have mass |
| topic | information physics general theory of information material carrier material representation knowledge |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/13/11/540 |
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