Digital probabilistic physics is a branch
of digital philosophy which holds that the
universe exists as a nondeterministic state
machine. The notion of the universe existing
as a state machine was first postulated by
Konrad Zuse's book Rechnender Raum. Adherents
hold that the universe state machine can move
between more and less probable states, with
the less probable states containing more information.
This theory is in contrast to digital physics,
which holds that the history of the universe
is computable and is deterministically unfolding
from initial conditions.
The fundamental tenets of digital probabilistic
physics were first explored at great length
by Tom Stonier in a series of books which
explore the notion of information as existing
as a physical phenomenon of the universe.
According to Stonier, the arrangement of atoms
and molecules which make up physical objects
contains information, and high-information
objects such as DNA are low-probability physical
structures. Within this framework, civilization
itself is a low-probability construct maintaining
its existence by propagating through communication.
Stonier's work has been unique in considering
information as existing as a physical phenomenon,
being broader than as an application to the
domain of telecommunications.
To distinguish the probability of the physical
state of the molecules from the probability
of the energy distribution of thermodynamics,
the term extropy was appropriated to define
the probability of the atomic configuration,
as opposed to the entropy. Thus, in thermodynamics,
a 'coarse-grain' set of partitions is defined
which groups together similar microscopically
different states and in digital probabilistic
physics the specific microscopic state probability
is considered alone. The extropy is defined
to be the self-information of the Markov chain
describing the physical system.
The extropy of a system
X
(
A
n
)
{\displaystyle X(A_{n})}
in bits associated with the Markov chain configuration
A
n
{\displaystyle A_{n}}
whose outcome has probability
p
{\displaystyle p}
is:
X
(
A
n
)
=
log
2
⁡
(
1
p
(
A
n
)
)
=
−
log
2
⁡
(
p
(
A
n
)
)
{\displaystyle X(A_{n})=\log _{2}\left({\frac
{1}{p(A_{n})}}\right)=-\log _{2}(p(A_{n}))}
Within this philosophy, the probability of
the physical system does not necessarily change
with the deterministic flow of energy through
the atomic framework, but rather moves into
a lesser probability state when the system
goes through a bifurcating transition. Examples
of this include Bernoulli cell formation,
quantum fluctuations in a gravitational field
causing gravitational precipitation points,
and other systems moving through unstable
self-amplifying state transitions.
== Criticism ==
The existence of discrete digital states is
incompatible with the continuous symmetries
such as rotational symmetry, Lorentz symmetry,
electroweak symmetry and others. Proponents
of digital physics hold that the continuous
models are approximations to the underlying
discrete nature of the universe.
== See also ==
Digital physics
Cellular automata
Extropy
Digital philosophy
