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01-07-2020 | GENERAL SECTION

On the Nature and Definitions of Information: Physics and Semantics

Authors: N. V. Maksimov, A. A. Lebedev

Published in: Automatic Documentation and Mathematical Linguistics | Issue 4/2020

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Abstract

The works devoted to the definitions of information roles and nature in various subject areas are considered. The identification of analogies for general concepts makes it possible to find approaches to their universal definition. The properties of the information duality and efficiency in information interactions are analyzed. The information semantics is considered, including for physical systems that do not include the subject as an active participant.

next article On the Features of Implementation of the Solver of the JSM Method for Intellectual Data Analysis

The property of a thing (or process) is not a substance, it does not exist in a thing, but “… manifests itself in relation to other things” [1].

A similar situation is also observed in quantum mechanics, where, according to R. Penrose [2], physicists do not seem to aspire very much to identifying “real” states and objects.

In this study, the authors do not provide a literature review as a separate paragraph: classical works are cited in the text, and a review of promising areas related to the physical approach will be given in the second part of the article.

The point of view that information is inherent only in self-organizing systems (primarily biological and social) is almost not discussed in the modern literature. The “functional” concept seems to be a special case of the “attribute” concept, given the dual nature of information that has the properties of both an object and a process.

“Current state changes” means that the object was steadily in some other stable state before the interaction.

Both material “fragments” (elements and relationships) and abstract entities/relationships that provide object analysis can act as a “part.”

“Heterogeneity is a different expression, a kind of diversity” [10].

In our opinion, this is also an image.

Storage and transmission of information are carried out by physical media. At the micro-level, different types of particles must be used for this purpose: Fermi particles are suitable for storing information (stationary states of Fermi particle systems are stable) and Bose particles are suitable for transmission (they have many states and cannot be at rest) [11].

“The isotropy and homogeneity of physical space, its Euclidean (pseudo-Euclidean) nature, can be explained by its simplicity. This is the only maximally symmetric space with zero curvature” [15].

This is due to the principle of minimal action, the aspiration to a stable state.

Therefore, this interpretation was called “quantum Darwinism.”

An “observable” is understood in quantum physics with some reservations as the physical quantity measured in the experiment. More precisely, this is an operator that describes the state of a physical system.

Currently, four fundamental types of physical interactions are known: weak, strong, electromagnetic, and gravitational interactions. All other types of interaction, including those of people, are based on the above ones. The observed reality shows that all the functions of consciousness (receiving, interpreting, generating information, etc.) are implemented by physical and chemical processes.

In the synergetic theory of H. Haken [28], this is an “order parameter” by analogy with the theory of phase transitions.

The existence of fundamental particles and interactions in nature is also determined by macro-properties, the observed stability of the forms of objects and the transformations of surrounding reality. Or, according to C. Pierce [29], these are peculiar “habits” of nature, cosmological regularities. It is these habits that allow us to “… have a behavioral pattern to act in a certain way and a prescription for this action” [30].

The mechanism of genetic reproduction implies the stability of the alphabet and the constancy of the coding/decoding mechanism that implements the synthesis of an object that is similar to an original in its image (code).

At this point, it should be emphasized that such a scheme of interaction and interdependence is not anthropocentric, it does not require the presence of human consciousness: the condition of medium non-equilibrium is sufficient for this.

We note that the only currently known “machine” that implements the transformation (interaction) of abstract objects into real ones is man.

This also applies to quantization of space–time, which is a manifestation of the dynamism of the micro-world.

The term “object” is used here in order not to focus attention on its nature, physical or abstract.

For the level of fundamental interactions, these are the laws of the Universe; for the biosphere, these are genetic mechanisms; for the technosphere, these are control systems.

We note that these losses in the variety of states of the original that are reflected (“reduced”) in an individual image can be “made up” for the system as a whole due to the variety of associated objects at the image level. As a result, the system gets the opportunity to evolve (and even more energetically economically and effectively) through the interactions of the image, but not the original itself. “We are swimming upstream, fighting a huge flow of disorganization. … In this world, our first duty is to make arbitrary islands of order and system” [35].

The concept of “choice” already implies the presence of preferences, i.e., orderliness, “unequal preference” of the elements of the set based on which the choice is made.

This type of interaction is not one more type among the fundamental types of physical interaction mentioned earlier, but only reflects the nature of the relationship of the interacting parties.

Except for the case of “bound” information (as defined by L. Brillouin), when we can use as an example radiation of (an “accompanying” product of matter division/synthesis) that is “used” as information for reconstruction of a process, which no longer exists (a model of the past), or which may occur (forecast of the future), in one form or another (repetition in other forms and circumstances).

For a sign (textual) form of information, such quanta are concepts denoted in the text by terms of the language that can be used in any other texts.

For a textual (more precisely, descriptive) form of information representation that implements the coordinate method for identifying content, space (primary coordinates) is assigned based on a discrete set of terms that are represented by integral conceptual constructions of words and their combinations (word combinations, phrases, full texts). In this case, the distribution function can be defined using matrices of the “term-document” type for the corresponding SAs.

In the general case, c_i is a complex number, since subject areas are represented in non-one-dimensional space and their distinguishing is determined by known knowledge, i.e., it must be assumed that there are other “parts” of the SA that are “imaginary” for the current state.

In the general case, the receiver may also be a source, for example, at another moment in time.

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Title: On the Nature and Definitions of Information: Physics and Semantics
Authors: N. V. Maksimov
A. A. Lebedev
Publication date: 01-07-2020
Publisher: Pleiades Publishing
Published in: Automatic Documentation and Mathematical Linguistics / Issue 4/2020
Print ISSN: 0005-1055
Electronic ISSN: 1934-8371
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0005105520040044

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