A physicist at the University of Portsmouth has investigated whether the
highly contested idea that humans are only characters in a sophisticated
virtual world may be supported by a new rule of physics.
According to the idea of the simulated universe, people are constructions
in their own artificial reality, which is like to a computer
simulation.
The hypothesis, which contends that physical reality is essentially
composed of bits of information, is well-liked by a number of well-known
people, including Elon Musk, and in the field of information physics.
According to earlier studies by Dr. Melvin Vopson, information is thought
to have mass and all basic particles—the tiniest known components of the
universe—store information about themselves in a manner akin to that of
human DNA.
He identified a new rule of physics in 2022 that might forecast genetic
alterations in organisms—including viruses—and assist in assessing the
possible ramifications of those mutations.
Its foundation is the second rule of thermodynamics, which states that the
two possible outcomes for entropy, a measure of disorder in an isolated
system, are growth or stagnation.
Dr. Vopson discovered that, contrary to his initial expectations, the
entropy in information systems either stays constant or reduces as these
systems evolve. At that point, he developed the second law of information
dynamics, or infodynamics, which has the potential to have a big influence
on the study of evolution and genetics.
The scientific effects of the new rule on several different physical
systems and contexts, including as biology, atomic physics, and cosmology,
are examined in a recent work that was
published in AIP Advances.
Dr. Vopson, who teaches mathematics and physics at the university, stated,
"I recognized right once that this discovery had broad ramifications for
many other scientific fields.
"What I wanted to do next is put the law to the test and see if it could
further support the simulation hypothesis by moving it on from the
philosophical realm to mainstream science."
Important conclusions consist of:
Biological systems: Genetic mutations are thought to follow a pattern
determined by information entropy, although the second rule of infodynamics
casts doubt on this theory. This finding has significant ramifications for
several disciplines, including pharmacology, virology, genetic research,
genetic therapeutics, and pandemic surveillance.
Atomic physics: The article describes how electrons behave in multielectron
atoms and sheds light on concepts such as Hund's rule, which says that the
term with the greatest multiplicity is at the lowest energy level. By
arranging themselves to reduce their information entropy, electrons can
provide insight on the stability of molecules and atomic physics.
Cosmology: It is demonstrated that the second law of infodynamics is a
cosmological requirement, and its validity is supported by thermodynamic
considerations applied to an adiabatically expanding cosmos.
"The paper also provides an explanation for the prevalence of symmetry in
the universe," said Dr. Vopson.
"The rules of nature are heavily reliant on symmetry principles, but the
reasons for this have not received much attention up to this point. My
results show that the lowest information entropy state is associated with
great symmetry, which may account for nature's propensity towards it.
"This method of removing unnecessary data is similar to how a computer gets
rid of or compresses waste code to conserve storage and reduce power use.
and so lends credence to the notion that we're living in a
simulation."
Information is the fundamental building unit of the cosmos and has physical
substance, according to Dr. Vopson's earlier studies. He goes so far as to
suggest that information—what he terms the mass-energy-information
equivalency principle—may represent the enigmatic dark matter that comprises
almost one-third of the cosmos.
The study makes the case that this view is supported by the second law of
infodynamics, which may provide credence to the notion that information is a
physical substance with the same properties as mass and energy.
"Empirical testing is necessary for the next steps to complete these
studies," Dr. Vopson continued.
"One possible route would be my experiment devised last year to confirm the
fifth state of matter in the universe—and change physics as we know it—using
particle-antiparticle collisions."
Provided by
University of Portsmouth
