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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 11, No. 3

Publication Date: June 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/aivp.113.14645.

Jöge, F. M. (2023). Information & Effect: An Introduction to the Concept of Immanence as a Physical Quantity. European Journal

of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(3). 327-341.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Information & Effect: An Introduction to the Concept of

Immanence as a Physical Quantity

Friedhelm M. Jöge

Schulstrasse 57, D-31812 Bad Pyrmont, Germany

ABSTRACT

The introduction and application of the concept of immanence as a physical

quantity allows a broader understanding of effect. Mathematical

formulations present the complementary co-factors of information and

immanence as the cause and result respectively of the thermodynamic effect.

Thus, the concept of immanence helps to clear up the relation between the

concepts of information and reality and leads to the derivative of the

principle of immanence development which might be applied to problems in

astrophysics, e.g., in the discussion on the information paradox (i.e., the

question of information loss regarding black holes).

Keywords: Information, immanence, effect, reality, thermodynamics,

astrophysics

Thermodynamics "... is the only physical theory of general content which I am convinced will

never be overturned within the framework of the applicability of its basic concepts (for the

special attention of fundamental sceptics)". Albert Einstein

In the beginning was the word ... John. 1, 1-3

INTRODUCTION

In today's information age, the term "information" has become more and more important. We

are living in a time of renewed paradigm shift, away from the traditional concepts of energy

and matter to the prevailing concept of information in today's information age. Although the

concepts of energy and matter are still present and important in our world, they are

increasingly being replaced by the concept of information. This applies not only to biology with

its deeper biochemistry and molecular biology, but also to physics. This is where the term

"information" plays an increasingly important role alongside energy and matter as the third

fundamental quantity. The American physicist JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER considers an

information-theoretical reformulation of quantum theory in general to be promising. He once

said: "Tomorrow we will have learned how to understand all physics in the language of

information and how to express it in this language". The experimental physicist ANTON

ZEILINGER, Vienna, even equates information with reality. Even if reality is not a concept of

physics and the concept of effect has no particularlydescriptive meaning in physics, one can

understand physical reality as a single effect or as the sum of all effects. Then the question of a

quantitative connection between information and effect arises. This connection could help to

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Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom 328

European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 11, Issue 3, June-2023

understand effect more comprehensively with the help of the concept of information and to

relativize SHANNON's information theory by taking it onto a semanto-pragmatic level.

INFORMATION MANIFESTATIONS

Like matter and energy, we encounter information in various forms such as literature,

encyclopaedias, telephone books, news via telecommunication satellites or even

communication via jungle drum, language (communication), sheet music, material-related

structural information as properties, genetic information (DNA, genome), proteomic

information (proteomics, proteomes), hormones and the immune systems of organisms,

pheromone language of insects, computer programmes, circuit diagrams of a chip and technical

drawings. It appears as potential, current, bound and free information as well as structural,

functional [1] and dynamic information and possesses, among other things, statistical,

syntactic, logical, semantic, pragmatic, sigmatic, teleological and transcendent1 aspects.

Looking at the different manifestations of information, two directions of development can be

seen: one direction from complex to simple, characterized by the term’s decomposition,

degradation, analysis and reduction, and an opposite direction from simple to complex,

characterized by the term’s synthesis, construction, optimization and evolution. These

developments represent the production and transformation of information and always take

place in the environment of an effect mechanism. The direction of higher development is

generally called evolution. The two directions of the development do not always have to be

directed one-sidedly downward or upward.

PROPOSED DEFINITION OF INFORMATION

A general proposal for a definition of information in compact terms that could be valid for all

scientific disciplines in the age of language confusion in relation to the concept of information

would be:

Information is the composition of an ensemble of symbols of a certain sequence.

This definition includes all essential aspects of the concept of information such as statistics,

syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The formulation "certain sequence" refers to semantics and,

inextricably linked with that, to pragmatics (semanto-pragmatics). Likewise, the phrase

"composition of an ensemble" refers to statistics, where the terms "probability of a

composition" and "canonical ensemble" are used.

MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF EFFECT WITH THE HELP OF THE CONCEPT OF

INFORMATION

Effect is understood in information theory [2, 3] as a pragmatic aspect of information. How one

can imagine the unfolding of effect and what role information plays in this is shown in research

by elucidating mechanisms of action and the control of life development by genes. So far,

however, the mathematical treatment of the relationship between the terms information and

effect has not been very pronounced.

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Jöge, F. M. (2023). Information & Effect: An Introduction to the Concept of Immanence as a Physical Quantity. European Journal of Applied Sciences,

Vol - 11(3). 327-341.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.113.14645.

L. DE BROGLIE for the first time developed a formula (1) in the context of the thermodynamics

of the isolated particle, which can be found in the pocketbook "Waves and Particles" [4] on p.

234. It describes the equivalence of thermodynamic entropy S and effect A. The thermodynamic

entropy S in turn has a proportional relationship to SHANNON's information entropy H (see

equation (2)). This relationship is generally accepted in physics today, if one considers entropy

as potential information, i.e., as a measure of the number of possible micro states in the macro

state. Entropy is associated with the number of yes-no questions (bits) needed to determine a

particular state. The more information one has, the fewer questions have to be asked and the lower

the entropy (entropy as missing information) [5, p. 149/150].

Thus equation (1) becomes equation (3) and, after division by the time t, this leads to the

equivalence of information flow H / t and energy (equation (4)), which was first postulated by

HARTMUT ISING in 1996 [6] and means an extension of the law of energy conservation. The

experimental verification of this hypothesis is still pending, but has already been mentally

prepared [6]. With reference to Greek philosophy (Philo of Alexandria, 1st century A.D.) ISING

refers to the flow of information as "dynamic information".

LIENHARD PAGEL has also described the equivalence of information flow and energy [7, p. 27],

derived a sentence on the preservation of "dynamic information" and examined its usefulness.

The DE BROGLIE formula (1) and the PAGEL formula correspond. While DE BROGLIE uses

thermodynamic entropy, PAGEL employs SHANNON's information entropy.

Also, in quantum theory the concept of information is linked with the concept of probability,

namely with BORN's probability interpretation of the wave function ѱ, which can be

understood as potential information. This expression (18) of physical entropy presents itself

differently to SHANNON's information entropy; for the latter is based on the distinguishability

of the signs or the underlying binary alternatives respectively. On the other hand, the

indistinguishability of the microstates must be taken into account in the quantum theoretical

representation. But for the treatment of the concept of immanence presented here, the

"classical" information concept of SHANNON is taken as the basis in accordance with the

statement of NIELS BOHR, according to which the representation of all experience must take

place in classical concepts.

APPLICATION OF EQUATIONS (4) AND (8)

With the help of equation (4), the information content HM of our universe can be calculated as

follows:

For the theoretical calculation, the universe is regarded as a single black hole, just as one

imagines the final stage of the universe according to a common theory. With the black hole

entropy (BEKENSTEIN-HAWKING entropy)

SH = kc3 AH / (4 ħG) (see [2, pg. 80])

and HAWKING temperature