Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe

Melvin Vopson

doi:10.1063/5.0064475

Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe

Melvin Vopson

School of Mathematics & Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

149 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The information capacity of the universe has been a topic of great debate since 1970s, and continues to stimulate multiple branches of physics research. Here we used Shannon’s information theory to estimate the amount of encoded information in all the visible matter in the universe. We achieved this by deriving a detailed formula estimating the total number of particles in the observable universe, known as the Eddington number, and by estimating the amount of information stored by each particle about itself. We determined that each particle in the observable universe contains 1.509 bits of information and there are ~ 6 × 10⁸⁰ bits of information stored in all the matter particles of the observable universe.

Original language	English
Article number	105317
Pages (from-to)	1-5
Number of pages	5
Journal	AIP Advances
Volume	11
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0064475
Publication status	Published - 19 Oct 2021

Keywords

information theory
Information in the universe
elementary particles
Eddington number

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1063/5.0064475

5.0064475Final published version, 3.97 MBLicence: CC BY

18 Citations
3 Article

Experimental protocol for testing the mass-energy-information equivalence principle
Vopson, M., 4 Mar 2022, In: AIP Advances. 12, 3, 6 p., 035311.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
272 Downloads (Pure)
How to test if we're living in a computer simulation
Vopson, M., 21 Nov 2022, The Conversation 2 p.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

Open Access
The mass-energy-information equivalence principle
Vopson, M., 6 Sept 2019, In: AIP Advances. 9, 4 p., 095206.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
642 Downloads (Pure)

1 Active

Applications of Information Theory to fundamental Physics
Vopson, M. (PI) & Robson, S. (CoI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
3/06/19 → …
Project: Research

1 Editorial activity
1 Membership of board

Information Physics Institute (External organisation)
Vopson, M. (Chair), Vopson, A. (Chair) & Lepadatu, S. (Member)
15 Sept 2022
Activity: Membership types › Membership of board
Applied Sciences (Switzerland) (Journal)
Vopson, M. (Guest editor) & Joo, J. (Guest editor)
1 Jul 2021 → 31 Dec 2021
Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity

Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe
Vopson, M.
19/10/21 → 19/11/21
23 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research cited
There is no dark matter. Instead, information has mass
Vopson, M.
21/01/20 → 29/01/20
3 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research cited

Cite this

@article{a9088b7d14f046099b55ffdddc38bba5,

title = "Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe",

abstract = "The information capacity of the universe has been a topic of great debate since 1970s, and continues to stimulate multiple branches of physics research. Here we used Shannon{\textquoteright}s information theory to estimate the amount of encoded information in all the visible matter in the universe. We achieved this by deriving a detailed formula estimating the total number of particles in the observable universe, known as the Eddington number, and by estimating the amount of information stored by each particle about itself. We determined that each particle in the observable universe contains 1.509 bits of information and there are ~ 6 × 1080 bits of information stored in all the matter particles of the observable universe.",

keywords = "information theory, Information in the universe, elementary particles, Eddington number",

author = "Melvin Vopson",

note = "Will be CC BY.",

year = "2021",

month = oct,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1063/5.0064475",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

pages = "1--5",

journal = "AIP Advances",

issn = "2158-3226",

publisher = "AIP Publishing",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe

AU - Vopson, Melvin

N1 - Will be CC BY.

PY - 2021/10/19

Y1 - 2021/10/19

N2 - The information capacity of the universe has been a topic of great debate since 1970s, and continues to stimulate multiple branches of physics research. Here we used Shannon’s information theory to estimate the amount of encoded information in all the visible matter in the universe. We achieved this by deriving a detailed formula estimating the total number of particles in the observable universe, known as the Eddington number, and by estimating the amount of information stored by each particle about itself. We determined that each particle in the observable universe contains 1.509 bits of information and there are ~ 6 × 1080 bits of information stored in all the matter particles of the observable universe.

AB - The information capacity of the universe has been a topic of great debate since 1970s, and continues to stimulate multiple branches of physics research. Here we used Shannon’s information theory to estimate the amount of encoded information in all the visible matter in the universe. We achieved this by deriving a detailed formula estimating the total number of particles in the observable universe, known as the Eddington number, and by estimating the amount of information stored by each particle about itself. We determined that each particle in the observable universe contains 1.509 bits of information and there are ~ 6 × 1080 bits of information stored in all the matter particles of the observable universe.

KW - information theory

KW - Information in the universe

KW - elementary particles

KW - Eddington number

U2 - 10.1063/5.0064475

DO - 10.1063/5.0064475

M3 - Article

SN - 2158-3226

VL - 11

SP - 1

EP - 5

JO - AIP Advances

JF - AIP Advances

IS - 10

M1 - 105317

ER -

Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Projects

Activities

Press/Media

Cite this