Complexity, Entropy & the Physics of Information
Complexity, Entropy & the Physics of Information
The specter of information is haunting sciences. With these words, Wojciech H. Zurek invited fellow scientists to attend the 1989 Santa Fe Institute workshop on which this proceedings volume is based. Thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, the quantum theory of measurement, the physics of computation, dynamical systems, molecular biology, and computer science — information remains central to the 32 essays collected in this new edition of Complexity, Entropy & the Physics of Information.
Like the original meeting, this two-volume reprint explores the connections between quantum and classical physics, information and its transfer, computation, and their significance for the formulation of physical theories. A newly written introduction from attendee Seth Lloyd contextualizes the significance of this record of a meeting that marked the intersection of information, physics, complexity, and computation.
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Editor
Wojciech H. Zurek
Table of Contents
Volume I
PREFACE
Seth Lloyd
FOREWORD
Wojciech H. Zurek
Physics of Information
1. Information, Physics, Quantum: The Search for Links, John Archibald Wheeler
2. Information from Quantum Measurements, Benjamin Schumacher
3. Local Accessibility of Quantum States, William K. Wootters
4. The Entropy of Black Holes, V. F. Mukhanov
5. Some Simple Consequences of the Loss of Information in a Spacetime with a Horizon, Shin Takagi
6. Why is the Physical World So Comprehensible? P. C. W. Davies
Laws of Physics & Laws of Computation
7. Algorithmic Information Content, Church–Turing Thesis, Physical Entropy, and Maxwell’s Demon,W. H. Zurek
8. Entropy and Information: How Much Information Is Needed to Assign a Probability? Carlton M. Caves
9. Complexity of Models, J. Rissanen
10. Laws and Boundary Conditions, C.H. Woo
11. How to Define Complexity in Physics, and Why, Charles H. Bennett
Complexity & Evolution
12. Requirements for Evolvability in Complex Systems: Orderly Dynamics and Frozen Components, Stuart A. Kauffman
13. Valuable Information, Seth Lloyd
14. Non-Equilibrium Polymers, Entropy, and Algorithmic Information, Dilip K. Kondepudi
15. The Dynamics of Complex Computational Systems,Tad Hogg
16. Computation at the Onset of Chaos, James P. Crutchfield and Karl Young
Volume II
Physics of Computation
17. Parallel Quantum Computation, Norman Margolus
18. Information Processing at the Molecular Level: Possible Realizations and Physical Constraints, W.G. Teich and G. Mahler
19. How Cheap Can Mechanics’ First Principles Be? Tommaso Toffoli
20. Intermittent Fluctuations and Complexity, Xiao-Jing Wang
21. Information Processing in Visual Perception, A. Zee
Probability, Entropy & Quantum
22.Thermodynamic Constraints on Quantum Axioms, Asher Peres
23. Entropy and Quantum Mechanics, M. Hossein Partovi
24. Einstein Completion of Quantum Mechanics Made Falsifiable, O.E. Rössler
25. Quantum Mechanics and Algorithmic Complexity, J.W. Barrett
26. Probability in Quantum Theory, E.T. Jaynes
27. Quantum Measurements and Entropy, H.D. Zeh
Quantum Theory & Measurement
28. Quantum Mechanics in the Light of Quantum Cosmology, Murray Gell-Mann and James B. Hartle
29. Information Dissipation in Quantum Cosmology and the Emergence of Classical Spacetime, Jonathan J. Halliwell
30. The Quantum Mechanics of Self-Measurement, David Z. Albert
31. The Quantum-Classical Correspondence in Light of Classical Bell’s and Quantum Tsirelson’s Inequalities, L.A. Khalfin
32. Some Progress in Measurement Theory: The Logical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Roland Omnès
Index
News
Citation Information
Book: Complexity, Entropy & the Physics of Information
Edited by Wojciech H. Zurek
$10.99 (Paperback)
Publisher and imprint: The SFI Press Archive Series
444 pages (volume I); 416 pages (Volume II)
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-947864-27-6 (volume I); 978-1-947864-30-6 (volume II)
Publication Date: February 28, 2023