A new law of physics indicates that we are living in a simulation – DW – 10/10/2023

In this world, everything we perceive as real, from the feeling of the air on our faces to the taste of food, could simply be an artificial construct, akin to a computer simulation, according to the philosophical argument known as “simulation.”

how Previously published in DW, This hypothesis, published in 2003, suggests that if humanity is able to repeatedly simulate the universe using some type of advanced computer, it is very likely that we live in one of… Those many simulations.

Recently, physicist Melvin Fopson From the University of Portsmouth He investigated whether a new law of physics could support this widely discussed theory. His current study explores the simulation universe hypothesis and the implications this has for science and technology.

This idea, which is essentially a mental exercise, has gained popularity among many prominent figures, including Elon Musk. It belongs to the field of information physics, a discipline that assumes that physical reality consists mainly of basic units of information, known as bits.

In his earlier work, Fobson had already suggested this Information has mass And that all elementary particles store information about themselves, just like human DNA. In 2022, Fopson claimed to have discovered a new law of physics that can predict genetic mutations in living organisms, including viruses, and help evaluate their possible consequences.

Information Dynamics: The Second Law of Information Dynamics

As he explains University of Portsmouth Statement, This discovery is based on the second law of thermodynamics, which states: That entropy It is a measure of chaos in an isolated system, and it means loss of energy, so it always increases or remains constant in any natural process in the universe.

However, Fobson, who considers the information As a form of matter, He expected that the entropy of information systems would also increase over time, but he noticed that the entropy remained constant or decreased over time, which led him to propose the second law of information dynamics, or infodynamics, According to a new article published in AIP Physics.

According to Fobson, this discovery in 2022 facilitates new research at the intersection of physics and information and appears to support the hypothesis of a simulated universe.

He said: “In this article, we reconsider the second law of information dynamics and the extent to which it can be applied to digital information, genetic information, atomic physics, mathematical symmetries, and cosmology, and we present scientific evidence that appears to support the hypothesis of a simulated universe.”

In the field of genetics, Fopson has found that the second law of information dynamics challenges the traditional interpretation of genetic mutations, suggesting that they follow a pattern governed by the entropy of information, rather than being merely random.

The study also addresses the organization of electrons in the atom, noting that it reduces information entropy, meaning that for the universe to continue expanding, the increase in physical entropy must be balanced by a corresponding decrease in information entropy.

The spread of symmetry in the universe

Fobson explains that his research also highlights the prevalence of symmetry in the universe, links it to the second law of information dynamics, and highlights how information systems remove information deemed redundant.

In fact, the concept can be envisioned as a computer that self-optimizes and compresses, which he says supports the possibility that we are all immersed in an information system that operates in this way, and is essentially a simulation.

“Symmetry principles play an important role in the laws of nature, but until now there have been few explanations for why this happens. My findings show that high symmetry corresponds to a state of lower information entropy, which can explain nature’s tendency toward Fobson.

“This approach, in which redundant information is removed, is similar to the process of removing a computer or compressing remaining code to save storage space and improve power consumption. As a result, it supports the idea that we are living in a simulation,” he adds.

In short, according to Vobson’s previous research, information could be “the fundamental building block of a universe that has physical mass,” and he even suggests that information could form the dark matter of the universe, according to his mass-energy information principle. Equivalence.

According to the scientist, the second law of information dynamics would support this idea, suggesting that information is equivalent to mass and energy. However, experimental evidence is needed to validate these theories.

“A possible way is my experiment that I created last year to confirm The fifth state of matter “In the universe – and changing physics as we know it – using particle and antiparticle collisions,” Vopson said.

Little (University of Portsmouth, AIP Physics)