Graduate How is physical Information "encoded"?

[kfjvj]

TL;DR

I hear a lot about "information" in physics, but no concrete ideas on exactly how that information works.

I've been reading about the Holographic Principle, and this concept of information in physics came up. The idea that physical particles and interactions can be described in bits.

But, how exactly would those bits work? Is this even a meaningful question?

Could someone provide a concrete example of some small physical interaction and then show how some set of bits map onto the particles and forces?

If not, why not?

(My background is in computer science, so I already have a certain view of what "information" is.)

 

[Lord Jestocost]

Rolf Landauer in “The physical nature of information” (Physics Letters A, Volume 217, Issues 4–5, 15 July 1996, Pages 188-193):

"Information is not a disembodied abstract entity; it is always tied to a physical representation. It is represented by engraving on a stone tablet, a spin, a charge, a hole in a punched card, a mark on paper, or some other equivalent. This ties the handling of information to all the possibilities and restrictions of our real physical word, its laws of physics and its storehouse of available parts."

A simple example would be a one bit element which can be forced to assume one of two possibilities which are favored by a bistable potential (two minima separated by a barrier). A physical example could be a single-domain ferroelectric particle. The polarization direction in this domain can be reversed by the application of an electric field of appropriate strenght; so, one can "encode" two states corresponding - say - to "0" and "1". (see, for example, https://www.mm.ethz.ch/research_ferroelectrics.html)

 

[kfjvj]

But what about the information describing all other aspects of it? Position, direction, velocity, etc?

 

[etotheipi]

Our very own @anorlunda has written a very nice insights article about this subject, which may be of use to you: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/how-to-better-define-information-in-physics/