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> not very compatible with Shannon's usage in any but the shallowest sense The connection is not so shallow, there are entire books based on it. “The concept
by kgwgk 2y ago
> not very compatible with Shannon's usage in any but the shallowest sense
The connection is not so shallow, there are entire books based on it.
“The concept of information, intimately connected with that of probability, gives indeed insight on questions of statistical mechanics such as the meaning of irreversibility. This concept was introduced in statistical physics by Brillouin (1956) and Jaynes (1957) soon after its discovery by Shannon in 1948 (Shannon and Weaver, 1949). An immense literature has since then been published, ranging from research articles to textbooks. The variety of topics that belong to this field of science makes it impossible to give here a bibliography, and special searches are necessary for deepening the understanding of one or another aspect. For tutorial introductions, somewhat more detailed than the present one, see R. Balian (1991-92; 2004).”
https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/0501322 https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/0501322
- petsfed 2y agoI don't dispute that the math is compatible. The problem is the interpretation thereof. When I say "shallowest", I mean the implications of each are very different. Insofar as I'm aware, there is no information-theoretic equivalent to the 2nd or 3rd laws of thermodynamics, so the intuition a student works up from physics about how and why entropy matters just doesn't transfer. Likewise, even if an information science student is well versed in the concept of configuration entropy, that's 15 minutes of one lecture in statistical thermodynamics. There's still the rest of the course to consider.