2017/07/27 by Geoff Beck, Beck, Geoff
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #physics.hist-ph #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1707.08778
20 pages, shortened and clarified. Version accepted by Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
arxiv created 2018/12/03 · arxiv updated 2018/12/04
This work outlines the novel application of the empirical analysis of causation, presented by Kutach, to the study of information theory and its role in physics. The central thesis of this paper is that causation and information are identical functional tools for distinguishing controllable correlations, and that this leads to a consistent view, not only of information theory, but also of statistical physics and quantum information. This approach comes without the metaphysical baggage of declaring information a fundamental ingredient in physical reality and exorcises many of the otherwise puzzling problems that arise from this view-point, particularly obviating the problem of `excess baggage' in quantum mechanics.