Information-Based Physics and the Influence Network

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new perspective on relativistic quantum mechanics by modeling the universe as an influence network, deriving physical laws from information consistency and observer inferences, potentially unifying quantum mechanics and gravity.

Contribution

It introduces an influence network model that derives physics from information principles, offering a novel approach to unifying quantum mechanics and gravity.

Findings

Derives familiar physics from influence-based information quantification.

Provides a new perspective on spacetime and particle properties.

Suggests a network-based view of the universe as an influence system.

Abstract

This essay considers a simple model of observers that are influenced by the world around them. Consistent quantification of information about such influences results in a great deal of familiar physics. The end result is a new perspective on relativistic quantum mechanics, which includes both a way of conceiving of spacetime as well as particle "properties" that may be amenable to a unification of quantum mechanics and gravity. Rather than thinking about the universe as a computer, perhaps it is more accurate to think about it as a network of influences where the laws of physics derive from both consistent descriptions and optimal information-based inferences made by embedded observers.