‘IT FROM BIT’: How does information shape the structures in the Universe?

Based on a synthesis of three main ingredients: (i) the Shannon information in non-equilibrium systems, (ii) the semiclassical energy-time quantization rule and (iii) the quasi-static information-energy correspondence, a new general rule for the quantization of quasi-static information states supported by an environment away from equilibrium is introduced if the history of the environment is known as a function of time in terms of its thermodynamic potential for information <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="prefix" stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="postfix" stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi>S</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="prefix" stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="postfix" stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> that is a free energy measuring the distance from equilibrium <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi>S</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="prefix" stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="postfix" stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="prefix" stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mo form="postfix" stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> is the mean temperature of the environment at time <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:math> . This all new quasi-static information-time quantization rule is applied to the expanding Universe using a phenomenological thermodynamic potential for information in the matter-dominated era in order to find the eigen-information of the persistent structures that are supported by the universe (or the local environments therein) at any given epoch, thus providing an information–theoretic foundation for formation of structures and rise of complexity with time that embodies the cosmic evolution as epitomized by the late Wheeler’s famous conjecture ‘it from bit’. This theoretical procedure must also open new avenues for further research into the quantum theory of information and complexity in non-equilibrium thermodynamics.