Physicists Don't Know What They're Talking About When They Say 'Order'

Physicists use the word "order" to mean opposite things. A crystal at zero temperature is "ordered" because it has fixed structure. The heat death of the universe is also "ordered" because it is perfectly uniform. This is nonsense. They cannot both be "ordered" if they are opposites. This paper demonstrates that "order" has no precise meaning in physics. There are four different things physicists call "order": (1) how uniformly matter is distributed in space, (2) whether there is repeating structure, (3) how many possible microscopic states the system has, and (4) how much minimum information you need to describe the system. These four things are NOT related. You can have one high and another low. Physicists mix them all under the word "order" and then get confused. This paper proposes: stop using "order" completely. Use words that mean what you are actually measuring.

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2025-11-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17561465
Primary Topic
Chaos, Complexity, and Education
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Physicists Don't Know What They're Talking About When They Say 'Order'

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Chaos, Complexity, and Education
article

Physicists Don't Know What They're Talking About When They Say 'Order'

article en

Abstract

Physicists use the word "order" to mean opposite things. A crystal at zero temperature is "ordered" because it has fixed structure. The heat death of the universe is also "ordered" because it is perfectly uniform. This is nonsense. They cannot both be "ordered" if they are opposites. This paper demonstrates that "order" has no precise meaning in physics. There are four different things physicists call "order": (1) how uniformly matter is distributed in space, (2) whether there is repeating structure, (3) how many possible microscopic states the system has, and (4) how much minimum information you need to describe the system. These four things are NOT related. You can have one high and another low. Physicists mix them all under the word "order" and then get confused. This paper proposes: stop using "order" completely. Use words that mean what you are actually measuring.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Openalex Percentile: Top 40%
Chaos, Complexity, and Education
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