Information and energy

Information and Energy

By Hartmut Ising

A photon in a double slit experiment is carrying 1 bit of information. This was demonstrated in a gedankenexperiment by Brukner and Zeilinger. Here it is shown in a modified gedankenexperiment that Planck’s formula for the photon energy can be interpreted as the energy which is equivalent to the flux of information 1 bit/Δt and that Δt is equal to the photon’s period: E = h ν = h (1 bit) c/λ. This result is valid for an isolated photon. Based upon this result an information-energy-hypothesis is introduced for complex information. Experimental tests of the hypothetical equivalence between energy and information flux are suggested. Experimentalists with the necessary equipment are encouraged to perform such experiments as here described. This empirical approach is considered necessary as a first step on the way which could lead – if confirmed – to a quantitative theory of information physics and to experimental evidence of dark energy.