Difference between revisions of "TFNR - Elementary Physical Information: Energy"

Revision as of 19:21, 9 January 2026

In these sections we will try to define and describe what we mean by the term "Energy" in this model of description of Reality. And then we will close this chapter with a reference to more complex forms of Information in the physical world (Quantum and Classical Information).

Energy as Elementary Physical Information

Energy is an elementary form of Physical Information. As a form of Information, it is the object and the product of the sub-process of Formation of Physical Reality that we call Physical Evolution.

The concept of Energy is ontologically linked to that of "inhomogeneity", or better to that of correlations between / of inhomogeneities. Inhomogeneity "of" what and "in" what? Inhomogeneity "of" the dynamics of a Field, "in" the Field itself. The dynamics of a Field is represented by Events and the inhomogeneities in the distribution of such Events represent the Action of the Force in that Field. The correlations (Relations) between such inhomogeneities represent the Information / Energy of that Field at a given instant, what gives Form to the Field at that instant. Nets of Relations between Events that organize them into Processes (which we observe as Structures of Information, Dark Halos, Particles, Waves, etc., as Forms composed of such Structures, Systems composed of Forms, the Universe, the ensemble of all that exists).

In the most elementary levels of Physical Reality, the types of Relations, the networks of Events, the Processes that are organized are relatively simple, relatively predictable, albeit in a probabilistic, statistical form, due to the chaos, turbulence, indeterminacy that dominate the Dynamics of these levels and whose incidence increases exponentially the more we descend towards microscopic spatial and temporal distances, towards the Planck scale and beyond.

This is why we have a specific term for Information at these elementary levels of Reality.

Energy in conventional physics

In etymology, Energy recalls concepts of "force in action, work in progress, capacity to act, aptitude to carry out work, to produce motion, activity". In conventional physics, beyond these generic definitions, this term has not found a precise definition. It is reiterated that energy is not a fluid, a substance, that has no material reality (but what does material reality mean, when it is increasingly evident that the nature of reality transcends its material dimension, for a dimension precisely "energetic"). That it is an abstract mathematical concept connected to the constraints with respect to the possible processes and the temporal symmetries of physical laws. A quantitative property that must be transferred to an object in order to do work on, or to heat, the object.

I believe that the main reason why science has found it so difficult to define the concept of Energy is due to "Time". As I have said several times in this work, Reality is the result of a Process of incessant Formation. Unstoppable. Time is not an option. It is a fundamental element of Reality. It is an emergent phenomenon, but at a level strictly causally linked to the most elementary level of Physical Reality, direct manifestation of the Source. The Elementary Events, in their occurrence, define Space and Time and are defined by these dimensions. Causality and Variationality (Spatiality and Temporality) are intimately interconnected, linked. They are two sides of the same coin, two complementary aspects of the same Entity (the Primary Source) responsible for the incessant Creation of Existence and Evolution of the Essence / Form of Reality and the Universe.

To "measure" Energy we must stop Time. And this is not possible. Without the flow of Time there is no Reality, there is nothing. Existence does not exist. Energy is therefore not a "real" concept. It is an abstraction, an approximation of Reality. It is a convenient abstraction that allows us to evaluate the dynamics of a system, to approximate the variations that occur in a Process, etc. But it is not Reality. Reality is a flow, it is what happens between two states, between two snapshots that are not Reality (let's not confuse photographs with the photographed objects). How can we define in real terms what is not real?

And yet, not being able to observe Reality while it happens, in its temporal continuity, we must discretize, we have to watch the film frame after frame, in the illusion that what we see is Reality in itself, and not a representation made up of an infinite series of observations, of discrete measurements, of instantaneous interactions repeated again and again...

In short, conventional physics does not seem to be able to help us understand what Energy is. It can only help us, in some areas in a clear and profound way, in others still in a superficial and obscure way, to understand how an object or a system can increase or decrease its energy following an interaction with other objects or systems. The variation of energy seems to be determined by the changes that have occurred in its microscopic properties. Interactions. Actions between objects, between systems, between parts. Action. Expression of Force, which exerts Action on a Field. Forces that produce Interactions. Events that modify Relations, which produce variations in the Form of Processes. Let's return to the foundations of this model.

And, in this model

Among the fundamental concepts of this model there is a general level structure: Levels of Reality, Levels of Complexity. And since each level has its own particular form, or forms, of inhomogeneity, each level has its own form of Energy, of Elementary Information. We will see how Energy is characterized at the most elementary level of Physical reality, at the level of the Elementary Field, where the incessant Action of the Fundamental Force produces the Elementary Events, the microscopic spatial fluctuations whose temporal distributions represent the "raw material" with which Reality is incessantly built. And then we will see how at each Level of Reality, at each level of Complexity, even the forms of Energy evolve towards ever greater complexity.

The concept of inhomogeneity, of correlation, and even more, of Form is central to understanding the concept of Energy. And the greater the complexity, the greater the importance of Form. At the level of Elementary Events, the form of inhomogeneity is reduced to a "simple" differentiation of spatial distances, and therefore areas and volumes, determined by the fluctuations produced by the incessant Action of the Force on the Field.

An example

Let's imagine that each event point of the Elementary Field behaves like an infinitesimal harmonic oscillator, or better yet like a tiny spring. Let's imagine one of the infinite springs, let's imagine that it is relaxed. Its "elastic" energy will be zero. Obviously we neglect the energy inherent in the matter of which the spring is made. In the hypothesis we have proposed, the imaginary spring is immaterial, so we do not have to take into account its own energy content. Let's focus only on its elastic properties.

Now a force, the Force exerts Action on the Field, producing an Event of compression of the spring we have chosen. If we stop Time, if we take a snapshot of an Event that has occurred, its Energy will no longer be zero, its Form will no longer be the "natural" one, it will have changed, the spring will be deformed. An inhomogeneity has been produced. And Information. Now that specific spring is characterized by Information, it is Information, In-Form-Action, the Form of the Action, Action that has taken or given Form (compressed spring, reduced length, or however we want to formulate it, whatever form we want to give to this representation, Form, the concept is always the same!). An Action that has produced a variation of Form.

What we see is the Form of that Action. Not of the Action in its becoming, which, for such small and rapid phenomena, we cannot observe. But of the product of the Action. Force by Space (spatial variation) by Time (temporal variation). If we take a snapshot (let's imagine we can acquire it truly instantaneously, in zero time) we are dividing (or deriving) the Action by the Time. We are left with the Force exerted for a Space, a variation of spatial distance, the variation of the length of the spring, which has been reduced by the effect of the Event produced by the Force that has acted on the Field, on a mixed spring that represents a point (event point).

But what does that compression represent besides an inhomogeneity, a deformation, a Form, Information? Besides being the result, the product of the Action of a Force, it is as if it were a sort of temporarily "frozen" Force, conserved, incorporated, saved waiting to be able to express itself again, to react, re-act, re-Action, waiting to produce new events, new variations in form, to produce new deformations, inhomogeneities or to cancel those already produced.

What can we expect from the compressed spring, an ideal spring that does not dissipate energy, able to return all the Action that compressed it, all the Force that acted to compress it? The spring that represents an event point in the Field, that represents the Field. It is the Field that re-acts. It acts by reaction, re-Action, a sort of feedback, an attempt to restore a condition of homogeneity that would never have been lost if the Force had not acted to compress the spring, the event point of the Field. Everything originates from the Force, but everything is maintained and returned by the Field. A kind of universal "give and take", which, by the two complementary aspects of the Primary Source of Reality, produces inhomogeneity (active aspect, the Force) and tries to restore homogeneity (passive aspect, the Field). No Force -> no Action, which we observe as Energy. No Energy -> no reaction, which we observe as a new acting Force (Agent). And so on, ad infinitum...

An anti-entropic Action by the Force (which compresses the Field) followed by an entropic re-Action of the Field. It is in this subtle game of negentropic and entropic Processes that at all levels of Complexity the Form of Reality is created and evolves, and therefore the Properties, Behaviors, Dynamics of what we see in the Universe. "Uncertainty" (indeterminacy), primary expression of the Force that produces the Elementary Action (temporal distributions of Elementary Events) and Energy / Information in the form of inhomogeneity of the Field, "Action and Reaction" which tends to cancel such inhomogeneities due to the reaction of the Field itself. A third element is missing. "Least Action", which through the interaction of different inhomogeneities modifies the reaction of the Field producing Processes that tend to be conserved. Uncertainty, Action and Reaction and Least Action, the three fundamental principles of Evolutionary Dynamics, cornerstones of this System of Knowledge.

It is the Cycle of Information, and of its most elementary form, Physical Energy, both at the level of the Elementary Field, and at the increasingly complex levels that lead to the dynamics of the world of InfoStructures (Quantum Information) and Forms (Classical Information). The Cycle where the aforementioned three fundamental principles are expressed in more complex functional operational forms, embodied by three evolutionary Operators: Organization (creation of complexity, creation of new Information / Energy or of greater complexity starting from less complex Information / Energy), Transformation (destruction of complexity, deconstruction of complex Information / Energy into less complex Information / Energy, raw material for new organization of greater complexity), Selection (conservation of complexity, of "suitable" Information / Energy compatible with the environment, with the Information / Energy that gives Form to Reality).

Energy as the product of Action

We cannot imagine Energy without a Force that has produced an Action on a Field, or a combination of forces that has produced an interaction on the parts of a system, or Entities that have produced Events that have produced variations of the Relations that organize them into Processes. Different terms, different points of view on Reality, but always the same fundamental dynamic. Energy is the result of that Action, of an immense number of Actions, of Events that produce deformations, inhomogeneities of the temporal and spatial distribution of something: finite fluctuations of the Elementary Field, particles inside atoms, atoms in crystalline lattices, molecules in our blood, planets that orbit around the sun, stars in the galaxy cluster of galaxies in a supercluster, and so on. Inhomogeneous distributions of Events, Relations, Processes, which we see as particles, dark halos, galaxies, in incessant change of Form, of Forms, Interactions that deform, change the spatial, temporal distributions, the positions, the distances, the speed ratios, the acceleration, the forces in play, the local and universal dynamics. Inhomogeneities nested in infinite levels of complexity, which, under the incessant pressure of the primary Source of Reality, define in an infinitely dynamic and varied way the Form of Reality, of the Universe in Evolution.

Forms of inhomogeneities, forms of Energy

Let us return to the hypothesis of a classification of Energy based on different levels of Complexity, which we can associate with the corresponding Levels of Reality.

In light of the hypotheses formulated regarding the Fundamental Nature of Reality, we can outline the various levels of inhomogeneity that give rise to the corresponding forms of Energy.

These levels will be summarized here and examined in detail in the following sections.

Proto-Energy (Unmanifested – Non‑correlational)

Proto‑Energy is the energetic expression of uncorrelated individual dynamics. It corresponds to asymmetries intrinsic to single event‑points of the Elementary Field, before any correlational or relational structure emerges.

• First level of inhomogeneity – Pre‑spatial proto‑Energy – From the point of view of the pre-spatial dynamics of the individual event-points: inhomogeneities in the pre-spatial fluctuations of the Elementary Field -> unmanifested proto‑Energy associated with the pre‑spatial asymmetrical dynamics of elementary pre-spatial fluctuations (Elementary Events) in amplitude, orientation, chirality and axis‑orientation of vorticity.

• Second level of inhomogeneity – Pre‑temporal proto‑Energy – From the point of view of the pre‑temporal dynamics of individual event‑points: inhomogeneities in the pre‑temporal distributions of pre‑spatial fluctuations -> unmanifested proto‑Energy associated with the pre‑temporal asymmetrical dynamics of Elementary Events.

• Third level of inhomogeneity – Elementary Energy – From the point of view of the dynamics of individual event‑points relative to the average dynamics of the Field: inhomogeneities in pre‑temporal distributions relative to the Field's standard behavior -> unmanifested proto‑Energy associated with Elementary Action, expressed through its fundamental Modes / Components (Perturbation, Translation, Rotation:Chirality, Rotation:AxisOrientation).

Physical Energy

Physical Energy arises from correlations or Relations among multiple dynamics. It emerges only when inhomogeneities involve groups of event‑points, InfoStructures, or Forms.

• Fourth level of inhomogeneity: from the point of view of the dynamics of different groups of multiple event-points (two or more regions of the Elementary Field) in relation with each other, inhomogeneity of the correlations of the pre-temporal distributions of the pre-spatial fluctuations of the Elementary Field resonating around the Planck scale -> Spatial correlations of pre-temporal distributions of Elementary Events, Spatial correlations of the Components of the Elementary Action, Elementary Information / Energy -> Forms of Derived Physical Energy "of" the Field and of the InfoStructures "in" the Field:
  • Energy of the structured Field -> Potential Energy (curvature of Spacetime Metric or gravitational potential, acceleration or kinetic potential/potential Motion, electric potential, magnetic potential)
  • Energy of Structures of Information in the Field -> Effective Energy (Mass, Kinetic (inertial) Energy, Electric Charge, Magnetic Spin)
• Fifth level of inhomogeneity: inhomogeneity of the distribution, organization, correlation of the Structures of Information in the Elementary Field -> Non homogeneous distribution of InfoStructures (Dark and Ordinary Structures like Halos, Particles, Waves, etc.) in Space-time. Evolution of Forms composed of the aggregation and interaction of Structures of Information.
• Infinite levels of inhomogeneity: inhomogeneity of the distribution, organization, correlation of the Forms in the Elementary Field -> Non homogeneous distribution of the Forms (atoms and molecules, gas and dust, stars, galaxies, clusters, etc.) in Space-time, in the Universe. Evolution of more complex Forms and Systems of Forms composed of the aggregation and interaction of other (less complex) Forms.

The full structure of these levels of inhomogeneity — from the three non‑correlational forms of Proto‑Energy to the correlational and relational forms of Physical Energy — is summarized in the two tables below.

The first table presents the three Proto‑Energy levels, while the second table organizes the corresponding forms of Physical Energy across the higher Levels of Reality.

PROTO-ENERGY - Unmanifested - Non‑correlational

Focus on single event-points "of" the Field

Proto‑Energy is the energetic expression of uncorrelated individual dynamics.

Proto‑Energy are individual asymmetric dynamics, not yet relational.

PHYSICAL ENERGY - Manifested - Correlational / relational

Focus on multiple event-points of a region "of" the Field, or InfoStructures "in" the Field, or Forms (Systems of Forms, substances, objects and bodies, structures, megastructures, Universe)

Physical Energy arises from correlations or Relations among multiple dynamics

Physical Energy emerges only when correlations exist among multiple event‑points or InfoStructures.

Links to the tables of contents of TFNR Paper

• Go to the contents list of the paper "The Fundamental Nature of Reality"

• Go to Chapter 2 "A first look"