TFNR - Elementary Physical Information: Energy
In these sections I will try to clarify what I mean by the term "Energy" in the context of this model of Reality. And I will close the chapter by briefly addressing the more complex forms of Information that appear 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 both 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 inhomogeneity, or more precisely, to correlations among inhomogeneities. Inhomogeneity "of" what and "in" what? Inhomogeneity "of" the dynamism of a Field, "in" the Field itself. The dynamism of a Field is represented by Event-points, and the inhomogeneities in their distribution represent the Action of the Fundamental Force in that Field. The correlations (Relations) among such inhomogeneities represent the Information / Energy of that Field at a given instant, the Form that the Field assumes at that instant.
Networks of Relations among Events organize them into Processes, which we observe as Structures of Information (Dark Halos, Particles, Waves, etc.), as Forms composed of such Structures, as Systems composed of Forms, and ultimately as the Universe — the ensemble of all that exists.
At the most elementary levels of Physical Reality, the types of Relations, the networks of Events, and the Processes that emerge are relatively simple and predictable, albeit in a probabilistic and statistical sense, due to the turbulence, chaos, and indeterminacy that dominate these levels. Their incidence increases exponentially as we descend toward microscopic spatial and temporal scales, toward the Planck scale and beyond.
This is why we introduce a specific term for Information at these elementary levels of Reality.
In this perspective, I will also return to the notion of Proto-Energy. As discussed in the previous chapter, when examining the dynamism of the Elementary Field and the Dynamics of Elementary Action, we enter the causal and variational depths of Physical Reality — a domain where Existence is incessantly re-created in its most elementary form. It is a region inaccessible to observation, where even spatial and temporal dimensions are pre-physical perspectives in continuous formation, shaped by the indeterminacy of elementary fluctuations and by their statistical distributions which, to distinguish them from Space and Time, we call pre-spatial and pre-temporal.
Within that creative dimension — entirely potential — from which the physical world emerges through formative processes that remain inaccessible, we identified dynamic states that we have called Proto-Energy. Pre-physical, pre-spatial, and pre-temporal; non-(cor)relational; not yet "Energy" in the sense defined in this chapter, but nevertheless the seed from which Energy emerges in its principal manifested forms: the Potentials "of" the Field and the Effective FPQs embodied in InfoStructures, FPQs of InfoStructures "in" the Field.
Energy in conventional physics
Etymologically, "Energy" recalls notions of "force in action", "work in progress", "capacity to act", "aptitude to produce motion". In conventional physics, beyond these generic definitions, the term has never found a precise ontological definition. It is reiterated that Energy is not a fluid, not a substance, not something with material reality. It is said to be an abstract mathematical concept connected to constraints on possible processes and to temporal symmetries of physical laws — a quantitative property that must be transferred to an object to do work or to heat it.
In my opinion, the main reason why science struggles to define Energy is Time. Reality is the result of an incessant Process of Formation. Time is not optional: it is a fundamental element of Reality. It is emergent, but at a level strictly linked to the most elementary level of Physical Reality, the direct manifestation of the Primary Source.
Elementary Events, in their occurrence, define Space and Time and are defined by them. Causality and Variationality (Spatiality and Temporality) are intimately interconnected — two complementary aspects of the same Entity (the Primary Source) responsible for the Creation of Existence and the Evolution of Form.
To "measure" Energy we must stop Time. But Time cannot be stopped. Without Time, there is no Reality. Energy is therefore not a "real" concept: it is an abstraction, a representation. A convenient abstraction that allows us to evaluate the dynamics of a system, to approximate variations in a Process. But it is not Reality. Reality is the flow between two states — not the states themselves.
And yet, since we cannot observe Reality in its temporal continuity, we must discretize. We watch the film frame by frame, in the illusion that the frames are Reality, rather than representations.
Conventional physics helps us understand how Energy varies, but not what Energy is. Variations of Energy reflect microscopic changes — Interactions, Actions, Events that modify Relations and produce variations in Form. Let us return to the foundations of this model.
And, in this model
Among the fundamental concepts of this model is a general level structure: Levels of Reality, Levels of Complexity. Since each level has its own particular form of inhomogeneity, each level has its own form of Energy, its own form of Elementary Information.
We will see how Energy — not yet "Energy" in the proper sense; at this stage it is what I call Proto-Energy — is characterized at the most elementary level of Physical Reality: the level of the Elementary Field, where the incessant Action of the Fundamental Force produces the Elementary Events, the microscopic pre-spatial fluctuations whose pre-temporal distributions constitute the "raw material" of Reality. Then we will see how, at each Level of Reality, the forms of Energy evolve toward greater complexity.
The concepts of inhomogeneity, correlation, and Form are central to understanding Energy. At the level of Elementary Events, inhomogeneity reduces to simple differentiation of pre-spatial distances, areas, and volumes, determined by fluctuations produced by the Action of the Force on the Field.
To explore this unreachable domain we must rely on imagination. The key instrument, as discussed in the previous chapter, is the concept of the Event-point: a point of observation, an operator that allows us to imagine observing the unobservable — the dynamism of the Elementary Field in its fundamental aspects: amplitude, linear orientation, chirality of vorticity, and the angular orientation of the vorticity axis.
An example
Let us imagine that each event‑point of the Elementary Field behaves like an infinitesimal harmonic oscillator, or better yet like a tiny spring. Let us imagine one of these infinite springs, and let us imagine that it is relaxed. Its "elastic" Energy will be zero. Obviously, we neglect any energy inherent in the material of which a real spring would be made. In our hypothesis, the imaginary spring is immaterial, so we do not need to take into account any intrinsic energy content. We 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. Information. That specific spring is now characterized by Information; it is Information, In‑Form‑Action, the Form of Action — Action that has taken or given Form (compressed spring, reduced length, or however we wish to formulate it; whatever representation we choose, the concept remains the same). An Action that has produced a variation of Form.
What we see is the Form of that Action. Not the Action in its becoming — which, for such small and rapid phenomena, we cannot observe — but the product of the Action. Force × Space (spatial variation) × Time (temporal variation). Taking a snapshot (let us imagine we can acquire it truly instantaneously, in zero time) is equivalent to dividing (or deriving) Action by Time, leaving us with Force × Space — the frozen spatial deformation produced by the Event. We are left with the Force exerted over 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 acting on the Field, on an idealized spring representing an 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 temporarily "stored" Force, conserved, incorporated, ready to express itself again, to react, re‑act, re‑Action, waiting to produce new Events, new variations in Form, to produce new deformations, new 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 kind 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 universal give‑and‑take, a push‑and‑pull through which the two complementary aspects of the Primary Source of Reality produce inhomogeneity (active aspect: the Force) and attempt to restore homogeneity (passive aspect: the Field).
No Force → no Action → no Energy. No Energy → no Reaction (no restoring Force). And so on, ad infinitum.
A negentropic Action by the Force (which compresses the Field) followed by an entropic re‑Action of the Field. It is in this subtle interplay of negentropic and entropic Processes that, at all levels of Complexity, the Form of Reality is created and evolves — and therefore the Properties, Behaviors, and Dynamics of what we observe in the Universe. "Uncertainty" (indeterminacy), primary expression of the Force that produces Elementary Action (pre-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 through 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.
This 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). A Cycle in which the three Fundamental Principles mentioned above are expressed in more complex functional and 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 at higher levels of complexity), and Selection (conservation of Complexity — conservation 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 conceive Energy without a Force that has produced an Action on a Field, or a combination of Forces that has produced an interaction among the parts of a system, or Entities that have generated Events which in turn have produced variations in the Relations that organize them into Processes.
Different terms, different perspectives 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 in 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 orbiting the Sun, stars in a galaxy, clusters of galaxies in a supercluster, and so on.
Inhomogeneous distributions of Events, Relations, Processes — which we perceive as Particles, Dark Halos, galaxies — in incessant change of Form, of Forms. Interactions that deform and modify spatial and temporal distributions: positions, distances, velocity ratios, acceleration, forces at play, the local and universal dynamics. Inhomogeneities nested across 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.
This leads us to a more operational definition of Energy within this model.
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.
Each form of Energy described in this classification represents a discrete snapshot of an underlying continuous physical process. The inhomogeneities and correlations defining each level can be observed only as discrete states, while their actual evolution unfolds incessantly and remains inaccessible to direct observation.
Genealogy of Energy and Fundamental Physical Quantities (FPQs)
1. Inhomogeneity Asymmetry in the dynamics of the Elementary Field (pre-spatial, pre-temporal, or relative to the Field’s average behavior).
2. Correlation Relations among inhomogeneities across multiple Event-points.
3. Form The configuration produced by correlated inhomogeneities.
4. Energy The informational expression of Form at an instant (Action / Time).
Levels of Energy
- Proto-Energy (Unmanifested — Non-correlational)
- Pre-spatial Proto-Energy - Pre-temporal Proto-Energy - Elementary Proto-Energy (Elementary Action)
- Physical Energy (Manifested — Correlational / Relational)
- Energy "of" the structured Field → Potentials - Energy of InfoStructures "in" the structured Field → Effective FPQs - Energy of InfoStructure distributions and aggregations - Energy of Form distributions and aggregations
FPQs: Two Distinct Families
- FPQs "of" the Field — the Potential FPQs - Potentials
→ Weakly structured correlational Energies of the Field.
- Metric curvature - Motion potential → Acceleration - Electric potential - Magnetic potential)
- FPQs of InfoStructures "in" thye Field — the Effective FPQs - InfoStructures
→ Intensely structured correlational Energies embodied in InfoStructures.
- Mass - Effective (inertial and accelerated) Motion - Charge - Spin
The interaction between these two families of FPQs defines the dynamics of Physical Reality across all Levels of Complexity.
Proto‑Energy (Unmanifested — Non‑correlational)
Not yet a true form of Energy — not yet (cor)relational, not yet an elementary form of Information. Here we are within a pre‑physical domain, where the prefix "pre‑" carries no temporal connotation but a causal one.
When we speak of Proto‑Energy, we are hypothesizing that we observe Reality at infinitesimal scales, around the Planck scale, at single positions that we call event‑points, each characterized by the sub‑elementary dynamism of the Elementary Field. It is the dynamical condition from which all Physical Reality emerges, through the manifestation of an infinite network of Relations (correlations) from which Space and Time themselves arise, as well as Metric and Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, and their corresponding Potentials.
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.
Here I summarize what was anticipated in the previous chapter when discussing “The Dynamics of Elementary Action and its Modes / Components”, with regard to the various aspects of the Proto‑Energy of the Elementary Field.
- First level of inhomogeneity — Pre‑spatial proto‑Energy — From the point of view of the pre‑spatial dynamics of 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 Events, expressed through amplitude, linear orientation, chirality of vorticity, and angular orientation of the vorticity axis.
- 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, organized in Potentials, InfoStructures, or Forms, giving rise to manifested, correlational structures of Reality.
Physical Energy corresponds to the correlational domain of the EAD — The Dynamics of Elementary Action — model: the domain in which individual proto‑dynamics cease to be isolated and begin to interact, resonate, and co‑structure each other across the Field.
Below are the four levels of Physical Energy, corresponding to the four types of correlational inhomogeneities.
- Fourth level of inhomogeneity — Energy "of" the structured Field (Potential Energy — Field potentials) — From the point of view of the dynamics of multiple event‑points in relation with each other, across extended or multiple regions of the Elementary Field, this kind of structured Energy emerges from inhomogeneities in the spatial correlations of discrepancies in pre‑temporal distributions of the elementary pre‑spatial fluctuations (EE) (correlations among the Elementary Action Modes / Components of different event‑points) → Elementary Information / Energy → Forms of Derived Physical Energy "of" the Field and of the InfoStructures "in" the Field. These correlational inhomogeneities give Existence and Essence / Form to the Potentials of the Field, producing the first manifested informational/energetic structures of Reality. Energy "of" the structured Field → Potential Energy: curvature of the Spacetime Metric (gravitational potential), potential Motion (acceleration, kinetic potential), electric potential, magnetic potential, and more complex potentials (strong and weak nuclear, etc.). This is the domain of Field potentials, produced by the Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, and other FPQs embodied in InfoStructures. At this level I would also include the Energy associated with a condition of the Field that is even less organized — a dynamical condition that I call Turbulence "of" the Field — which manifests across all dimensional scales, with resonances around specific orders of magnitude where formative Processes tend to concentrate, transforming turbulence into structure, into Structures. I include Turbulence here because it can be represented as Potentials that manifest dynamically within spatiotemporal domains of varying and shifting extent, in a chaotic and, indeed, turbulent manner.
- Fifth level of inhomogeneity — Energy "of" the structured Field with InfoStructures (Effective Energy — InfoStructures Fundamental Physical Quantities) — From the point of view of the dynamics of multiple event‑points in relation with each other, across regions of the Elementary Field that, time by time, support the Existence and the Essence / Form of Structures of Information, this kind of structured Energy emerges from inhomogeneities in the spatial correlations of discrepancies in pre‑temporal distributions of the elementary pre‑spatial fluctuations (EE) (correlations among the Elementary Action Modes / Components of different event‑points). The inhomogeneities are the same as in the previous level concerning the Potential Energy of the Field, but here the region of the Field is characterized as an InfoStructure — an individuality with a more or less stable Existence and Form. → Elementary Information / Energy → Forms of Derived Physical Energy "of" the Field and of the InfoStructures "in" the Field. These correlational inhomogeneities give Existence and Essence / Form to the InfoStructures. Energy "of" InfoStructures "in" the Field → Effective Energy: Mass (negative and positive), effective Motion (inertial Motion, kinetic energy), electric Charge, magnetic Spin, and more complex effective Energies (strong and weak nuclear, etc.). These are the fully manifested Fundamental Physical Quantities, the energetic expressions of the informational structure of InfoStructures within the Field. Effective Energies of InfoStructures "generate" Potentials in the Field (here I refer to as Potentials the "external" parts of Vortex InfoStructures that compose Ordinary Matter, which virtually extend to infinity and find their spatial limit in the indetermination of the stochastic dynamism of the Field) and interact with the Potentials associated with other InfoStructures.
- Sixth level of inhomogeneity — Energy of the inhomogeneous distribution / organization of InfoStructures — Here, the inhomogeneities concern the distribution, clustering, and organization of InfoStructures across regions of the Field. At this level, the correlational inhomogeneities involve InfoStructures themselves. This level includes meso‑scale distributions of Ordinary Matter and macro‑scale distributions of Dark Matter/Energy. These non‑uniform distributions generate energetic effects such as turbulence, halos, clouds, wave‑packets, proto‑structures, and many others. → Energy of the inhomogeneous distribution of InfoStructures "in" the Field. Intermediate emergent expressions arise from interactions among Metric curvature (of Time), potential Motion, electric, magnetic, and other potentials with Mass, effective Motion, Charge, Spin, and other effective physical quantities at meso‑scale and macro‑scale. Forms of Derived Physical Energy of the InfoStructures "in" the Field. Here Physical Energy arises from correlations / Relations among InfoStructures in their Elementary Action Modes / Components, giving rise to the Fundamental Physical Quantities embodied in them. These inhomogeneities promote the emergence of Forms (substances, objects, bodies, structures, mega‑structures, both in the ordinary and in the dark side of the Universe), as more or less organized aggregations of InfoStructures (Dark and Ordinary Structures such as Halos, Particles, Waves, etc.).
- Seventh level of inhomogeneity — Energy of Form distributions — This level summarizes infinite levels of inhomogeneity. At the highest level, inhomogeneities involve the distribution, organization, and multi‑scale Relations of Forms and Systems of Forms. Forms include atoms, molecules, dust, stars, galaxies, clusters, filaments, and the Cosmic Web (with its dark and ordinary components). → Energy of Form distributions. Macroscopic physical structures and their interactions produce large‑scale emergent expressions of Metric/Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, and more complex physical quantities across the Universe, and the 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 consists of individual asymmetric dynamics, not yet relational.
| Type of proto‑Energy | Level or sub‑level of Reality/EAD | Originating inhomogeneity | Point of view | Type of correlation | Physical interpretation | Role in the emergence of Fundamental Physical Quantities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre‑spatial sub‑Elementary proto‑Energy | Elementary Events (EE) — Elementary pre‑spatial fluctuations | Inhomogeneities of pre‑spatial fluctuations of the Elementary Field | Event‑points considered individually | Non‑correlational | Pre‑spatial asymmetrical dynamics of single event‑points of the Field | Proto‑source of metricity/Space, propagation, chirality and axis‑orientation of vorticity (purely pre‑spatial) |
| Pre‑temporal sub‑Elementary proto‑Energy | Temporal distributions (T_DIST) | Inhomogeneities of pre‑temporal distributions of pre‑spatial fluctuations | Event‑points considered individually | Non‑correlational | Pre‑temporal asymmetrical dynamics of single event‑points of the Field | Proto‑source of metricity/Time, propagation, chirality and axis‑orientation of vorticity (purely pre‑temporal) |
| Elementary Energy (Elementary proto‑Energy) | Elementary Action (EA) | Inhomogeneities of pre‑temporal distributions relative to the Field’s average dynamics | Event‑points considered individually with respect to the Field’s average dynamics | Non‑correlational | Discrepancy between the event‑point dynamics and the Field’s standard/average dynamics | Proto‑source of metricity/Spacetime, propagation, chirality and axis‑orientation of vorticity (pre‑geometric, non‑manifested) |
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, InfoStructures, or Forms.
| Type of Physical Energy | Level or sub‑level of Reality | Originating inhomogeneity | Point of view | Type of correlation | Physical interpretation | Role in the emergence of Fundamental Physical Quantities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy “of” the structured Field (Potential Energy — Field potentials) | Information / Energy: Structured Energy (of the Field) | Inhomogeneities in spatial correlations of discrepancies in pre‑temporal distributions | Structured Field | Correlational (dynamical, spatial, temporal) | Metric curvature, potential Motion, electric and magnetic potentials, strong/weak potentials | Fully manifested as Field potentials produced by Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, etc. of InfoStructures |
| Energy “of” the structured Field with InfoStructures (Effective Energy — FPQs) | Information / Energy: Structured Energy (of InfoStructures in the Field) | Inhomogeneities in spatial correlations of discrepancies in pre‑temporal distributions | InfoStructures in the structured Field | Correlational (dynamical, spatial, temporal) | Mass, inertial Motion, Charge, Spin, and more complex physical quantities | Fully manifested FPQs embodied in InfoStructures (Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, etc.) |
| Energy of the inhomogeneous distribution / organization of InfoStructures | Structures of Information (InfoStructures) | Inhomogeneities in the distribution, clustering, and organization of InfoStructures | Structured Field with distributed InfoStructures | Correlational / Relational (meso‑scale, macro‑scale) | Turbulence, halos, clouds, wave‑packets, proto‑structures | Intermediate emergent expressions of Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin at meso‑ and macro‑scale |
| Energy of Form distributions | Forms, Systems of Forms, Universe | Inhomogeneities in the distribution and organization of Forms | Structured Field with complex Forms | Multi‑scale correlations / Relations | Macroscopic physical structures and their interactions | Large‑scale emergent expressions of Metric / Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, and more complex quantities |
Links to the tables of contents of TFNR Paper
