Information and Energy

From Weekly I/O#25


The maximum amount of information that can be stored in a space is proportional not to the volume of space but to the surface area surrounding that volume.

Book: The World According to Physics

This is discovered by the study of the mathematics of black holes and known as the holographic principle, which is proving to be a powerful tool in theoretical physics.

When we store more and more information into a volume of space, we increase its energy. Since energy can be seen as being equivalent to mass, storing information means strengthening its gravitational field. And to a point, the volume of space will collapse into a black hole.

The holographic principle states that the universe is a hologram and the volume itself is illusory. The hologram is isomorphic to the information inscribed on the surface of its boundary. Therefore, when the volume of space collapses into a black hole by increasing the information stored, all the information will be encoded on the black hole's event horizon.


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