{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T09:13:22Z","timestamp":1762074802547,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,15]],"date-time":"2022-11-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1668470400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Information"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Some researchers suggest that information is a form of matter, calling it the fifth state of matter or the fifth element. Recent results from the general theory of information (GTI) contradict this. This paper aims to explain and prove that the claims of adherents of the physical nature of information are inaccurate due to the confusion between the definitions of information, the matter that represents information, and the matter that is a carrier of information. Our explanations and proofs are based on the GTI because it gives the most comprehensive definition of information, encompassing and clarifying many of the writings in the literature about information. GTI relates information, knowledge, matter, and energy, and unifies the theories of material and mental worlds using the world of structures. According to GTI, information is not physical by itself, although it can have physical and\/or mental representations. Consequently, a bit of information does not have mass, but the physical structure that represents the bit indeed has mass. Moreover, the same bit can have multiple representations in the form of a physical substance (e.g., a symbol on a paper or a state of a flip-flop circuit, or an electrical voltage or current pulse.) Naturally, these different physical representations can have different masses, although the information is the same. Thus, our arguments are not against Landauer\u2019s principle or the empirical results of Vopson and other adherents of the physical nature of the information. These arguments are aimed at the clarification of the theoretical and empirical interpretations of these results. As the references in this paper show, recently many publications in which it is claimed that information is a physical essence appeared. That is why it is so important to elucidate the true nature of information and its relation to the physical world eliminating the existing misconceptions in information studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/info13110540","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,15]],"date-time":"2022-11-15T02:32:16Z","timestamp":1668479536000},"page":"540","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Is Information Physical and Does It Have Mass?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Mark","family":"Burgin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics, University of California, 405 Hilgard Ave. Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8762-7070","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rao","family":"Mikkilineni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ageno School of Business, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgin, M. (2010). Theory of Information: Fundamentality, Diversity, and Unification, World Scientific.","DOI":"10.1142\/7048"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgin, M. (2022). Physical Facets of Information, Information Materialization or the Grand Illusion. Proceedings, 81.","DOI":"10.3390\/proceedings2022081076"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgin, M. (2017). The General Theory of Information as a Unifying Factor for Information Studies: The Noble Eight-Fold Path. Proceedings, 1.","DOI":"10.3390\/IS4SI-2017-04044"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.30958\/ajha.4.3.1","article-title":"Ideas of Plato in the context of contemporary science and mathematics","volume":"4","author":"Burgin","year":"2017","journal-title":"Athens J. Humanit. Arts"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Burgin, M. (2012). Structural Reality, Nova Science Publishers."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgin, M. (2020). Triadic Automata and Machines as Information Transformers. Information, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/info11020102"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.26855\/acc.2020.12.003","article-title":"Autopoietic Computing Systems and Triadic Automata: The Theory and Practice","volume":"1","author":"Burgin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Comput. Commun."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mikkilineni, R. (2022). A New Class of Autopoietic and Cognitive Machines. Information, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/info13010024"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mikkilineni, R. (2022). Infusing Autopoietic and Cognitive Behaviors into Digital Automata to Improve Their Sentience, Resilience, and Intelligence. Big Data Cogn. Comput., 6.","DOI":"10.3390\/bdcc6010007"},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Gasparini, A. (2022, November 11). Testable Theory Suggests Information Has Mass and could Account for Universe\u2019s Dark Matter. Scilight. Available online: https:\/\/aip.scitation.org\/doi\/10.1063\/1.5126530."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"095206","DOI":"10.1063\/1.5123794","article-title":"The mass-energy-information equivalence principle","volume":"9","author":"Vopson","year":"2019","journal-title":"AIP Adv."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"085014","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0019941","article-title":"The information catastrophe","volume":"10","author":"Vopson","year":"2020","journal-title":"AIP Adv."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Vopson, M.M. (2019). The information content of the universe and the implications for the missing dark matter."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105317","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0064475","article-title":"Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe","volume":"11","author":"Vopson","year":"2021","journal-title":"AIP Adv."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1063\/1.881299","article-title":"Information is physical","volume":"44","author":"Landauer","year":"1991","journal-title":"Phys. Today"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"188","DOI":"10.1016\/0375-9601(96)00453-7","article-title":"The physical nature of the information","volume":"217","author":"Landauer","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Lett. A"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-4371(98)00513-5","article-title":"Information is a physical entity","volume":"263","author":"Landauer","year":"1999","journal-title":"Phys. AStat. Mech. Its Appl."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Landauer, R. (2002). Information is Inevitably Physical. Feynman and Computation: Exploring the Limits of Computers, Westview Press."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1501492","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.1501492","article-title":"Experimental test of Landauer\u2019s principle in single-bit operations on nanomagnetic memory bits","volume":"2","author":"Hong","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Adv."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1038\/s41567-018-0070-7","article-title":"Quantum Landauer erasure with a molecular nanomagnet","volume":"14","author":"Gaudenzi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Phys."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.1038\/nature10872","article-title":"Experimental verification of Landauer\u2019s principle linking information and thermodynamics","volume":"483","author":"Arakelyan","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"190601","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.113.190601","article-title":"High-precision test of Landauer\u2019s principle in a feedback trap","volume":"113","author":"Jun","year":"2014","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. Lett."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Penrose, R. (1989). The Emperor\u2019s New Mind, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198519737.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1983","DOI":"10.1007\/s11229-015-0824-z","article-title":"What is Shannon information?","volume":"193","author":"Lombardi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Synthese"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1637","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02302261","article-title":"Relational quantum mechanics","volume":"35","author":"Rovelli","year":"1996","journal-title":"Int. J. Theor. Phys."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S1355-2198(98)00026-4","article-title":"Exorcist XIV: The wrath of Maxwell\u2019s demon. Part II: From Szilard to Landauer and beyond","volume":"30","author":"Earman","year":"1999","journal-title":"Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ladyman, J. (2007). Physics and Computation: The Status of Landauer\u2019s Principle. Computation and Logic in the Real World. CiE 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4497, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-73001-9_46"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1016\/j.shpsb.2013.02.005","article-title":"Landauer Defended: Reply to Norton","volume":"44","author":"Ladyman","year":"2013","journal-title":"Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mollin, R.A. (2005). Codes: The Guide to Secrecy from Ancient to Modern Times, Chapman & Hall\/CRC. Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications.","DOI":"10.1201\/9781420035087"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Katz, J., and Lindell, Y. (2007). Introduction to Modern Cryptography, CRC Press.","DOI":"10.1201\/9781420010756"},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"263","article-title":"Time, structure, and fluctuations","volume":"132","author":"Prigogine","year":"1979","journal-title":"Les Prix Nobel"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stonier, T. (1990). Information and the Internal Structure of the Universe: An Exploration into Information Physics, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4471-3265-3"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1016\/0303-2647(96)88368-7","article-title":"Information as a basic property of the universe","volume":"38","author":"Stonier","year":"1996","journal-title":"Biosystems"},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Davis, S.F., and Palladino, J.J. (2012). Psychology, Pearson."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kosso, P. (1989). Observability and Observation in Physical Science, Kluwer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-009-2434-5"},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"Jammer, M. (1974). The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, Wiley."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1023\/B:FODA.0000025034.53313.7c","article-title":"What is information?","volume":"9","author":"Lombardi","year":"2004","journal-title":"Found. Sci."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Timpson, C. (2004). Quantum Information Theory and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Oxford]."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Rickles, D. (2008). Philosophical aspects of quantum information theory. The Ashgate Companion to the New Philosophy of Physics, Ashgate."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Timpson, C. (2013). Quantum Information Theory and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199296460.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Falguera, J.L., Mart\u00ednez-Vidal, C., and Rosen, G. (2022, January 30). Abstract Objects, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available online: https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/archives\/sum2022\/entries\/abstract-objects\/."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Falguera, J.L., and Mart\u00ednez-Vidal, C. (2020). Abstract Objects: For and Against, Synthese Library, v. 422, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-38242-1"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zalta, E.N. (1983). Abstract Objects: An Introduction to Axiomatic Metaphysics, D. Reidel.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-009-6980-3"},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Hale, B. (1987). Abstract Objects, Oxford University Press."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgin, M., and Diaz Nafria, J.M. (2022). Relational Structures of Conceptual Spaces. Proceedings, 81.","DOI":"10.3390\/proceedings2022081039"},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"Krzanowski, R. (2020). Ontological Information. Investigation into the Properties of Ontological Information. [Ph.D. Thesis, UPJP2]. Available online: http:\/\/bc.upjp2.edu.pl\/dlibra\/docmetadata?id=5024&from=&dirids=1&ver_id=&lp=2&QI=."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgin, M., and Krzanowski, R. (2022). World Structuration and Ontological Information. Proceedings, 81.","DOI":"10.3390\/proceedings2022081093"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Krzanowski, R. (2020). Ontological Information, World Scientific.","DOI":"10.1142\/12601"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bormashenko, E. (2019). The Landauer Principle: Re-Formulation of the Second Thermodynamics Law or a Step to Great Unification?. Entropy, 21.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints201908.0060.v1"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bormashenko, E. (2020). Informational Reinterpretation of the Mechanics Notions and Laws. Entropy, 22.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202002.0067.v1"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"012006","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-6596\/1814\/1\/012006","article-title":"Missing information in the Universe as a dark matter candidate based on the mass-energy-information equivalence principle","volume":"1814","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Phys. Conf. Ser."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Herrera, L. (2020). Landauer Principle and General Relativity. Entropy, 22.","DOI":"10.3390\/e22030340"},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"035311","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0087175","article-title":"Experimental protocol for testing the mass\u2013energy\u2013information equivalence principle","volume":"12","author":"Vopson","year":"2022","journal-title":"AIP Adv."}],"container-title":["Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2078-2489\/13\/11\/540\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:18:13Z","timestamp":1760145493000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2078-2489\/13\/11\/540"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,15]]},"references-count":53,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11]]}},"alternative-id":["info13110540"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/info13110540","relation":{},"ISSN":["2078-2489"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2078-2489"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,15]]}}}