A groundbreaking study proposes that gravity might be a product of computational processes within the universe, hinting that the cosmos could be operating like a giant quantum computer. Physicist Melvin Vopson from the University of Portsmouth suggests that gravity could be a by-product of the universe's attempt to organize information and matter in space and time.
This new theory raises intriguing questions about the nature of reality and whether we are living in a simulated environment. If proven true, it could revolutionize our understanding of the universe and its underlying mechanisms.
Dr Melvin Vopson suggests that gravity might actually be caused by how information about matter is organised in the universe. Using the second law of information dynamics, he indicates that matter and objects in space may be being pulled together because the universe is trying to keep information tidy and compressed.
Dr Vopson said: "My findings in this study fit with the thought that the universe might work like a giant computer, or our reality is a simulated construct. Just like computers try to save space and run more efficiently, the universe might be doing the same. It's a new way to think about gravity - not just as a pull, but as something that happens when the universe is trying to stay organised."
Dr Vopson has previously published research suggesting that information has mass and that all elementary particles - the smallest known building blocks of the universe - store information about themselves, similar to the way cells, the building blocks of biological entities, have DNA.
In this latest research, Dr Vopson shows how space pixelation in elementary cells can act as a data storage medium, and demonstrates how the role of information stored in elementary cells is to provide the properties and the coordinates of matter in the space-time simulated construct. Each cell can register information in the form of binary data so if it is empty it registers a digital "0", and if matter is present in a cell it registers a digital "1".
Dr Vopson added: "The process is identical to how a digital computer game, virtual reality application, or other advanced simulation would be designed."
He explains that as a cell can accommodate more than one particle, then the system will evolve itself by moving the particles in space to join them together into a single larger particle inside a single cell.
"This triggers the attracting force because of the rule set in the computational system, requiring the minimisation of the information content, and by extension, a reduction of the computational power. Put simply, it is far more computationally effective to track and compute the location and momentum of a single object in space, than numerous objects. Therefore, it appears that the gravitational attraction is just another optimising mechanism in a computational process that has the role to compress information."
