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Analogies between Physics and Information Processing

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Abstract

The similarities of empirical dependences in a language and theoretical physical laws are considered. The issue of using quantum-mechanical models for describing textual documents semantic component is analyzed. Possible analogies between linguistic and physical objects are proposed.

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Notes

  1. Note that the only “machine” known today that implements the transformation (interaction) of abstract objects into real ones is a person.

  2. Fundamental particles with a half-integer spin that do not participate in strong interactions.

  3. An observable in quantum mechanics is a quantity whose values are measured in an experiment.

  4. Hereinafter, definitions for physical quantities are given from the Physical Encyclopedia edited by M. Prokhorov. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, 1988.

  5. In classical physics, this is fundamentally unacceptable. In quantum mechanics, it is theoretically permissible, but it is associated with multiple (variant) assigning of a changing wave function.

  6. According to D. Hilbert, “The strict formalization of a theory implies a complete abstraction from meaning.” Due to being fuzzy, a natural language has an almost unlimited number of degrees of freedom, but, determining some meaning, we thereby build the description of a system that is to a varying extent formal, can be transformed and analyzed, including by the methods of mathematics.

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FUNDING

This study was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (state assignment project no. 0723-2020-0036).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Nuclear University, Moscow Engineering Physical Institute, 115409, Moscow, Russia

    A. A. Lebedev & N. V. Maksimov

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  1. A. A. Lebedev
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  2. N. V. Maksimov
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Correspondence to A. A. Lebedev or N. V. Maksimov.

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Translated by L. Solovyova

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Lebedev, A.A., Maksimov, N.V. Analogies between Physics and Information Processing. Autom. Doc. Math. Linguist. 54, 233–242 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0005105520050076

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