Information in the Context of Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences

This textbook briefly maps as many as possible areas and contexts in which information plays an important role. It attempts an approach that also seeks to explore areas of research that are not commonly associated, such as informatics, information and library science, information physics, or information ethics. Given that the text is intended especially for students of the Master's Degree in Cognitive Studies, emphasis is placed on a humane, philosophical and interdisciplinary approach. It offers rather directions of thought, questions, and contexts than a complete theory developed into mathematical and technical details

Computational universes

Suspicions that the world might be some sort of a machine or algorithm existing ``in the mind'' of some symbolic number cruncher have lingered from antiquity. Although popular at times, the most radical forms of this idea never reached mainstream. Modern developments in physics and computer science have lent support to the thesis, but empirical evidence is needed before it can begin to replace our contemporary world view.Comment: Several corrections of typos and smaller revisions, final versio

Charge qubit dynamics in a double quantum dot coupled to phonons

The dynamics of charge qubit in a double quantum dot coupled to phonons is investigated theoretically in terms of a perturbation treatment based on a unitary transformation. The dynamical tunneling current is obtained explicitly. The result is compared with the standard perturbation theory at Born-Markov approximation. The decoherence induced by acoustic phonons is analyzed at length. It is shown that the contribution from deformation potential coupling is comparable to that from piezoelectric coupling in small dot size and large tunneling rate case. A possible decoupling mechanism is predicted.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure