Two years ago a paper by myself and my colleagues Lyn Robinson and Tyabba Siddiqui was published in JASIST, introducing and explaining the idea of an emerging 'quantum information science'. We argued that this could be seen in five respects: use of loose analogies and metaphors between concepts in quantum physics and library/information science; use of quantum concepts and formalisms in information retrieval; use of quantum concepts and formalisms in studying meaning and concepts; development of quantum social science, in areas adjacent to information science; and qualitative application of quantum concepts in the information disciplines themselves. This post discusses some developments since that paper was written

Bawden, D.

David Bawden

Humanities Commons

08/07/2017, 11:10Still awaiting the quantum turn – The Occasional InformationistPage 1 of 4https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/2017/07/08/still-awaiting-the-quantum-turn/The Occasional Informationistirregular thoughts on the information sciencesStill awaiting the quantum turnPosted on July 8, 2017 by dbawdenTwo years ago a paper by myself and my colleagues Lyn Robinson and Tyabba Siddiqui(https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:14697) was published in JASIST, introducing andexplaining the idea of an emerging ‘quantum information science’. We argued that this could beseen in five respects: use of loose analogies and metaphors between concepts in quantum physicsand library/information science; use of quantum concepts and formalisms in informationretrieval; use of quantum concepts and formalisms in studying meaning and concepts;development of quantum social science, in areas adjacent to information science; and qualitativeapplication of quantum concepts in the information disciplines themselves. This post discussessome developments since that paper was written.(https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/?attachment_id=1499)Interest in the links between quantum theory and informationcontinues. In the physics arena, an intriguing attempt is beingmade to construct the whole formalism of quantum mechanicson information-theoretic principles, as set out by D’Ariano,Chiribella and Perinotti in their new Quantum theory from firstprinciples: an informational approach(http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/physics/quantum-physics-quantum-information-and-quantum-computation/quantum-theory-first-principles-informational-approach?format=HB#qplcPXpKr72L4t86.97). A similar attempt is being made by the proponentsof ‘QBism’ (Quantum Bayesianism) (http://fqxi.org/community/articles/display/218), or‘participatory realism’, according to which any the result of any quantum measurement willdepend on the information possessed by the observer. Quantum computers are getting near thestage of demonstrating their practical utility, as shown by the stated intention of Google’squantum computer team to produce, by the end of 2017, a small quantum device able to deal withproblems previously the preserve of supercomputers(http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/google-plans-to-demonstrate-the-supremacy-08/07/2017, 11:10Still awaiting the quantum turn – The Occasional InformationistPage 2 of 4https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/2017/07/08/still-awaiting-the-quantum-turn/of-quantum-computing).(https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/?attachment_id=1500)In the application of quantum formalisms applied to informationretrieval, a book by Massimo Melucci(http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783662483121), several ofwhose papers were discussed in our JASIST paper, summarises thestate of the art. He states particularly clearly the way in which thequantum ideas are applied: “The idea behind the quantum-likeapproach to disciplines of than physics is that, although thequantum properties exhibited by particles such as photons cannotbe exhibited by macroscopic objects, some phenomena can bedescribed by the language or have some characteristics of thephenomena (e.g. superposition or entanglement) described by thequantum mechanical framework in physics … This book is notabout quantum phenomena in IR: in contrast, it aims to propose theuse of the mathematical language of the quantum mechanicalframework for describing the mode of action of a retrieval system”(pp viii and xi).At a more general level, the idea of “quantum informational structural realism” (QISR) has causedsome interest since it was introduced by Terrell Ward Bynum (https://arxiv.org/abs/1303.6007).An extension of “Information Structural Realism”, first proposed by Luciano Floridi, this providesa full ontological account of the universe in which there is an observer-independent reality, whoseultimate nature is neither physical or mental, but informational, and defined by the interactionsbetween informational entities. QSIR insists that these entities have quantum properties. Betsy Vander Veer Martens was kind enough to note(https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/89831/63.3.van-der-veer-martens.pdf?sequence=2) that this “links intriguingly” with the idea of a quantum turn in information studiesidentified in our JASIST paper(https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/?attachment_id=1501)In the area of ‘quantum social science’, there has been one majorcontribution since the JASTST paper appeared. Alexander Wendt inhis book Quantum mind and social science: unifying physical andsocial ontology(http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/philosophy/philosophy-social-08/07/2017, 11:10Still awaiting the quantum turn – The Occasional InformationistPage 3 of 4https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/2017/07/08/still-awaiting-the-quantum-turn/science/quantum-mind-and-social-science-unifying-physical-and-social-ontology?format=PB#wsXYj9gLREpgIti4.97) starts from the idea of consciousness as a quantumphenomenon on the macro-scale, and uses it to argue that language, social interaction, and cultureshould be regarded also as quantum in nature, and hence that a quantum approach is of directrelevance to social science. Wave functions are real, and operate at the social level. However, thearguments seem, like some of those reviewed in our JASIST paper, to be essentially metaphorical.In an interview (https://mershoncenter.osu.edu/news/mershon-news/q-and-a-alexander-wendt-on-quantum-mind-and-social-science.html), Wendt, noting that he was influenced to think aboutthe topic by Zohar and Marshall’s popular book, The Quantum Society, gives an example of whathe considers quantum effects in social science. He considers a Vietnamese tourist in Denmarkgoing into a shop. The tourist speaks no Danish, and the shopkeeper no Vietnamese; but if theydiscover that they have English as a common language, then their minds will, Wendt suggests,become “entangled” in a quantum sense. One has to say that this is not the sense of entanglementwhich would be understood by a physicist. Nonetheless, this book is symptomatic of a potentialquantum turn in social science generally, which has clear relevance to the information sciences.We may conclude that quantum concepts still intrigue and influence the social sciences, includingthe information sciences, but that no new paradigm has been accepted. The information retrievalapplications of the mathematical formalisms of quantum mechanics seems most firmly grounded;claims of true quantum phenomena in settings are as yet un-evidenced, and the metaphorical useof terminology, though increasingly popular, has yet to show real benefit. Perhaps we need to waitfor a new formulation of quantum mechanics in informational terms to emerge from physics andbe fully accepted, before the quantum turn in information science can be realised; it may be thatQISR is the first indicator of this.ReferencesBawden, D., Robinson, L. and Siddiqui, T. (2015), “Potentialities or possibilities”: Towardsquantum information science? Journal of the American Society for Information Science andTechnology, 66(3), 437-449, open access version in the Humanities Commons athttps://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:14697(https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:14697)Becker, C. (2015), Q and A: Alexander Wendt on ‘Quantum mind and social science’, MershonCentrer for international Security Studies [online], available athttps://mershoncenter.osu.edu/news/mershon-news/q-and-a-alexander-wendt-on-quantum-mind-and-social-science.html (https://mershoncenter.osu.edu/news/mershon-news/q-and-a-alexander-wendt-on-quantum-mind-and-social-science.html)Courtland, R. (2017), Google plans to demonstrate the supremacy of quantum computing, IEEESpectrum [online], available at http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/google-plans-to-demonstrate-the-supremacy-of-quantum-computing(http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/google-plans-to-demonstrate-the-supremacy-of-quantum-computing)D’Ariano, G.M., Chiribella, G. and Perinotti, P. (2017), Quantum theory from first principles: aninformational approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press08/07/2017, 11:10Still awaiting the quantum turn – The Occasional InformationistPage 4 of 4https://theoccasionalinformationist.com/2017/07/08/still-awaiting-the-quantum-turn/Melucci, M. (2015), Introduction to information retrieval and quantum mechanics, Berlin: SpringerVan der Veer Martens, B. (2015), An illustrated introduction to the infosphere, Library Trends,63(3), 317-361Waldrop, M.M. (2017) Painting a QBist picture of reality, FQXI Community [online], available athttp://fqxi.org/community/articles/display/218(http://fqxi.org/community/articles/display/218)Ward Bynum, T. (2013), On the possibility of quantum informational structural realism, Minds andMachines, 24(1), 123-139Ward Bynum, T. (2016), Informational metaphysics, in Floridi, L. (ed.), The Routledge Handbookof the Philosophy of Information, London: Routledge, pp. 203-218Wendt, A. (2015), Quantum mind and social science: unifying physical and social ontology,Cambridge: Cambridge University PressPosted in information theories, scienceTagged quantum

Still awaiting the quantum turn

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Still awaiting the quantum turn

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