HAPSAT Graduate Workshops - Second Winter Session

HAPSAT GRADUATE WORKSHOPS

"It From Bit": An Information-Based Approach to Quantum Mechanics (UT Austin, 1976-1987)

In-person event - Wednesday,  March 26 - 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

VC 303

At the 1989 International Symposium for the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics in Tokyo, John A. Wheeler delivered a talk titled "Information, Physics, Quantum: The Search for Links.” He proposed that every physical entity—every "it”—derives meaning from fundamental units of information—yes-or-no questions, binary choices, "bits." A concept epitomized in the phrase "it from bit." After a distinguished career at Princeton, Wheeler joined the University of Texas at Austin in 1976, where he established the Center for Theoretical Physics. During Wheeler’s tenure as director (1976–1987), a diverse group of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting researchers passed through, contributing to an evolving research environment. This period saw the development of a culture in which quantum theory became increasingly entangled with computing and information sciences—not merely as practical tools but as conceptual resources for rethinking the foundations of the theory. Their collective efforts ultimately contributed to the emergence of what would later be known as quantum information theory. This case study illuminates the dynamic relationship between ontological commitments and the development of paper tools and offers a novel perspective into the growing influence of computer and information sciences on the history of modern physics in the late twentieth century.

Graduate Workshop Organizer: Alexandra Calazavara