The second law of thermodynamics is among the most sacred in all of science, but it has always rested on 19th century arguments about probability. New arguments trace its true source to the flows of quantum information.
P1. Loss function. In any evolving system, there exists a loss function of time-dependent variables that is minimized during evolution.
P2. Hierarchy of scales. Evolving systems encompass multiple dynamical variables that change on different temporal scales (with different characteristic frequencies).
P3. Frequency gaps. Dynamical variables are split among distinct levels of organization separated by sufficiently wide frequency gaps.
P4. Renormalizability. Across the entire range of organization of evolving systems, a statistical description of faster-changing (higher-frequency) variables is feasible through the slower-changing (lower-frequency) variables.
P5. Extension. Evolving systems have the capacity to recruit additional variables that can be utilized to sustain the system and the ability to exclude variables that could destabilize the system.
P6. Replication. In evolving systems, replication and elimination of the corresponding information-processing units (IPUs) can take place on every level of organization.
P7. Information flow. In evolving systems, slower-changing levels absorb information from faster-changing levels during learning and pass information down to the faster levels for prediction of the state of the environment and the system itself.
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