Philosophical Issues in Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, and Information Theory
April 14-27, 2026

Tuesday, 21 April 2026
“Physical information”
Niccolò Covoni

This class introduces the conceptual foundations of entropy and information in classical and quantum physics. It focuses on three closely related issues: (i) the notion of entropy, with particular attention to its statistical and information-theoretic interpretations and their role in characterising physical systems; (ii) the physical meaning of information and its role in characterising correlations between systems, both classical and quantum; and (iii) the emergence of deep connections between entropy and entanglement, with entanglement entropy understood as a quantitative measure of relational correlations rather than as an intrinsic property of subsystems.

Organisation
Ratio Association
Institute of Philosophy (FTL)

Informations and registration
associazione.ratio@usi.ch