Information Dynamics and Open Systems

This text aims to present an information-theoretical approach to thermodynamics and its generalizations. On the one hand, it generalizes the concept of "information thermodynamics" to that of "information dynamics" in order to stress applications outside thermal phenomena. On the other hand, it is a synthesis of the dynamics of state change and the theory of complexity, which provide a common framework to treat both physical and nonphysical systems together. Both classical and quantum systems are discussed, and two appendices are included to explain principal definitions and some important aspects of the theory of Hilbert spaces and operator algebras. The concept of higher-order temperatures is explained and applied to biological and linguistic systems. The theory of open systems is presented in a new, much more general form.