Does information entropy play a role in the expansion and acceleration of the Universe?

Abstract

Abstract We propose an interpretation of the expansion and acceleration of the Universe from an information theoretic perspective. We obtain the time evolution of the configuration entropy of the mass distribution in a static universe and show that the process of gravitational instability leads to a rapid dissipation of configuration entropy during the growth of the density fluctuations making such a Universe entropically unfavourable. We find that in an expanding universe, the configuration entropy rate is governed by the expansion rate of the Universe and the growth rate of density fluctuations. The configuration entropy rate becomes smaller but still remains negative in a matter-dominated universe and eventually becomes zero at some future time in a Λ-dominated universe. The configuration entropy may have a connection to the dark energy and possibly plays a driving role in the current accelerating expansion of the Universe leading the Universe to its maximum entropy configuration.