{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T11:05:21Z","timestamp":1774263921556,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2012,2,16]],"date-time":"2012-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1329350400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Information"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Interpretations of quantum theory have traditionally assumed a \u201cGalilean\u201d observer, a bare \u201cpoint of view\u201d implemented physically by a quantum system. This paper investigates the consequences of replacing such an informationally-impoverished observer with an observer that satisfies the requirements of classical automata theory, i.e., an observer that encodes sufficient prior information to identify the system being observed and recognize its acceptable states. It shows that with reasonable assumptions about the physical dynamics of information channels, the observations recorded by such an observer will display the typical characteristics predicted by quantum theory, without requiring any specific assumptions about the observer\u2019s physical implementation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/info3010092","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,2,16]],"date-time":"2012-02-16T11:11:43Z","timestamp":1329390703000},"page":"92-123","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["If Physics Is an Information Science, What Is an Observer?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4812-0744","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chris","family":"Fields","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"21 Rue des Lavandi\u00e8res, Caunes Minervois, 11160 France"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,2,16]]},"container-title":["Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2078-2489\/3\/1\/92\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:48:56Z","timestamp":1760219336000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2078-2489\/3\/1\/92"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2012,2,16]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,3]]}},"alternative-id":["info3010092"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/info3010092","relation":{},"ISSN":["2078-2489"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2078-2489","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2012,2,16]]}}}