When Space Emerges from Information

The scientific article “The Topological Origin of Space” by Dr. Elias Rubenstein asks a very fundamental question: Is space really a kind of empty container that simply exists – or does it arise from relationships and information? In classical physics, space looks like a fixed stage on which particles and fields appear. This paper takes the opposite route: it interprets space as something that emerges from patterns of information – from differences and connections between states of the world.

The starting point is an extreme thought experiment: a universe in which everything is completely uniform. There are no differences, no structure, no “here” and “there.” In such a perfectly homogeneous information state, there would be no space and no time in the usual sense. Only when small differences appear – tiny variations in how information is distributed – do regions begin to stand out from one another. From these connected regions arises what we experience as “places” and “areas.” Distance, in this view, means: how strongly do two regions differ from each other in terms of information?

The paper does not leave this as a loose metaphor, but formulates it in a coherent physical language. It describes a continuous information field from which, step by step, first the coarse structure (topology) and then the fine shape (geometry) of space emerge. Gravity appears not as a mysterious extra force, but as a consequence of information gradients: wherever information changes strongly, the emerging spatial structure “bends.” In regions where information is almost uniform, an almost flat geometry forms, as described by special relativity.

The work ties into Dr. Rubenstein’s earlier articles on quantum information, the arrow of time, and cosmic dynamics, and brings them together. On the smallest scales, quantum processes show how information changes and how a direction of time appears. On the largest scales, the same informational dynamics shapes the form of the universe, its expansion, and its subtle irregularities. In this way, a unified picture emerges in which quantum physics, relativity, and thermodynamics are not separate domains standing side by side, but different expressions of one deeper informational structure.

Importantly, this concept does not remain purely abstract. The paper outlines how the proposed information structure can be tested indirectly – through cosmological observations such as the cosmic background radiation, the distribution of galaxies, and the large-scale geometry of the universe, as well as through laboratory experiments with artificially created “spacetime-like” structures in quantum platforms. If stable links between information flow and effective geometry appear in these systems, it would be strong evidence that space is indeed a consequence of information rather than its stage.

The relevance of this work lies in the alternative origin of space that it formulates: reality does not “sit inside” space – rather, space is the visible order of relationships. What we perceive as distances, geometry, and gravity could be the outer expression of a deeper informational fabric that differentiates itself over the course of cosmic history.

You can find the full scientific article at:

Elias Rubenstein (2025): The Topological Origin of Space
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17442134