Information as Energy: A New Way to Understand Spacetime, Gravity, and Dark Energy

Modern physics no longer describes the universe as an empty container in which matter simply moves around. Space and time themselves are part of physical reality. According to general relativity, matter and energy shape spacetime. This curvature is what we experience as gravity. Stars, galaxies, and even light do not move through a fixed background, but through a spacetime structure that is shaped by energy and matter.

Yet one of the greatest questions in modern cosmology remains unresolved: Why is the universe expanding at an accelerating rate? To explain this accelerated expansion, physics speaks of dark energy. Dark energy appears to make up a large part of the total energy content of the universe. Still, no one knows exactly what dark energy actually is. In many models, it is inserted mathematically as an additional term. This may work in the equations, but it does not fully explain what deeper structure could be behind it.

A different idea begins here: perhaps the energy content of the universe is not made only of visible matter, radiation, and mysterious dark energy. Perhaps there is also an informational component — a form of energy that arises from the structure of information itself.

This approach does not simply reject established physics. Instead, it tries to extend it. The geometric definition of energy remains intact. The basic idea of relativity also remains: energy and matter influence spacetime. What is new is the question of whether an additional informational contribution may exist within the total energy balance of the universe.

What Is “Informational Energy”?

In everyday life, information usually means data, messages, language, numbers, or digital communication. In physics, however, information has a deeper meaning. It is not only about messages. It is also about order, distinction, state, structure, and the relationship between possible states of a system.

A simple example: if two states are completely identical, there is no difference between them. If they differ, information exists in that difference. In physics, such differences can be described mathematically. One important concept for this is relative entropy. In simple terms, relative entropy measures how much an actual state differs from a reference state.

This is the central idea: if the actual state of the universe differs from a certain informational reference structure, this difference may not be merely abstract. On a large scale, it could behave like an energetic contribution.

This does not mean that information is simply a new substance. It also does not mean that thoughts or digital data directly move stars. The idea is more fundamental: information is treated as a physical structure that, within a suitable model, can contribute to the energy content of spacetime.

The key point is this: Information may not be only a description of reality. It may be part of reality itself, and under certain cosmic conditions it may have energetic significance.

Why the Past and the Future Matter

In everyday thinking, we usually imagine cause and effect in one direction: the past influences the present, and the present shapes the future. This is how ordinary experience appears to us. But in fundamental physics, the situation is more subtle. Many basic equations are surprisingly time-symmetric. They allow descriptions in which not only initial conditions, but also boundary conditions, play an important role.

A causal-symmetric approach does not look at physical history only from the beginning. It asks whether a system may also be described through conditions at both temporal ends: an initial structure and a final structure. Between these boundaries, the physical reality we experience unfolds.

At first, this may sound unusual. But it is not mere fantasy. In quantum physics, there are known time-symmetric interpretations and models that take such questions seriously. The informational approach uses this idea to ask: if the evolution of spacetime is partly shaped by such boundary structures, could an informational contribution arise that influences the internal development of the universe?

In simple language: the universe is not viewed only as a machine blindly running forward from an initial state. It is described as a system whose structure may also be shaped by informational conditions that go beyond the simple sequence of past, present, and future.

Dark Energy as an Informational Effect?

Dark energy is one of the greatest mysteries in modern science. It is used to explain the accelerated expansion of the universe, but its origin remains unknown. Is it a property of empty space? A cosmological constant? A new field? Or a sign that our understanding of gravity is still incomplete?

The informational approach does not claim to offer a final answer. It does not claim that the mystery of dark energy has already been solved. Instead, it opens a possible path: an informational contribution could, on a cosmic scale, behave in a way that resembles dark energy.

The idea is that the total energy content of the universe may include more than matter and radiation. An additional informational energy term may also appear. This term is connected to a broadly averaged informational deviation. On the scale of a homogeneous universe, such a contribution could enter cosmological equations in a way similar to other forms of energy.

In the simplest approximation, this informational component may behave in a vacuum-like manner. That means it could have an effect resembling dark energy. But the limit of the claim is important: this is a theoretical model, not the experimental discovery of a new force of nature. Its value lies in the fact that dark energy is not treated merely as an unexplained external addition, but as a possible expression of a deeper informational structure.

Energy Remains Energy — But the Content Is Expanded

A crucial point is that this approach does not abandon the known definition of energy. In relativity, energy is described geometrically. An observer measures energy depending on motion, spacetime structure, and the energy-momentum tensor. This tensor tells spacetime how it should curve.

The new idea is not: “Old physics is wrong.” The new idea is: perhaps the total energy-momentum tensor contains more than matter and radiation. Perhaps it also contains an informational part.

One can imagine this in a simplified way: the basic form of the equation remains the same, but the right-hand side does not include only what we usually count as matter and radiation. It may also include an informational contribution. This contribution would not be arbitrary. It would be mathematically connected to a structure: the deviation of an actual state from a reference state.

In this way, information is not loosely asserted. It is given a precise physical role. It becomes a possible contribution to the total energy content of spacetime.

What Does This Have to Do With Einstein?

Einstein showed that mass and energy are two sides of the same reality. His famous equation states that energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. The approach described here does not change this basic relationship. Instead, it expands the question of what may contribute to total energy.

If an informational energy term exists, then this part would also correspond to an effective mass density within the model. This does not mean that information suddenly lies on a scale like a stone. It means that an informational contribution can enter the cosmic energy balance in such a way that it may also be described mathematically as an effective mass component.

The structure of the familiar mass-energy relation remains intact. The difference lies in the content: in addition to matter and radiation, informational contributions may also belong to the total energy balance. In this way, the concept of energy is not destroyed, but expanded.

Why We Do Not Notice This in Everyday Life

If information can form a cosmic energy contribution, one obvious question arises: why do we not notice it in everyday life?

The answer lies in scale. In ordinary local situations — in laboratories, on Earth, or in weak gravitational fields — such an informational contribution would be extremely small or almost uniformly distributed in the background. Known physics would therefore continue to work with very high accuracy.

This is important. A serious theoretical model cannot simply overturn everything that has already been successfully tested. It must explain why established physics works in normal conditions, while new effects become relevant only under particular circumstances.

In this case, the informational component would be most interesting in cosmological contexts: the universe as a whole, the large-scale development of spacetime, and possibly the question of why cosmic expansion is accelerating.

Why Information May Be More Fundamental Than We Think

Over the last decades, information has become increasingly important in physics. Black holes, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, entropy, gravity, and cosmology can hardly be discussed fully without speaking about information. The question is no longer only what matter is. The question is also: How is reality structured? Which states are possible? Which differences are physically meaningful? How are order and energy connected?

This approach belongs to that larger development. It does not treat information merely as a tool used by an observer. It treats information as a possible part of the physical description itself. If spacetime is shaped not only by matter, but also by informational deviations, then information gains a much deeper role.

This is especially interesting because it builds a bridge between different areas of physics: relativity, quantum information, thermodynamics, and cosmology. These fields often appear separate, yet they meet at the deepest open questions of modern science.

What This Approach Does Not Claim

With a topic like this, clarity is essential. This approach does not claim that dark energy has been definitively explained. It also does not claim that information has already been experimentally proven as a fundamental form of energy. Nor does it provide a complete microscopic theory that finally unifies all details of quantum fields, spacetime, and cosmology.

Instead, it offers a mathematically ordered proposal: an informational energy term can be formulated in a way that remains compatible with the known geometric definition of energy, can enter cosmological equations, and may behave under certain conditions like a dark-energy-like contribution.

Its value therefore does not lie in presenting a final solution. Its value lies in offering a new theoretical framework. It makes more precise an idea that is often expressed only vaguely: that information does not merely describe the universe, but may participate in its structure.

Conclusion: The Universe as Energy, Geometry, and Information

Modern physics has shown that space and time are not fixed. They can curve, expand, and respond to energy. But perhaps the total energy content of the universe is still not fully understood. Perhaps our description is missing a contribution that does not come from ordinary matter, but from information itself.

The idea of informational energy opens exactly this possibility. It treats information not as a mere description, but as a possible physical quantity that may contribute to spacetime and cosmic evolution within certain models.

This creates a new image of the universe. The universe may not consist only of things, forces, and empty space. It may also be shaped by informational structures that determine how states differ from one another, how energy is distributed, and why spacetime behaves as it does on the largest scales.

This is not a finished model of everything. It is a theoretical step. But it is an important step because it reformulates one of the deepest questions in physics:

You can find the full scientific article at:

Elias Rubenstein (2026) Informational Energy in a Causal–Symmetric Framework for Spacetime.
International Journal of Nano Research ,Vol: 9, Issu: 1 (01-05)
DOI: 10.3619/2581-6608.1000133

Elias Rubenstein: Informational Energy in a Causal–Symmetric Framework for Spacetime.pdf