Abstract
A method, based on symmetry, is suggested for determining the information content of systems. A comparison has been made between the information for symmetry, topology, and chemical composition. The new information measure increases when the asymmetry of the molecules and the number of atoms in the latter increases. It can distinguish between different molecular conformations, and give a linear correlation with the absolute entropy for homologous series of chemical compounds.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature
Brillouin, L. 1956.Science and Information Theory. New York: Academic Press.
Dancoff, S. M. and H. Quastler. 1953. “The Information Content and Error Rate of Living Things.” InEssays on the Use of Information Theory in Biology, Quastler, H., ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Hochstrasser, Robin M. 1966.Molecular Aspects of Symmetry. New York. Amsterdam: W. A. Benjamin.
Jaffé, H. H. and M. Orchin. 1965.Symmetry in Chemistry: New York, London, Sydney: J. Wiley and Sons.
Karapetjanz, M. H. and M. L. Karapetjanz. 1968.Osnovnie termodinamicheskie konstanti neorganicheskih i organicheskih vestestv. Moskva: Himiya Press.
Karreman, G. 1955. “Topological Information Content and Chemical Reactions.”Bull. Math. Biophys.,17, 279–285.
Linshitz, H. 1953. “The Information Content of a Bacterial Cell.” InEssays on the Use of Information Theory in Biology.
Morowitz, H. 1955. “Some Order-Disorder Considerations in Living Systems.”Bull. Math. Biophys.,17, 81–86.
Mowshowitz, A. 1968a. “Entropy and the Complexity of Graphs: I. An Index of the Relative Complexity of a Graph.”Bull. Math. Biophys.,30, 175–204.
——. 1968b. “Entropy and the Complexity of Graphs: II. The Information Content of Digraphs and Infinite Graphs.,30, 225–240.
——. 1968c. “Entropy and the Complexity of Graphs: III. Graphs with Prescribed Information Content.”30, 387–414.
——. 1968d. “Entropy and the Complexity of Graphs: IV. Entropy Measures and Graphical Structure.,30, 533–546.
Rashevsky, N. 1955. “Life, Information Theory, and Topology.”Bull. Math. Biophys.,17, 229–235.
——. 1960. “Life, Information Theory, Probability, and Physics.”Bull. Math. Biophys.,22, 351–364.
Shannon, C., and W. Weaver. 1949.Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Trucco, E. 1956a. “A Note on the Information Content of Graphs.”Bull. Math. Biophys. 18, 129–135.
——. 1956b. “On the Information Content of Graphs: Compound Symbols; Different States for each Point.”18, 237–253.
Valentinuzzi, M. and M. E. Valentinuzzi. 1962. “Contribution al Estudio del Contenido de Information de Estructuras Quimicas.”Anales de la Sociedad Cientifica Argentina, Juli-December, 1–86.
——. 1963. “Information Content of Chemical Structures and Some Possible Biological Applications.”Bull. Math. Biophys.,25, 11–27.
Wigner, E. 1931. Gruppentheorie und ihre Anwendungen auf die Quantenmechanik der Atomspectren. Braunschweig: Friedr. Vieweg und Sohn.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bonchev, D., Kamenski, D. & Kamenska, V. Symmetry and information content of chemical structures. Bltn Mathcal Biology 38, 119–133 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471752
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471752