
5th International Electronic Conference on Entropy and Its Applications
18–30 Nov 2019
Entropy, Information Theory, Thermodynamics, Statistical Physics, Quantum Information, Complexity
- Go to the Sessions
- Event Details
Welcome from the Chairs
You are cordially invited to participate in the 5th International Electronic Conference on Entropy and Its Applications. The conference aims to bring together researchers to present and discuss their recent contributions, without the need for travel. This e-conference is hosted on the MDPI Sciforum platform, which allows online presentation and discussion of participants’ work.
The concept of entropy is key in a broad range of research activities related to the understanding of (complex) dynamic systems, statistical mechanics, and information theory. Entropy also plays a crucial role in many practical applications. This conference aims to bring together researchers of different backgrounds—with a common interest in clarifying the role of entropy in their respective fields—to discuss ideas across different domains and expand their knowledge on the variety of possible applications of entropic methods.
The format of the conference is as follows. After abstract acceptance, the authors of oral contributions will submit a pre-recorded video presentation or series of narrated slides which will be accessible, online, during the entire conference and remain available after the e-conference. Alternatively, there is a track for posters, which will also be made available via the online platform.
In addition, authors are invited to submit a full description of their work (max. 8 pages), optionally along with a PowerPoint presentation and/or poster. Conference papers will be peer-reviewed and, upon acceptance, published in Proceedings. Paper submission is not a requirement for active conference participation.
Finally, authors may submit extended papers to be considered for publication in a Special Issue of Entropy, with a 20% discount on the APC. Entropy is an open-access publication journal of MDPI in the field of entropy and information theory.
Conference Chair
Prof. Dr. Geert Verdoolaege |
Geert Verdoolaege (M.Sc. Theoretical Physics in 1999, Ph.D. Engineering Physics in 2006) is a researcher at the Laboratory for Plasma Physics of the Royal Military Academy (LPP-ERM/KMS) in Brussels, Belgium. His research activities include development of data analysis techniques using methods from probability theory, machine learning, and information geometry and application of these methods to nuclear fusion experiments and image processing. He also teaches a Master course on Continuum Mechanics at Ghent University in Belgium. He serves on the Editorial Board of the multidisciplinary journal Entropy and is a member of the scientific committees of several conferences (IAEA Technical Meeting on Fusion Data Processing, Validation and Analysis; International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering; Conference on Geometric Science of Information). In addition, he is a consulting expert in the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) Transport and Confinement Topical Group and member of the General Assembly of the European Fusion Education Network (FuseNet). |
Conference Session Chairs
Conference Committee

Universita’ Sapienza Roma, Roma, Italy

Queen’s University,
Kingston, Canada

University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Universidad de Valladolid,
Valladolid, Spain

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

University of Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain

Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISC-CNR), Torino, Italy

Kanagawa University, Kanagawa, Japan

Aalto University, Aalto, Finland
Keynote Speakers

Dr Kim obtained her BSc in Physics from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago, USA. She held postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Leeds and Exeter in UK, High-Altitude Observatory in Boulder, USA and University of California, San Diego, USA. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Sheffield, UK. Dr Kim is interested in complexity, self-organisation and non-equilibrium processes, and has a unique track record in multidisciplinary research, with applications to astrophysical and laboratory fluids/plasmas and biosystems. In particular, Dr. Kim is keen on the information theory (information length) to model complexity and self-organisation in nonlinear dynamical systems, fluid/plasma turbulence, and biosystems. She is a holder of a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. She published over 110 refereed journal papers (51 as first author)
non-equilibrium statistical mechanics; complex systems; information theory; self-organisation; fluid dynamics; magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); plasma physics; turbulence; solar/stellar physics; homeostasis in biosystems

Dr. Convertino is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at Hokkaido University, Sapporo (JP), where he is the PI of the Nexus Group. Dr. Convertino is also a faculty member of the Station for Big-Data & Cybersecurity (Environmental and Biomedical Data Science research) and in the Department of Information Engineering at Hokkaido University. Additionally he is also Adjunct Professor position at the Institute on the Environment and the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Convertino expertise is in biocomplexity focused on environmental dynamics (in particular ecohydrogeomorphological processes) and its nexus with population patterns at multiple scales of biological organization. Research is sought via process- & pattern-oriented theoretical and computational models based on information, network, and decision sciences. Models are applied to a variety of ecosystems for understanding their biological, ecological, and socio-technological function as well as for value-based ecosystem design.

Research Scientist in data science and machine learning, Corteva Agrisciences, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Pritam Chanda received his PhD in Computer Science from the State University of New York, Buffalo, NY in 2010 and MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, OH in 2005. He has held post-doctoral position at the department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University (2010-2013). Since 2013, he has joined Dow Agrosciences (subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company) as Research Scientist in Data mining and Machine Learning. Currently he is a senior member of the global Data Science group in Corteva Agriscience, a market shaping agricultural company with leading positions in seed technologies, crop protection and digital agriculture. His work focuses on machine learning and information theoretic methods and its applications in computational biology and multi-omics data sciences (genetics, genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics). His research also involves deep learning methods and their uses in biological and chemical sciences.

Dr. Eleonora Di Valentino is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Manchester. Her area of research is focused on cosmology, mainly on Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, and cosmological data analysis to constrain properties of the early and recent Universe and fundamental physics. A major goal of her research is to constrain neutrino physics and other light fundamental particles such as axions with cosmology, using different observables and methods that offer complementary informations. Moreover, she is investigating the main tensions present between the different cosmological probes and models, trying to understand if they can have a physical explanation, going beyond the standard LCDM cosmological model.

Dr. Ruppeiner is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at New College of Florida ([email protected]). Dr. Ruppeiner received his Bachelor’s Degree in Physics at Louisiana State University in 1975, and his PhD in Experimental Low Temperature Physics at Duke University in 1980. In his PhD work, Dr. Ruppeiner developed a great appreciation for high quality experimental data, and for the need of theory to interpret such data. In his professional research, Dr. Ruppeiner has been mostly theoretical, focusing on what is nowadays called information geometry, in the area of thermodynamics. Specifically, Dr. Ruppeiner has investigated the thermodynamic Ricci curvature scalar R, and contributed to the case that this quantity provides essential information about the microscopic interactions in systems including fluids, magnets, and even black holes.

Shao-Lun Huang received the B.S. degree with honor in 2008 from the Department of Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degree in 2010 and 2013 from the Department of Electronic Engineering and Computer Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 2013 to 2016, he was working as a postdoctoral researcher jointly in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the National Taiwan University and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2016, he has joined Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, where he is currently an assistant professor. His research interests include information theory, communication theory, machine learning, and social networks.

Dr. Sebastian Deffner received his doctorate from the University of Augsburg in 2011 under the supervision of Eric Lutz. From 2011 to 2014 he was a Research Associate in the group of Chris Jarzynski at the University of Maryland, College Park and from 2011 to 2016 he was a Directorʼs Funded Postdoctoral Fellow with Wojciech H. Zurek at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since 2016 he has been on the faculty of the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), where he leads the quantum thermodynamics group. As a theoretical physicist, Dr. Deffner employs tools from statistical physics, open quantum dynamics, quantum information theory, quantum optics, quantum field theory, condensed matter theory, and optimal control theory to investigate the nonequilibrium properties of nanosystems operating far from thermal equilibrium.

Université de Cergy-Pontoise, CNRS, Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France

Consorzio RFX (CNR, ENEA, INFN, Universita’ di Padova, Acciaierie Venete SpA), Padova, Italy
List of Keynotes & Videos
Keynotes
Multispecies Emergence of Collective Behavior: Microbiome Connectome, Diversity and Services
Relate Paper:
Multispecies Emergence of Collective Behavior: Microbiome Connectome, Diversity and Services
Cosmology in Tension
Relate Paper:
Cosmology in Tension
Social Conflicts Studied by Statistical Physics Approach and Monte Carlo Simulations
Relate Paper:
Social Conflicts Studied by Statistical Physics Approach and Monte Carlo Simulations
Spin Waves and Skyrmions in Magneto-Ferroelectric Superlattices: Theory and Simulation
Relate Paper:
Spin Waves and Skyrmions in Magneto-Ferroelectric Superlattices: Theory and Simulation
Quantum Thermodynamics: An Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Quantum Computers
Relate Paper:
Quantum Thermodynamics: An Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Quantum Computers
Quantifying Total Correlations between Variables with Information Theoretic and Machine Learning Techniques
Relate Paper:
Quantifying Total Correlations between Variables with Information Theoretic and Machine Learning Techniques
An Information-theoretic Approach to Unsupervised Feature Selection for High-Dimensional Data
Relate Paper:
An Information-theoretic Approach to Unsupervised Feature Selection for High-Dimensional Data
List of accepted submissions (38)
Id | Title | Authors | Presentation Video | Presentation Pdf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sciforum-027740 | Entropy fluctuations reveal microscopic interactions | N/A |
![]() |
Show Abstract |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A key element of thermodynamics is small entropy fluctuations away from local maxima at equilibrium. These fluctuating entropy decreases become proportionally larger as the volume decreases within some thermodynamic system. Lessened entropy indicates the formation of organized fluctuating mesoscopic structures. These structures depend upon the microscopic interactions present among the atomic constituents of the system. Entropy fluctuations may be represented by a thermodynamic information metric yielding directly a thermodynamic Ricci curvature scalar R. R is a thermodynamic invariant that is a measure of mesoscopic structure formation within the system. In my talk, I discuss the calculation and the physical interpretation of R in several scenarios: fluid systems, including supercooled liquid water, simple solids, spin systems, quantum fluid models, the quark-meson plasma, and black hole thermodynamics. This range of applications offers a strong argument for the effectiveness of R within thermodynamics. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-027597 | Entropy Production and the Maximum Entropy of the Universe | , | N/A | N/A |
Show Abstract |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The entropy of the observable universe has been calculated as Suni ~ 10104 k and is dominated by the entropy of super massive black holes. Irreversible processes in the universe can only happen if there is an entropy gap between the entropy of the observable universe Suni and its maximum entropy Smax: = Smax - Suni. Thus, the entropy gap is a measure of the remaining potentially available free energy in the observable universe. To compute one needs to know the value of Smax. There is no consensus on whether Smax is a constant or is time-dependent. A time-dependent Smax(t) has been used to represent instantaneous upper limits on entropy growth. However, if we define Smax as a constant equal to the final entropy of the observable universe at its heat death: Smax Smax,HD, we can interpret T as a measure of the remaining potentially available (but not instantaneously available) free energy of the observable universe. The time-dependent slope dSuni/dt (t) then becomes the best estimate of current entropy-production and T dSuni/dt(t) is the upper limit to free energy extraction. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-027082 | Identifying Systemic Risks and Policy-Induced Shocks in Stock Markets by Relative Entropy | , , | N/A | N/A |
Show Abstract |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Systemic risks have to be vigilantly guided against at all times in order to prevent their contagion across stock markets. New policies also may not work as desired, instead even induce shocks to market, especially those emerging ones. Therefore, timely detection of systemic risks and policy-induced shocks is crucial to safeguard the health of stock markets. In this paper, we show that the relative entropy or Kullback-Liebler divergence can be used to identify systemic risks and policy-induced shocks in stock markets. Concretely, we analyzed the minutely data of two stock indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Composite Index, and examined the temporal variation of relative entropy for them. We show that clustered peaks in relative entropy curves can accurately identify the timing of the 2007–2008 global financial crisis and its precursors, and the 2015 stock crashes in China. Moreover, a sharpest needle-like peak in relative entropy curves, especially for SSE market, always served as a precursor of an unusual market, a strong bull market or a bubble, thus possessing a certain ability of forewarning. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-027816 | Quantum Genetic Terrain Algorithm (Q-GTA): A Technique to Study the Evolution of the Earth Using Quantum Genetic Algorithm | , , | N/A |
![]() |
Show Abstract |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In recent years geologists have put a lot of effort trying to study the evolution of earth using different techniques studying rocks, gases, and water at different channels like mantle, lithosphere and atmosphere. Some of the ways are Estimation of heat flux between the atmosphere and sea ice, Modelling global temperature changes, Groundwater monitoring networks, etc. But algorithms involving the study of earth’s evolution have been a debated topic for decades. Also, there is distinct research on studying the mantle, lithosphere, and atmosphere using isotopic fractionation which this paper will take into consideration to form genes at the former stage. This factor of isotopic fractionation could be molded in QGA to study the earth’s evolution. We combined these factors because the gases containing these isotopes move from mantle to lithosphere or atmosphere through gaps or volcanic eruptions contributing to it. We are likely to use the Rb/Sr and Sm/Nd ratios to study the evolution of these channels. This paper, in general, provides the idea on gathering some information of temperature changes by using isotopic ratios as chromosomes, in QGA the chromosomes depict the characteristic of a generation. Here these ratios depict the temperature characteristic and other steps of QGA would be molded to study these ratios in the form of temperature changes, which would further signify the evolution of earth based on the study that temperature changes with the change in isotopic ratios. This paper will collect these distinct studies and embed them into an upgraded quantum genetic algorithm called Quantum Genetic Terrain Algorithm or Quantum GTA. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-028353 | Quantum Thermodynamics: An Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Quantum Computers | N/A |
![]() |
Show Abstract |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We are the verge of a technological revolution. Over the last couple of years the first computational devices have become commercially available that promise to exploit so-called quantum supremacy. Even though the thermodynamic cost for processing classical information has been known since the 1960s, the thermodynamic description of quantum computers is still at its infancy. This is due to the fact that many notions of classical thermodynamics, such as work and heat, do not readily generalize to quantum systems. In this keynote, we will outline a novel conceptual framework of an emerging theory, Quantum Thermodynamics, and illustrate its applicability, mindset, and questions with a few pedagogical examples. |
Event Awards
Best Presentation at ECEA-5
Entropy and the Organizing Committee of ECEA-5 congratulate Hung T. Diep who received an award for the best presentation at ECEA-5:
Topic: Spin Waves and Skyrmions in Magneto-Ferroelectric Superlattices: Theory and Simulation
authored by Hung T. Diep, Ildus F. Sharafullin
"Hung T. Diep is professor of physics at the University of Cergy-Pontoise in Paris area, France. He works on problems in statistical physics, condensed matter physics, and magnetism, focusing mainly on phase transitions and critical phenomena, on elementary excitations such as spin waves in frustrated spin systems, thin films and super-lattices. He uses various theoretical methods such as exact solutions in two dimensions and Green’s function methods, as well as sophisticated high-performance Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Recently, he is also interested in using statistical physics models to study social phenomena (sociophysics) and economic issues (econophysics). Please see his publications and his books at his personal website: http://diep.u-cergy.fr/indexnfl_en.html."
The Awards
The Award will consist of 500 Swiss Francs and a certificate.
Terms and Conditions:
- Full paper must be submitted to ECEA-5
- Originality / Novelty of the paper
- Significance of Content
- Scientific Soundness
- Interest to the readers
- English language and style
Call for Papers
e-conferences, virtually anywhere
5th International Electronic Conference on Entropy and Its Applications
The Chairs and the Scientific Committee Members are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 5th International Electronic Conference on Entropy and Its Applications and to invite each researcher working in this exciting field to share his/her recent results with his/her colleagues around the world.
The conference will be organized into six Sessions, which reflect the interdisciplinary nature of entropy and its applications:
Session A: Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
Session B: Information Theory, Probability, Statistics and Artificial Intelligence
Session C: Quantum Information and Quantum Computing
Session D: Complex Systems
Session E: Biological Systems
Session F: Astrophysics, Cosmology and Black Holes
We look forward to receiving contributions in response to this call and will be glad to provide any further information to interested parties. Questions may be addressed to the Entropy editorial office at [email protected] or [email protected].
Thank you in advance for your attendance of this conference and look forward to a stimulating exchange.
Conference Schedule
Abstract submission deadline: 13 September 2019 13 October 2019
Notification of acceptance: 30 September 2019 20 October 2019
Submission of full paper and/or poster/presentation deadline: 8 November 2019
Conference open: 18–30 November 2019
Instructions for Authors
Submissions should be done by the authors online by registering with www.sciforum.net, and using the "Start New Submission" function once logged into system.
- Scholars interested in participating with the conference can submit their abstract (about 200-250 words) online on this website until 13 September 2019 13 October 2019.
- The Conference Committee will pre-evaluate, based on the submitted abstract, whether a contribution from the authors of the abstract will be welcome for the 5th International Electronic Conference on Entropy and Its Applications. All authors will be notified by 30 September 2019 20 October 2019 about the acceptance of their abstract.
- If the abstract is accepted for this conference, the author will be invited to prepare a full description of their work (max. 8 pages), optionally along with a PowerPoint presentation /poster, until the submission deadline of 8 November 2019.
- The conference proceedings papers and presentations will be available on https://sciforum.net/conference/ecea-5 for discussion during the time of the conference 18 November–30 November 2019.
- Accepted papers will be published in the Journal Proceedings. After the conference, the authors are recommended to submit an extended version of the proceeding papers to the Entropy Special issue with 20% discount of the APC charges.
Manuscripts should be prepared in MS Word or any other word processor and should be converted to the PDF format before submission. The publication format will be PDF. The manuscript should count at least 3 pages (including figures, tables and references).
Presentation Slides
Authors are encouraged to prepare a presentation in PowerPoint or similar software, to be displayed online along with the Manuscript. Slides, if available, will be displayed directly in the website using Sciforum.net's proprietary slides viewer. Slides can be prepared in exactly the same way as for any traditional conference where research results can be presented. Slides should be converted to the PDF format before submission so that our process can easily and automatically convert them for online displaying.
Video Presentations
Authors are also encouraged to submit video presentations. If you are interested in submitting, please contact the conference organizer ([email protected]) to get to know more about the procedure.
Tips for authors: If you would like to prepare a video (15-20 minutes) based on your PPT presentation, you may use the "record slide" function in the PowerPoint. After recording, you can save the file as type: MPEG-4 Viedo (*.mp4).
It is the authors' responsibility to identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of clinical research. If there is no conflict, please state here "The authors declare no conflict of interest." This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. Financial support for the study must be fully disclosed under "Acknowledgments" section. It is the authors' responsibility to identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of clinical research.
Copyright
MDPI AG, the publisher of the Sciforum.net platform, is an open access publisher. We believe that authors should retain the copyright to their scholarly works. Hence, by submitting a Communication paper to this conference, you retain the copyright of your paper, but you grant MDPI AG the non-exclusive right to publish this paper online on the Sciforum.net platform. This means you can easily submit your paper to any scientific journal at a later stage and transfer the copyright to its publisher (if required by that publisher).
Conference Secretariat
Ms. Connie Xiong
MDPI Branch Office, Wuhan
E-Mail: [email protected]
Ms. Stefanie Li
MDPI Branch Office, Wuhan
E-Mail: [email protected]
Sponsoring Opportunities
For information regarding sponsoring opportunities, please contact the conference secretariat.
A. Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
- classical thermodynamics
- chemical thermodynamics
- equilibrium thermodynamics
- non-equilibrium thermodynamics
- calorimetry
- equilibrium statistical mechanics
- non-equilibrium statistical mechanics
- stochastic thermodynamics
- fluid mechanics
- numerical simulations in thermodynamics and statistical physics
- others
Session Chairs
Prof. Dr. Philip Broadbridge, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Prof. Dr. Hung T. Diep, University of Cergy-Pontoise, Cergy-Pontoise cedex, France
B. Information Theory, Probability, Statistics, and Artificial Intelligence
- Bayesian inference
- statistical inference
- information entropy
- information divergences
- information geometry
- pattern recognition
- machine learning
- deep learning
- natural language processing
- coding
- channel capacity
- cybernetics
- robotics
- source coding
- channel coding
- signal processing
Session Chairs
Prof. Dr. Ercan Kuruoglu, Italian National Council of Research, Pisa, Italy
Prof. Dr. Geert Verdoolaege, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
C. Quantum Information and Quantum Computing
- quantum computing
- quantum simulation
- quantum communication
- quantum sensors
- quantum metrology
- quantum software
- fundamental aspects of quantum information
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. Göran Wendin, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
D. Complex Systems
- information theory
- entropy measure
- complexity
- coarse-graining procedure
- nonlinear analysis
Session Chair
Dr. Anne Humeau-Heurtier, University of Angers, Angers, France
E. Biological Systems
- information, entropy, mutation, epigenetics, recombination, speciation
- transmission, inheritance, transcription, translation, reproduction, learning, adaptation, natural selection, sexual selection, behaviour
- movement of molecules, dispersal of gametes or seeds or individuals
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. William B. Sherwin, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Show all published submissions (6) Hide published submissions (6)
Submissions
List of Papers (6) Toggle list
F. Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Black Holes
Session Chair
Dr. Remo Garattini, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
Show all published submissions (4) Hide published submissions (4)
Submissions
List of Papers (4) Toggle list