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Is there a way to describe the Internet in terms of a physics theory, like how the atom is described by quantum mechanic? If there is, how is it described by this theory.

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Mhm, this is propably pretty off topic although very interesting. I would interpret the question as if the internet can be viewed as an emerging organism. The physical aspect is maybe the question of how information propagates though the thing and this reminds (at least me) of field theory. If you read through the wikipedia article on complex systems and also network you might find many interesting ways one can approach this. – Nick Kidman Feb 2 '12 at 9:52
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Favorited. Question falls into the category of "so bad it's good". – AlanSE Feb 2 '12 at 17:29
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was about to ask why anyone would upvote this. – user2963 Feb 2 '12 at 17:51
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Can anyone state a clear reason for considering this to be on-topic and a real question? My inclination is to close it, but I don't want to act out of ignorance. – dmckee♦ Feb 3 '12 at 2:14
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Thank you Mark Beadles – 11D Reality Hacker Feb 4 '12 at 1:58
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closed as not a real question by Qmechanic♦, dmckee♦ Feb 4 '12 at 3:16

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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First of all, you need to consider that the Internet is at one level a physical thing. It is made of a collection of servers, clients, routers, switches, and the like, all of which are typically metal and plastic boxes full of electronic components. Within these boxes of course you have the physics of semiconductors, power supplies, etc. These boxes are connected to each other by physical things also: metallic wires, glass and plastic fiber-optics, radio waves, microwaves. There you have the physics of electromagnetics, optics, etc. Let's not forget satellites, they're in there too! So we have the physics of orbits and relativity. There are trillions of physical components to the Internet, and they are each made of high-tech materials using modern science.

So the literal answer to your question is that nearly every subfield of modern physics, except perhaps the most theoretical, are involved in making the Internet work.

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Thank you ser for your answer. – 11D Reality Hacker Feb 4 '12 at 1:58

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