Classical and Non-Classical Representations in Physics

Dynamical representations used in physics are analysed from a "second order" viewpoint, as distinction systems constructed by an observer in interaction with an object. The creation, conservation and destruction of distinctions can be understood on the basis of a distinction dynamics. The fundamental mechanism is the variation through recombination and selective retention of closed combinations. The conservation of all distinctions is shown to provide a demarcation criterion, distinguishing classical from non-classical representations. Different non-classical representations (thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity theory, ...) are classified on the basis of which distinctions they do not conserve. It is argued that the specific structures of these non-classical representations can be reconstructed by studying the properties of non-trivial closure.