A Survey on the Mathematical Foundations of Axiomatic Entropy: Representability and Orderings

Different abstract versions of entropy, encountered in science, are interpreted in the light of numerical representations of several ordered structures, as total-preorders, interval-orders and semiorders. Intransitivities, other aspects of entropy as competitive systems, additivity, etc., are also viewed in terms of representability of algebraic structures endowed with some compatible ordering. A particular attention is paid to the problem of the construction of an entropy function or their mathematical equivalents. Multidisciplinary comparisons to other similar frameworks are also discussed, pointing out the mathematical foundations.