  While the equilibrium properties, states, and phase transitions of
interacting systems are well described by statistical mechanics, the lack of
suitable state parameters has hindered the understanding of non-equilibrium
phenomena in diverse settings, from glasses to driven systems to biology. The
length of a losslessly compressed data file is a direct measure of its
information content: The more ordered the data is, the lower its information
content and the shorter the length of its encoding can be made. Here, we
describe how data compression enables the quantification of order in
non-equilibrium and equilibrium many-body systems, both discrete and
continuous, even when the underlying form of order is unknown. We consider
absorbing state models on and off-lattice, as well as a system of active
Brownian particles undergoing motility-induced phase separation. The technique
reliably identifies non-equilibrium phase transitions, determines their
character, quantitatively predicts certain critical exponents without prior
knowledge of the order parameters, and reveals previously unknown ordering
phenomena. This technique should provide a quantitative measure of organization
in condensed matter and other systems exhibiting collective phase transitions
in and out of equilibrium.
