General relativity (GR) is naturally organized around spacetime events and their causal order, whereas quantum field theory (QFT) is formulated in terms of states, operators, and unitary evolution, without an intrinsic criterion for when a quantum process becomes a definite spacetime fact. We propose an event-centered framework in which events are locally irreversible records generated by quantum-environment interactions and serve as an interface between quantum dynamics and relativistic spacetime structure. Event anchoring is characterized operationally by three jointly sufficient conditions: local classicalization, redundant environmental recording, and irreversibility against recovery. Their joint satisfaction defines local generative freezing. We realize these criteria in an explicit repeated-collision open-system model. The model is illustrative rather than a derivation from relativistic QFT, but it remains globally unitary and yields the freezing time in closed form. For all admissible tolerances, local classicalization is certified no later than channel-level irrecoverability, and generically earlier. Full anchoring occurs only when both irrecoverability and the required record redundancy have been reached, producing irrecoverability-limited and redundancy-limited regimes. At the level of anchored records, physical history is therefore represented as a partially ordered causal skeleton of frozen events on which effective field-theoretic descriptions operate. The framework addresses event anchoring--when a candidate outcome becomes a stable spacetime fact--while remaining compatible with standard QFT and relativistic causality. It does not derive the Born rule or solve single-outcome selection, which belong to the separate problem of event generation.
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Accepted for publication in Annals of Physics. 13 pages, 3 figures
General relativity (GR) is naturally organized around spacetime events and their causal order, whereas quantum field theory (QFT) is formulated in terms of states, operators, and unitary evolution, without an intrinsic criterion for when a quantum process becomes a definite spacetime fact. We propose an event-centered framework in which events are locally irreversible records generated by quantum-environment interactions and serve as an interface between quantum dynamics and relativistic spacetime structure. Event anchoring is characterized operationally by three jointly sufficient conditions: local classicalization, redundant environmental recording, and irreversibility against recovery. Their joint satisfaction defines local generative freezing. We realize these criteria in an explicit repeated-collision open-system model. The model is illustrative rather than a derivation from relativistic QFT, but it remains globally unitary and yields the freezing time in closed form. For all admissible tolerances, local classicalization is certified no later than channel-level irrecoverability, and generically earlier. Full anchoring occurs only when both irrecoverability and the required record redundancy have been reached, producing irrecoverability-limited and redundancy-limited regimes. At the level of anchored records, physical history is therefore represented as a partially ordered causal skeleton of frozen events on which effective field-theoretic descriptions operate. The framework addresses event anchoring--when a candidate outcome becomes a stable spacetime fact--while remaining compatible with standard QFT and relativistic causality. It does not derive the Born rule or solve single-outcome selection, which belong to the separate problem of event generation.
We develop an event-based extension of quantum theory in which irreversible interaction events are taken as physically primary, and apply this framework to the emergence of time and effective gravitational behavior. An event is defined as a non-invertible completely positive, trace-preserving (CPTP) map acting on quantum states. Unitary dynamics are treated as an effective interpolation between events rather than as fundamental evolution. Time is defined as a partial ordering induced by irreversible events, while continuous time arises as a coarse-grained limit at high event density. We introduce event density as an operational quantity governing both decoherence and temporal accumulation, and show that spatial gradients of event density naturally give rise to effective gravitational time-dilation phenomena. No new force laws, spacetime curvature, or quantum gravity dynamics are postulated. Instead, gravity and time are shown to emerge as scale-dependent descriptions arising from irreversible event structure. The formulation is compatible with standard quantum mechanics, open-system dynamics, and general relativity in their respective domains, while clarifying the physical role of irreversibility in linking quantum theory and spacetime descriptions.
The quantum measurement problem arises from a structural asymmetry in standard formulations of quantum mechanics: while unitary evolution is treated as fundamental, irreversible events are introduced only through ad hoc postulates. As a result, measurement, decoherence, and probability appear conceptually disconnected. In this work, we propose a minimal reformulation in which irreversible interaction events are taken as ontological primitives. An event is defined as a completely positive, trace-preserving map that is not equivalent to any unitary transformation. Unitary evolution emerges as an effective description valid between events. Within this framework, quantum measurement is not a special process but a particular class of irreversible events with outcome-resolving structure. The Born rule arises naturally from the statistical structure of event realizations, and environmental decoherence is reinterpreted as a high density of irreversible events. No collapse postulate, observer-dependent rule, or modification of quantum dynamics is required. This formulation provides a unified and physically grounded resolution of the measurement problem and establishes a conceptual foundation for event-based extensions connecting quantum theory with spacetime and gravity.
Quantum mechanics is traditionally formulated using the reversible coordinate time t, which enforces a globally reversible unitary group structure and time‑symmetric propagators. This conflicts with physically irreversible processes such as decoherence, measurement, entropy production, causal propagation, and curvature‑driven focusing in general relativity. We resolve this mismatch by replacing t with the monotonic temporal field T, previously developed in the context of global causal structure, temporal focusing, and worldline ordering in curved spacetime. Once T is taken as the fundamental evolution parameter, quantum dynamics cannot be reversible: the inverse operator U−1 is not physically realizable, and unitary evolution becomes a forward‑directed semigroup. We formulate **forward unitarity**, in which physical evolution is generated only by forward‑directed operators Uphys(T2,T1) with T2>T1. Pure states evolve according to a forward Schrödinger equation with an intrinsic, monotonic decoherence functional D(T), while mixed states evolve under a forward Lindblad structure. Probability is conserved, but coherent recoverability is forbidden by geometric irreversibility, causal structure, and temporal focusing. We construct a Forward‑QM Lagrangian, a forward Heisenberg picture, and a forward path integral restricted to histories with non‑decreasing T, showing how operator algebras, propagators, correlation functions, and creation/annihilation operators inherit the arrow of time. Forward‑QM provides a unified, forward‑directed formulation of quantum mechanics compatible with general relativity, causal geometry, and the irreversible structure of spacetime. It replaces reversible unitary groups with physically meaningful semigroup evolution, aligns quantum dynamics with measurement, decoherence, and entropy production, and establishes the foundation for Forward Quantum Field Theory (FQFT). The extension to FQFT—covering forward propagators, interacting fields, renormalization in the presence of monotonic decoherence, and causal compatibility in curved spacetime—will be developed in future work.
In standard quantum theory, physical states are subject to superposition, whereas temporal order and causal structure usually remain as a classical background. In general relativity, by contrast, time is local and dynamical, depending on the distribution of matter and the geometry of spacetime. This paper does not provide a completed dynamics that resolves this mismatch. Instead, it proposes an interpretive principle that extends the domain of superposition and single-outcome character in the Copenhagen interpretation from physical states to temporal and causal configurations. In this proposal, temporal order, local time, causal connection, and the gluing of spacetime fragments are represented as quantum candidates, and observation is understood as the simultaneous realization of one state and one recordable causal sequence. For unobserved candidate temporal configurations, neither reality nor non-reality is specified; an ontological suspension is adopted. This weakens the need to require every candidate to be globally consistent with a spacetime in advance, making it possible to impose classical gluing only on realized local causal sequences. As a result, the degrees of freedom associated with local time, local causal order, and the underlying structure of fields are increased. The paper further presents a research program that reconstructs special and general relativity, quantum theory and representational duality, quantum field theory, and quantum gravity in sequence. The temporal extension of the Copenhagen interpretation is not a specific model of quantum gravity, but it may provide an axiomatic assumption, worldview, and semantic core for interpreting the process by which a single classical world is realized from quantum causal candidates. AI Assistance DisclosureGenerative AI was used as an auxiliary tool in drafting, adjusting expressions, and organizing the structure of this paper. The author bears final responsibility for the text, claims, citations, and factual verification. Keywords: Copenhagen interpretation, quantum time, causal structure, observational convergence, locality, quantum gravity, semantics
This preprint is part of a three-paper series exploring physical realization as a temporally organized process constrained by relativistic causality. The present paper addresses quantum outcome realization. Standard quantum mechanics provides a complete and accurate description of state evolution but does not specify how physical outcomes are realized within an already structured world. In this work, a strict separation is made between quantum dynamics and realization. No modification of the Schrödinger equation, operators, or measurement formalism is introduced. A minimal global temporal constraint, T= L / c, is proposed as an organizational condition on realization, arising directly from finite causal connectivity. Quantum states are interpreted as spaces of possible realizations, while actual outcomes emerge through selection constrained by global phase compatibility with previously realized structure. Within this framework, the Born rule appears as the unique statistically stable distribution of realizations required for consistency across composite systems, rather than as a postulate of dynamics. The approach preserves quantum indeterminacy, introduces no hidden variables, and provides a unified account of realization across quantum and macroscopic regimes.
This paper introduces the Relativity of Information Frames (RIF), a foundational framework that precedes and constrains dynamical theories. RIF treats information frames—σ-algebras of distinguishable events—as the fundamental objects of physical description, and formulates interaction as the joint realization of such frames subject to a symmetry principle: no information frame may be privileged over another. From this principle alone, the framework derives a canonical restriction on joint event structures. We prove the existence of a distinguished σ-algebra—the pointer algebra—which is the unique maximal event algebra compatible with perspectival symmetry and the existence of consistent probability assignments. Any empirical model admits a global probability measure on this algebra, while any strict extension generically fails to do so, reintroducing contextuality. These results impose non-trivial structural constraints that any admissible dynamics must respect. The framework is applied to quantum theory, not by postulating dynamics, but by showing how its core structures arise necessarily from informational consistency. Observables appear as perspectival maps, state update corresponds to interaction-induced coarse-graining, the Born rule follows from a martingale structure on the induced σ-algebra filtrations, Wigner-type scenarios are consistent, and unitary evolution is reinterpreted as gauge freedom in joint descriptions rather than ontic time evolution. RIF does not replace dynamical theories; it delimits them. It identifies which event structures, probability assignments, and symmetries are admissible prior to dynamics, and therefore clarifies what features of quantum theory are structural necessities rather than contingent dynamical postulates. The framework further implies intrinsic irreversibility, a relational notion of locality, and constraints on emergent geometric structure, which any subsequent dynamical formulation must accommodate.