Time as an emerging property of observation

Andreas Schlatter

We show that by the act of quantum measurement on a system there emerges a notion of duration and a corresponding time flow which turns out to be the thermal flow connected to the system. We show that, under some quasi-classical assumptions on the observer, this flow shows relevant properties of empirical time and some interesting consequences for Special Relativity are drawn.

H. D. Zeh

J. G. Cramer

Roland Khachatryan

This paper proposes a relational model of time and quantum measurement, introducing the Subject-Emergent (SE) framework. We argue that time is not a fundamental background metric but an emergent property originating from continuous quantum decoherence driven by observer interactions. By defining the observer function through physical entropy boundaries and information exchange, the framework bridges macroscopic temporal direction with microscopic non-locality, offering a structural resolution to the measurement problem.

Joshua Ross Gottlieb

Observable reality is rarely constructed by a single observer in isolation.Instead, distinctions detected within physical systems propagate throughinteracting subsystems and become redundantly accessible across networks ofobservers. Building on previous work establishing the role of persistent distinctionsand observational equivalence, this paper introduces a framework forunderstanding how shared reality emerges within distributed observationalsystems. We introduce the concept of an observation lattice, in whichdistinctions propagate through physical interactions and generate recordsacross many nodes. We show that shared observable structure emerges when distinctions propagatewidely, generate redundant records across the lattice, and maintain harmonyamong those records across time. Two physical examples illustrate themechanism: environmental scattering in quantum systems and classical signalpropagation. Within this framework, shared reality appears as a collective property ofobserver networks rather than a property of any individual observer.

Cheolhoon Cheong