This work proposes a novel conceptual framework for the foundations of physics, based on the idea that physical reality emerges from a discrete causal network of events and the accumulation of "memory" associated with these interactions. Unlike standard approaches, spacetime and elementary particles are not presupposed but emerge dynamically. The theory reinterprets General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics as manifestations of this memory dynamic in different density regimes. Concepts such as quantum collapse, the arrow of time, and particle properties are derived within this causal ontology. The work explores the consequences of applying the Heideggerian philosophical concept of historicity to the foundations of physics. Detailed appendices provide the mathematical formalization and emergent derivations.
This work proposes a novel conceptual framework for the foundations of physics, based on the idea that physical reality emerges from a discrete causal network of events and the accumulation of "memory" associated with these interactions. Unlike standard approaches, spacetime and elementary particles are not presupposed but emerge dynamically. The theory reinterprets General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics as manifestations of this memory dynamic in different density regimes. Concepts such as quantum collapse, the arrow of time, and particle properties are derived within this causal ontology. The work explores the consequences of applying the Heideggerian philosophical concept of historicity to the foundations of physics. Detailed appendices provide the mathematical formalization and emergent derivations.
General relativity and quantum mechanics rely on fundamentally incompatible conceptions of spacetime: the former treats spacetime as a smooth, dynamical entity, while the latter presupposes a fixed background on which quantum states evolve. This work introduces the Collapse Spacetime Model (CSM), a foundational framework in which spacetime itself is not fundamental but emerges from discrete ontological transition events (OTEs)—objective, irreversible acts of actualization that generate localized spacetime structure. Within CSM, quantum state reduction is reinterpreted as one particular manifestation of a more general ontological transition, rather than as an anomaly within unitary dynamics. A central refinement, the Multiplicity of Spacetime Hypothesis (MSH), proposes that physical systems construct their own partial spacetimes, with the classical spacetime continuum arising from stable intersections among these locally generated structures. Constants such as the speed of light are interpreted as invariant structural ratios of spacetime co-generation, rather than as fundamental properties of matter or signals. The model aligns conceptually with causal set theory, emergent network geometry, and collapse-based approaches, while offering a unified ontological account of spacetime emergence, time’s passage, and the relational origin of geometry. CSM reframes physical reality as a becoming universe, providing a coherent foundation for quantum gravity, cosmology, and the philosophy of time, while deliberately postponing detailed dynamical and mathematical formalization to future work.
Although time is one of our most intuitive physical concepts, its understanding at the fundamental level is still an open question in physics. For instance, time in quantum mechanics and general relativity are two distinct and incompatible entities. While relativity deals with events (points in spacetime), with time being observer dependent and dynamical, quantum mechanics describes physical systems by treating time as an independent parameter. To resolve this conflict, in this work, we extend the classical concept of an event to the quantum domain by defining an event as a transfer of information between physical systems. Then, by describing the universe from the perspective of a certain observer, we introduce quantum states of events with space-time-symmetric wave functions that predict the joint probability distribution of a measurement (observation) at $(t,\stackrel{P\vec}{x})$. Under these circumstances, without assuming collapse, we propose that a well-defined instant of time, like any other observable, arises from a single event, thus being an observer-dependent property. In this manner, we obtain a stationary quantum state written as a sum of a sequence of normalized states of events with increasing memories. As a consequence, a counterfactual asymmetry along this sequence of events gives rise to the flow of time as being successive ``snapshots'' from the observer's perspective. In this proposal, which contrasts strikingly to the view in which time is an illusion, it is the many distinguishable states in which the observer stores information that makes the existence of time possible.
This study proposes a conceptual framework in which time and space are derived from quantum state transitions rather than being treated as fundamental background entities. Temporal progression is interpreted as the ordered sequence of discrete quantum state changes, while spatial structure emerges from relational properties among quantum states.Within this framework, time is defined operationally as the measurable rate of quantum state evolution, and space arises from correlations and structural relations between quantum systems. The approach suggests that spacetime may be understood as an emergent construct grounded in quantum dynamics rather than as a primary ontological structure.The implications of this interpretation are discussed in relation to general relativity and quantum mechanics, with attention to cosmological considerations and foundational questions in theoretical physics.
We propose an effective framework to account for the emergence of time, history, and classical reality from quantum dynamics. The approach distinguishes between processes that occur dynamically and those that consolidate as physical past through the formation of stable, redundant, and irreversible records. We introduce the principle of self-reinforced stability of histories, according to which only certain evolutions can persist as effective physical history under semiclassical dynamics. Within this framework, the quantum–classical transition is described as a continuous and dynamically accelerated crossover, rather than a collapse or a sharp threshold. Classical time emerges locally together with history as an effective ordering associated with irreversibility, and the uniqueness of the past arises as a dynamical consequence rather than a postulate. The framework is compatible with standard quantum mechanics and general relativity within their domains of validity, introduces no inflated ontology, and is falsifiable through the structural exclusion of entire classes of non-observable phenomena.
This paper discusses how the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics can provide for a natural account of the emergence of spacetime events from a quantum substratum. In this account, spacetime is not a substantive manifold that becomes occupied with events; rather, spacetime itself exists only in virtue of specific actualized events. This implies that spacetime is discrete rather than continuous, and that properties attributed to spacetime based on the notion of a continuum are idealizations that do not apply to the real physical world. It is further noted that the transactional picture of the emergence of spacetime can provide the quantum dynamics that underlie the causal set approach as proposed by Sorkin and others.
PEDLER (Point Event-Driven Learner) is a proposed deterministic event–hypergraph framework for fundamental physics in which physical reality is modeled as a finite, typed, directed hypergraph evolving through local causal rewrite rules. This research poster presents the conceptual foundation of the PEDLER Unified Physics Programme, motivated by unresolved questions surrounding quantum measurement, wavefunction collapse, spacetime, gravity, and cosmology. It introduces the proposed primitive ontology, deterministic event dynamics, causal hypergraph evolution, emergent spacetime, quantum correlations, gauge interactions, black holes, and cosmological evolution within a unified conceptual framework. The poster concludes with an initial collection of foundational axioms, primitive rewrite operators, required emergence theorems, open mathematical problems, and experimentally falsifiable predictions. It is intended as the foundational blueprint for a long-term research programme rather than as a completed physical theory. Mathematical derivations of quantum mechanics, general relativity, gauge theory, particle physics, and cosmology remain objectives of future work requiring rigorous formalization, proof, computational validation, and empirical verification.