Unified Framework of Windowed Scattering, Causal Manifolds, and Filter Chains: Axiomatic Theory of Group Delay, Redshift, and Light Speed with Non-Asymptotic Error Closure
Haobo Ma, Wenlin Zhang
Abstract
Within the unified context of ``universe = Generalized Light Structure (GLS),'' ``observer = filter chain (windowed compression $\to$ CP channel $\to$ POVM $\to$ threshold counting),'' and ``causality = lightlike cone preorder,'' we establish an axiomatic theory with the master scale $$ \boxed{\ \frac{\varphi'(E)}{\pi}=\rho_{\rm rel}(E)=\frac{1}{2\pi}\operatorname{tr}\mathsf{Q}(E),\qquad \mathsf{Q}(E)=-i\,S(E)^\dagger \tfrac{dS}{dE}(E)\ } $$ (phase derivative---relative density of states---Wigner--Smith group delay trace). \textbf{Causal red line:} Windowed group delay readout $T_\gamma[w_R,h]$ serves solely as operational time scale (can be negative in narrowband/resonance, having no universal size comparison with wavefront time $t_*$); causality determined exclusively by $t_*$ and lightlike cone partial order. Core results: (i) windowed group delay readout provides operational time scale, proven series-parallel additive and gauge covariant/relatively invariant (invariant when $U,V$ energy-independent or more generally $\partial_E(\arg\det U+\arg\det V)=0$); in vacuum links satisfying Nyquist discipline, high-frequency/alias-free limit aligns with wavefront velocity calibrating $c$; (ii) redshift characterized by spectral scaling with reciprocal time scaling law; (iii) light speed $c$ normed by vacuum wavefront, yielding wavefront lower bound and no-supercone propagation for arbitrary physical channels; (iv) ``GLS $\leftrightarrow$ causal manifold'' mutual construction outline with skeleton and consistency conditions---rigorous proof and naturality verification in separate work; (v) wave-particle duality and double-slit windowed complementarity $D^2+V^2\le 1$ unified in same ledger; (vi) spectral resolution enhancement (bandwidth narrowing) and redshift amplification are dual; conversely, temporal/image resolution enhancement ($\sigma_T$ decrease) and blueshift (bandwidth increase) are dual, consistent with $\sigma_T\gtrsim C_{w,h}/B$ in \S4.4, yielding Nyquist--Poisson--Euler--Maclaurin (NPE) finite-order error closure and engineering prescription; (vii) high-frequency platform bridge: under \S4 premises, blueshift limit of any fixed-shape normalized window family---single channel $\lim_{E_0\to\infty}T_\gamma=t_*$, multichannel $\lim_{E_0\to\infty}T_{\mathcal{C}}=N_{\rm eff}t_*$ and per-mode average $\lim_{E_0\to\infty}\overline{T}_{\mathcal{C}}=t_*$, treating causal wavefront $t_*$ as operational limit scale of $T_\gamma$ and $\overline{T}_{\mathcal{C}}$. Theory employs operator-measure-function language throughout (Toeplitz/Berezin compression $K_{w,h}$, readout = linear functional on spectral measure), unifying all time/density readouts under global unitarity postulate by $\mathsf{Q}=-iS^\dagger S'$; experimental non-unitarity traced back to master scale via unitary dilation $\widehat{S}$.