Contact Jonathan.duchesne@hotmail.com 418-953-0596 This thesis presents Time–Decoherence Gravity (TDG), a unified theoretical framework in which spacetime geometry, gravitation, and the physical flow of time arise from fundamental quantum decoherence. Rather than treating decoherence as an environmental or effective process, TDG builds on a covariant extension of the Gorini–Kossakowski–Sudarshan–Lindblad (GKSL) equation, where four directional Lindblad operators encode intrinsic, irreversible information loss. These operators define a “decoherence tensor,” which acts both as a memory of quantum irreversibility and as the generator of emergent spacetime geometry through a nonlinear constitutive relation. The theory provides a coherent gravitational collapse mechanism based on the incompatibility of decoherence patterns across quantum branches. This leads to an intrinsic “decoherence energy,” whose magnitude determines the collapse timescale, extending and generalizing the well-known Penrose–Diósi models. TDG predicts a smooth transition from persistent microscopic coherence to rapid macroscopic collapse. At cosmological scales, a homogeneous decoherence tensor naturally generates modified Friedmann dynamics, early-universe stiff-fluid behavior, and late-time acceleration without requiring a fine-tuned cosmological constant. Black-hole entropy emerges as a saturation of decoherence memory at the horizon, while Hawking radiation appears as the dissipative relaxation of this saturation. The theory also predicts short-range deviations from Newtonian gravity and a universal spectrum of fundamental gravitational noise. Finally, TDG offers several experimentally testable signatures involving optical clocks, mesoscopic interferometry, short-range force measurements, and correlated phase noise in global timing networks. The framework is internally consistent, falsifiable, and provides a novel and unified approach to the relationship between quantum mechanics, gravity, and the arrow of time.
This paper develops a dual-domain framework for quantum foundations grounded in a structural distinction between a nonlocal, atemporal coherence domain (denoted −0) and a local, temporal decoherence domain (denoted +1). Quantum states are interpreted as existing within −0, while classical outcomes emerge when these states transition irreversibly into +1 through decoherence and measurement. The framework is not a modification of quantum mechanics but a reinterpretation of its ontological domain. The framework provides a unified ontological account of: quantum entanglement and nonlocal correlations; the absence of superluminal signalling; the emergence of classicality through decoherence; the mass dependence of decoherence rates; and the persistent incompatibility between quantum field theory and general relativity. Within this model, entanglement corresponds to the persistence of a single −0 state across multiple +1 localisations. Measurement is interpreted not as a collapse occurring within spacetime, but as a boundary transition from coherence to localisation. The paper further argues that gravity should not be interpreted as a quantum field propagating within spacetime, but rather as the geometric structure of the coherence–decoherence boundary itself. This perspective offers a principled explanation for the persistent incompatibility between quantum field theory and general relativity — a tension that may arise not from technical deficiency but from a category error: attempting to describe boundary geometry as though it were content within one of the domains it separates.
We propose a unified physical framework in which four-dimensional spacetime vacuum is the unique physical reality, and all quanta are its localized topological excitations. Matter particles correspond to stable knot-like configurations, while radiation quanta correspond to weak propagating ripples of the same substrate. From this single ontological commitment, we derive: (1) wave–particle duality is resolved—particle behavior belongs to the localized excitation, wave behavior to the disturbance field it generates in spacetime; (2) double-slit interference arises from coherent superposition between a quantum's newly sourced disturbance and its own historical disturbance field, not from ontological self-superposition; (3) the wave function is a statistical tool encoding ensemble distributions of trajectories modulated by disturbance feedback, and collapse is epistemic convergence rather than a physical process; (4) quantum entanglement corresponds to Planck-scale topological connectivity (microscopic Einstein–Rosen bridges), preserving relativistic causality; (5) gravity is the macroscopic accumulation of universal but individually weak quantum–vacuum couplings, explaining both its microscopic weakness and macroscopic dominance without requiring a graviton; (6) the four fundamental interactions are differentiated coupling modes of quanta to one spacetime vacuum field; and (7) apparent dark matter and dark energy are reinterpreted as collective topological curvature and large-scale vacuum self-relaxation, respectively. We formulate falsifiable predictions at both laboratory and cosmological scales, including disturbance–corpuscle separation interferometry, tunable decoherence threshold measurements, and galaxy rotation–topology correlations. The framework compresses the conventional axiomatic structure of quantum mechanics and cosmology into one master axiom and eliminates at least twenty-eight independent interpretive assumptions.
The Theory of Temporal Relativity proposes a unified theoretical framework that extends Special and General Relativity into the complex domain, integrating aspects of Quantum Mechanics within a single geometrical structure. The theory introduces a generalized Hilbert-space geometry and interprets quantum states as observer-dependent, arising from complex temporal relations between reference frames. Theory of Temporal Relativity is a theoretical framework proposing a unified extension of Special and General Relativity into the complex domain, with the goal of incorporating aspects of Quantum Mechanics within a consistent geometrical model. The theory generalizes Hilbert-space geometry and relativistic invariance to complex coordinates, introducing observer-dependent descriptions of physical quantities and a reinterpretation of quantum states as complex-phase relations between reference frames. Within this model, fundamental constants such as c, G, and h are not strictly universal but can exhibit apparent local variations arising from the observer’s position in the complex spacetime manifold. These variations preserve global covariance and CPT symmetry while reconciling quantum non-locality with relativistic kinematics. The framework predicts experimentally testable effects, including measurable phase shifts in interferometric experiments, possible frequency modulations in non-inertial systems, and small local deviations of physical constants detectable in condensed-matter and gravitational contexts. The supplementary work, “Quantum Uncertainty, Planck’s Constant, and Ontological Insights from Complex Spacetime Geometry and Local Metric Deformations”, develops the principle of Temporal Relativity as a foundational element of the theory. It formalizes the connection between quantum uncertainty, metric deformations, and complex temporal structures, within an alternative logical framework (AU). This extension provides both an ontological interpretation of the wavefunction and a basis for the emergence of quantum indeterminacy from geometric causes. Together, these works present a coherent attempt to unify the relativistic and quantum domains under a single complex-geometric view of spacetime, maintaining mathematical rigor while providing clear experimental pathways for empirical validation.
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.
This work proposes the Collapse Clock Hypothesis, a framework in which physical time is defined by the rate of irreversible wavefunction collapse, interpreted as a process of information pruning constrained by finite informational capacity. Within this framework, spatial variations in collapse rate give rise to differential progression of proper time, providing a potential mechanism for gravitational time dilation and related phenomena. The approach integrates concepts from quantum information theory, thermodynamics, and emergent spacetime, drawing connections to prior work on entanglement entropy, holographic bounds, and thermodynamic derivations of gravitational dynamics. A computational implementation using a Score-Driven Kinetic Ising Model (SDKIM) is presented to explore whether the proposed causal chain—mass → interactions → entanglement → collapse suppression → slower time—can arise dynamically in a simplified lattice system. The simulations demonstrate robust qualitative behavior consistent with collapse-rate suppression in highly entangled regions, while also highlighting important limitations, including the use of mean-field approximations and the absence of a direct quantitative mapping to known gravitational field equations. This work is intended as a speculative but testable framework rather than a complete theory. Several falsifiable predictions are outlined, including potential signatures in precision timekeeping, quantum-coherent systems, gravitational wave phase evolution, and cosmological observables. These predictions are presented at an order-of-magnitude level and require further development for direct comparison with experimental data. The goal of this work is to explore whether irreversible information dynamics may provide a unifying underlying mechanism for time, gravity, and cosmological evolution, and to motivate further investigation into collapse-based approaches to fundamental physics.