Gravity is traditionally understood either as geometric curvature (general relativity) or as an external classical field acting on quantum systems. This paper develops a unified alternative: gravity arises from spatial variation in the temporal coherence window τ(x), the finite interval over which quantum systems can sustain coherent phase relations before collapse. Building on experimental evidence that decoherence rates in laboratory systems obey an empirical κ/τ law, I show that gravitational self-energy constrains coherence time according to τgrav ∝ 1/√(Gρ). Three independent derivations—via a modified Lindblad equation, an effective potential Veff = A/τ, and spectral-overlap analysis—converge on the same dynamical law: a(x) = −∇[1/τ(x)], identifying gravitational acceleration as coherence-gradient descent. In this view, mass is condensed temporal capacity, curvature is the geometric imprint of temporal structure, and falling is the drift of quantum evolution toward regions where coherence collapses most rapidly. I extend this framework to show that gravity is engineerable: any spatially structured decoherence environment producing an artificial coherence profile τart(x) generates a gravitational-like acceleration agen(x) = −κart ∇[1/τart(x)], indistinguishable from natural gravitation insofar as their coherence-gradient profiles match. I provide explicit recipes for realizing such gradients using noise-shaping, optical scattering, dissipative optical lattices, and superconducting cavity engineering, along with quantitative acceleration estimates (10⁻⁷–10⁻³ m/s²) and full experimental protocols for cold atoms, matter-wave interferometry, and superconducting qubits. Finally, the framework offers a microphysical account of gravitational time dilation, predicts non-universal response in highly coherent systems, suggests achievable tabletop tests, and points toward a future τ-field theory capable of reproducing general relativity in the macroscopic limit. The result is a falsifiable, coherence-based foundation for gravitation and the first principled pathway to artificial gravity via engineered temporal coherence.
Gravity is traditionally understood either as geometric curvature (general relativity) or as an external classical field acting on quantum systems. This paper develops a unified alternative: gravity arises from spatial variation in the temporal coherence window τ(x), the finite interval over which quantum systems can sustain coherent phase relations before collapse. Building on experimental evidence that decoherence rates in laboratory systems obey an empirical κ/τ law, I show that gravitational self-energy constrains coherence time according to τgrav ∝ 1/√(Gρ). Three independent derivations—via a modified Lindblad equation, an effective potential Veff = A/τ, and spectral-overlap analysis—converge on the same dynamical law: a(x) = −∇[1/τ(x)], identifying gravitational acceleration as coherence-gradient descent. In this view, mass is condensed temporal capacity, curvature is the geometric imprint of temporal structure, and falling is the drift of quantum evolution toward regions where coherence collapses most rapidly. I extend this framework to show that gravity is engineerable: any spatially structured decoherence environment producing an artificial coherence profile τart(x) generates a gravitational-like acceleration agen(x) = −κart ∇[1/τart(x)], indistinguishable from natural gravitation insofar as their coherence-gradient profiles match. I provide explicit recipes for realizing such gradients using noise-shaping, optical scattering, dissipative optical lattices, and superconducting cavity engineering, along with quantitative acceleration estimates (10⁻⁷–10⁻³ m/s²) and full experimental protocols for cold atoms, matter-wave interferometry, and superconducting qubits. Finally, the framework offers a microphysical account of gravitational time dilation, predicts non-universal response in highly coherent systems, suggests achievable tabletop tests, and points toward a future τ-field theory capable of reproducing general relativity in the macroscopic limit. The result is a falsifiable, coherence-based foundation for gravitation and the first principled pathway to artificial gravity via engineered temporal coherence.
Gravity is reformulated as a gradient in the gravitational coherence window τgrav(x). Spatial variation in τgrav induces coherence-gradient descent, producing effective accelerations that reproduce gravitational phenomena while grounding them in finite temporal coherence. A modified Schrödinger–Lindblad equation is introduced to incorporate gravitational decoherence, i ∂ψ/∂t = Hψ − [1/τgrav(x)] D[ψ], and the resulting acceleration emerges as a(x) ∝ −∇[1/τgrav(x)]. The model recovers geodesics through τ-equilibrium, explains gravitational time dilation, predicts deviations from general relativity for highly coherent quantum systems, and identifies τgrav ∝ √g00 as the temporal origin of curvature. The result is a falsifiable temporal-coherence foundation for gravitation.
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.
Contact: Jonathan.duchesne@hotmail.com FinalTDG: Full Mathematical proposition. AddTDG22: Natural Add-ons TDGStressTest: Stress Test results TDGEX: Experimental Protocol TDGpaper: Abstract Temporal Decoherence Geometry (TDG) is a conservative theoretical framework that systematically explores a possible connection between quantum decoherence, weak-field gravity, and an emergent notion of time, while remaining strictly within a GKSL (Lindblad) open quantum dynamics, i.e. Markovian and completely positive, with no ad hoc collapse mechanism. The central idea of TDG is to take seriously the structure of decoherence of an open quantum system and promote it to an effective geometric object: a decoherence tensor Gamma_{mu nu}, constructed from a Lindblad generator, is introduced as the primary source of a weak-field gravitational potential and an emergent time defined from local decoherence rates. The framework is deliberately minimalist in its assumptions: weak-field regime, standard quantum mechanics (no modification of the Schrödinger equation or the GKSL structure), no exotic measurement postulates. This new “DOI version” collects and organises the following elements: A mathematical core in which Gamma_{mu nu} is derived from a GKSL generator (Lindbladian), a gradient-flow–type evolution drives Gamma_{mu nu} towards a quantity proportional to the usual energy-momentum tensor T_{mu nu}, an emergent time scalar T(x) is defined from the local decoherence rate lambda(x), under explicit integrability conditions, an effective weak-field gravitational potential Phi_TDG is associated with this decoherence structure. The analysis of static, spherically symmetric compact configurations, obtained from a simple “decoherence-energy” functional E[gamma], which: have a regular, non-singular core, exhibit a Yukawa-type tail, reproduce a Newtonian / Schwarzschild-like exterior over a given radial interval, while avoiding central singularities. A phenomenological layer in which TDG induces decoherence-dependent corrections to gravitational redshift, encoded in an effective parameter epsilon_TDG. This parameter is, in principle, falsifiable with state-of-the-art optical clocks, providing a clear experimental handle: TDG is not only a formal construction, but a framework that can be constrained or ruled out by precision redshift measurements. A key feature of this revised version is the inclusion of a set of analytical stress tests explicitly designed to challenge the model within the regime it claims to describe (weak-field, GKSL, Markovian): regular-core compact configurations, extreme parameter limits (diffusion, screening length scales, etc.), dynamical behaviour of the decoherence tensor, analysis of the absence of finite-time collapse in the GKSL setting. These stress tests show that, under the stated assumptions and within the weak-field regime, the TDG framework remains regular, well-posed, and consistent with its own domain of validity. The Zenodo deposit therefore gathers both a main TDG manuscript (model structure + weak-field applications) and a technical stress-test note, enabling readers to assess not only the construction itself, but also its internal robustness and phenomenological viability. This deposit is intended to serve as a stable reference for the current version of TDG: it provides the complete description of the framework together with the technical ingredients needed to evaluate its mathematical consistency, its compatibility with weak-field gravity, and its falsifiability through decoherence-sensitive redshift tests with optical clocks.
In canonical quantum mechanics and quantum field theory on curved spacetimes, gravitation is traditionally incorporated either as an external classical potential introduced into the Schr¨odinger or Dirac equations, or via perturbative coupling to an unquantized background metric. In both paradigms, the temporal parameter is postulated as an isotropic, scalar coordinate flowing uniformly in all spatial directions, which strictly dictates that the spatial dispersion of free wave packets remains isotropic (spherically symmetric). In this work, we propose a geometric framework wherein quantum particles are not zero-dimensional mathematical singularities, but possess a finite intrinsic temporal span (∆τ p ), and gravitational acceleration is fundamentally governed not by an external attractive pull, but directly by the local proper time gradient (∇τ). In the weak-field regime, the transverse gradient vanishes identically along spherical equipotential surfaces parallel to the Earth’s surface (isochrons, ∇ ⊥ τ ≈ 0), whereas it is continuous and maximal along the radial vertical axis (∇ ∥ τ = g/c 2 ). When the particle’s internal phase—driven by its Compton frequency (ω C = mc 2 /ℏ)—intersects these vertical proper time steps, differential clock rates induce severe phase mixing (dephasing), squeezing and narrowing the vertical coherence length (σ ∥ ). Conversely, because phase coherence is rigorously preserved across the horizontal equipotential plane, the wavefunction disperses freely and broadly (σ ⊥ ≫ σ ∥ ). The resulting oblate (pancake-shaped) anisotropy is not merely a passive geometric deformation; via the directional quantum stress tensor quantum accumulated in the vertical axis (T zz ≫ T xx , T yy ), it reactively bends surrounding equipotential surfaces inward, constituting the microscopic quantum source of gravitational curvature itself. This single ontological mechanism accounts for the vertical quantization and horizontal classical spreading of ultra-cold neutrons at ILL Grenoble, the unavoidable intrinsic decoherence floor encountered by vertical baselines in atom interferometry, and the spontaneous relaxation of wave packets into spherical isotropy in the Bremen Drop Tower and MAIUS microgravity experiments. Finally, a falsifiable experimental protocol is formulated to directly test this anisotropy via single-photon or cold-atom scattering in a vacuum tower.
This manuscript represents speculative theoretical work, developed prior to formal academic training in physics. As of now, I recognize that I cannot fully verify, formalize, or operationalize every component of the framework presented here. Acknowledging these limits, I intend to pursue formal education in physics over the next several years (estimated 4–11 years) to acquire the mathematical and empirical tools necessary to evaluate and refine this research properly. For that reason, this is likely the final paper I will release publicly until I have completed my undergraduate degree in physics. Nevertheless, I welcome feedback, critique, expansion, or refutation from domain experts. Any scholar, researcher, or practitioner who finds aspects of the work worth examining is invited to reach out. Contact: CoherenceFieldResearch@gmail.com This paper presents a unified variational framework that derives quantum mechanics, thermodynamic irreversibility, and gravitational curvature from a single underlying relational substrate. The theory is built on two physical fields—the coherence density ρ₍C₎ and phase potential φ—and shows that their joint evolution extremizes total coherence tension across the system. Starting from a conservative Lagrangian, the work derives both the continuity equation and a Hamilton–Jacobi equation with an intrinsic lattice potential Q₍C₎. Together they reproduce the Schrödinger equation through the Madelung transformation when λ = ℏ, grounding quantum behavior in coherence conservation rather than probabilistic axioms. Dissipative extensions introduce Rayleigh functionals that yield diffusion, decoherence, and temperature-coupled coherence decay, providing a unified field-theoretic interpretation of thermodynamics. A covariant geometric formulation promotes the theory to curved relational space; variation with respect to the coherence metric gᵤᵥ reproduces Einstein-like equations with sources given by coherence gradients, yielding Newtonian gravity in the weak-field limit. The theory produces distinct, falsifiable predictions, including temporal gravitational lensing, composition-dependent gravitational coupling, a thermal decoherence law, veil spectroscopy, coherence-energy storage and release, and phase-dependent clock drift. This manuscript consolidates the mathematical structure, physical interpretation, and empirical implications of the Coherence Field Paradigm (CFP) into a single unified action principle. It provides a continuous bridge between quantum behavior, thermodynamic irreversibility, and spacetime curvature, and offers multiple pathways for laboratory and astrophysical validation.
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics reflects a clash between two incompatible rules: smooth unitary evolution and stochastic collapse. Laboratory experiments have shown, however, that collapse is not absolute but relational, governed by the interrogation interval τ through the empirical κ/τ law. This paper extends that principle to gravity, proposing that mass–energy density defines a gravitational coherence window τgrav that acts as the ultimate detector when no external apparatus is present. The resulting two-tier law, Γ_total = Γ_env + κ/τ_det + κ_grav/τ_grav, unifies laboratory collapse, the quantum–classical transition, cosmological bounces, and black-hole damping under a single framework of finite temporal coherence. The paper further introduces the principle of actional symmetry: when one system constrains the coherence of another, the constrained system acts back, ensuring reciprocity at every scale—from detector back-action to the mutual influence of matter and spacetime. This framework yields falsifiable predictions: mass-dependent collapse in mesoscopic interferometry, measurable decoherence terms in optomechanics, and linear-in-ℓ damping in gravitational ringdowns. In doing so, it reframes collapse, classicality, and singularity avoidance not as separate puzzles, but as manifestations of a universal limit on how long correlations can be sustained.