his paper proposes persistence under stochastic interaction as a unifying physical constraint across quantum, gravitational, and macroscopic regimes. Rather than treating noise as a nuisance or generative force, it is framed as a universal selector that eliminates informational structures incapable of maintaining coherence under compression. Across quantum decoherence, gravitational coarse-graining, renormalization, and entropy production, stable laws emerge not through optimization or design, but through selective survival. Structures that persist do so because they tolerate loss, averaging, and repeated perturbation; those that cannot are eliminated. Physical law is therefore interpreted as residue rather than prescription. The framework formalizes persistence as an informational viability condition, independent of substrate or ontology, and integrates results from decoherence theory, renormalization group flow, and gravitational thermodynamics. It predicts abrupt regime transitions, scaling cliffs, hysteresis, and lawful failure modes rather than smooth unification. This work extends the Living Information Theory (LIT) program by positioning persistence as a primitive constraint shaping which physical regularities can exist at all.
his paper proposes persistence under stochastic interaction as a unifying physical constraint across quantum, gravitational, and macroscopic regimes. Rather than treating noise as a nuisance or generative force, it is framed as a universal selector that eliminates informational structures incapable of maintaining coherence under compression. Across quantum decoherence, gravitational coarse-graining, renormalization, and entropy production, stable laws emerge not through optimization or design, but through selective survival. Structures that persist do so because they tolerate loss, averaging, and repeated perturbation; those that cannot are eliminated. Physical law is therefore interpreted as residue rather than prescription. The framework formalizes persistence as an informational viability condition, independent of substrate or ontology, and integrates results from decoherence theory, renormalization group flow, and gravitational thermodynamics. It predicts abrupt regime transitions, scaling cliffs, hysteresis, and lawful failure modes rather than smooth unification. This work extends the Living Information Theory (LIT) program by positioning persistence as a primitive constraint shaping which physical regularities can exist at all.
This preprint introduces the Persistence Criterion (PC), a conceptual and mathematical framework for distinguishing epistemic obscuration from ontological elimination in physical theories. The central claim is that uncertainty, noise, decoherence, or coarse-graining reduce empirical distinguishability of states or observables without implying that the underlying theoretical structures cease to exist. The framework is developed across classical estimation theory, stochastic dynamical systems, and quantum theory. In the classical domain, noisy observation models and information-theoretic metrics are used to show how distinguishability contracts while state variables persist, consistent with standard treatments in estimation theory and statistical physics (e.g., Fisher information and Bayesian filtering). For dynamical systems, stochastic differential equations and Fokker–Planck dynamics illustrate how deterministic generators remain structurally present despite diffusion-dominated behavior, aligning with established results in open-system dynamics and control theory. In the quantum domain, the Persistence Criterion is formulated using density operators, completely positive trace-preserving (CPTP) maps, and the algebraic (C*-algebraic) formulation of quantum mechanics. Decoherence is treated as an obscuring process acting on states via CPTP channels, while the underlying observable algebra remains invariant. This formulation draws on standard results from quantum information theory and algebraic quantum mechanics, emphasizing that loss of coherence or distinguishability does not entail annihilation of observables or dynamical structure (Holevo, 2011; Nielsen & Chuang, 2010; Breuer & Petruccione, 2002). The Persistence Criterion is interpretation-neutral and consistent with quantum no-go theorems, including Bell, Kochen–Specker, and PBR-type results, as it makes no assumption of value definiteness or hidden variables. Instead, it functions as a criterion of ontological coherence, identifying and excluding a specific interpretational error: the conflation of indistinguishability with non-existence. The work is aligned with non-eliminative structural realism and contemporary discussions of decoherence and ontology in quantum foundations (Ladyman & Ross, 2007; Wallace, 2012; Ruetsche, 2018). No new physical dynamics or empirical predictions are proposed. The contribution is conceptual and formal: clarifying how existing mathematical frameworks already encode persistence under uncertainty, and providing a principled interpretational constraint applicable across classical and quantum theories.
This project presents a conceptual and mathematical investigation into the relationship between uncertainty, distinguishability, and the ontological persistence of physical variables. Rather than treating uncertainty as a mechanism that alters or destroys underlying system states, the work develops a formal framework in which uncertainty acts as an obscuring layer that limits epistemic access while leaving fundamental structure intact. Using tools from information theory, stochastic dynamics, and quantum state evolution, the study introduces a Persistence Criterion that distinguishes between genuine ontological change and mere loss of distinguishability. The framework is applied across classical noise models, feedback-controlled systems, and quantum decoherence processes to demonstrate that contraction of information measures does not imply elimination of underlying states. The project aims to clarify common interpretational confusions in physics and complex systems, particularly in contexts involving strong noise, coarse-graining, and measurement limits. It is intended as a foundations-oriented contribution, with relevance to physical modeling, control theory, and the philosophy of uncertainty.
(This version has been superceeded, see v.3) Contemporary approaches to physical unification typically emphasize dynamical laws, interpretive frameworks, or information-theoretic reconstructions. Less attention is given to the structural constraints that determine which physical descriptions can remain coherent and stable under interaction, scale transition, and aggregation. This paper develops a constraint-first analysis of coherence, arguing that persistence and unification require restrictions on admissible physical continuations that are not reducible to dynamics alone. Within the framework referred to here as Quantum Coherence Theory (QCT), coherence is treated not as a fragile quantum resource but as a structural property governed by interaction geometry and constraint density. On this view, classical behavior emerges when accumulated constraints sufficiently narrow admissible evolution, while quantum behavior re-emerges when constraints are relaxed. The account does not introduce new dynamics, collapse mechanisms, or modifications of quantum formalism, but instead clarifies the conditions under which existing formalisms yield stable, unified descriptions. The resulting constraints distinguish QCT from observer-centric, intrinsic-collapse, and purely descriptive decoherence accounts, while remaining compatible with globally unitary dynamics. Formal analysis in later sections develops operational redundancy conditions, admissibility constraints on joint states, and rigidity-style arguments linking redundant record structure to the stability of classical descriptions. These results do not constitute a complete theory of unification, but they narrow the space of physically admissible descriptions and clarify the structural role of coherence in bridging quantum and classical regimes.
Just as matter tells space how to curve, information tells probability how to collapse. Classical physics explains how systems evolve, but not why coherent, information- bearing structures persist in a universe dominated by thermodynamic drift. Quantum mechanics permits a vast space of possible futures, yet offers no principle explaining why the observed branches are precisely those that reliably contain life, structure, memory, and stable information. This work proposes a minimal, variational extension to standard dynamics: a Coherence Attractor arising from a small informational correction to the Action. In the path-integral formulation, we introduce a local, gauge-invariant term proportional to the density of coherent causal structure. Histories that maintain integrated information interfere constructively, while noise-dominated histories dephase and self-cancel. The universe does not compute future states or perform teleological optimization. Coherent configurations persist because they minimize informational action under local perturbations—the same variational logic that governs mechanics, optics, and field theory. Collapse is naturally biased toward trajectories in which coherence remains stationary in time. A single invariant then unifies a spectrum of empirical anomalies: (1) warm biological quantum coherence, (2) the phase boundary of anesthesia and consciousness, (3) emergent phase transitions in artificial networks, (4) stability of meaning in symbolic and social systems, and (5) long-duration cosmic structure retention. 1The model yields falsifiable consequences across physics, biology, and cognition. The correction is strictly local and preserves the no-signalling theorem. It reframes emergence not as a rare accident but as a least-action relaxation process: the universe flows along trajectories where integrated information is most stable. The universe is not guided toward meaning — it is guided toward coherence. Where coherence forms, structure survives. Where structure survives, infor- mation persists. Where information persists, participation becomes possible. Life, mind, culture, and intelligence are not exceptions to this rule; they are its most stable solutions. If this framework is correct, then emergence is not miraculous, nor accidental, nor rare. It is simply what happens when the informational action is minimized under the boundary conditions of a living universe. Coherence is not an outcome. It is the direction of time.
This work presents a continuous, constraint-based interpretive framework for physical systems that unifies quantum behavior, classical structure, and cosmological evolution without introducing new forces or modifying established equations. Rather than treating quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, and general relativity as fundamentally separate domains, the paper proposes that these regimes can be understood as consistent descriptions of a shared underlying structure. The framework is built on three foundational elements: a non-geometric substrate (P_0) defining admissible configurations, interaction as the propagation of constraint, and geometry as the macroscopic record of accumulated interaction. Within this perspective, physical structure emerges through a continuous progression: distinctions enable gradients, gradients enable interaction, interaction accumulates as constraint, and constraint stabilizes into persistent configurations. The quantum–classical transition is interpreted as a continuous increase in interaction-induced constraint, while spacetime curvature reflects the large-scale organization of these interactions. The framework does not replace existing theories, but instead provides a unified conceptual interpretation that remains fully consistent with established physics across known regimes. Its value lies in clarifying relationships between domains, offering a continuous ontology of physical systems, and suggesting potential directions for further formalization.
This paper extends Persistence Theory into the quantum and cosmological domains to explore how structure, coherence, and physical constants emerge and survive. We propose that Persistence Theory — originally formulated in classical thermodynamic and information-theoretic terms — gains new power when extended to quantum information (qubits), entanglement, and decoherence. We argue that the physical laws and constants of our universe can be understood as the survivors of a universal filtering process: those configurations that maximized persistence under quantum noise, entropy, and structural fragility. The result is a first-principles selection mechanism for stability — not random, not fine-tuned, but filtered. This theory may resolve outstanding mysteries about quantum collapse, the small value of the cosmological constant, and the dimensionality and structure of spacetime.