Quantum field theory has emerged from the background of fluctuating non-zero vacuum energy states. Through entanglement it appears energy can be removed from these fluctuations producing negative energy states. To accommodate these phenomena, a theoretical framework of Hilbert Spaces, nth order differential equations, group theory, complex numbers, topology, CPT Theorems, CP symmetry breaking and operators is developing. The theoretical constructs can be epitomised in part by De Broglie’s formula n(n+1) Periodicity and n(n1) Compressibility – The Quantum Mechanical Table. The inverted form of the Periodic Table with mass number removed – known as The Roberts-Janet Nuclear Periodic Table – is a testament to the empirical work of chemists previously. The one-to-one mapping between these tables merges theoretical and empirical science. From individual elements via molecules to multi-disciplinary science a new era is beginning. Underlying mechanisms of quantum tunnelling, superposition, entanglement, vibronic mixing and decoherence abound. In time such processes could extend to cosmology at the top end of the energy scale down to catalytic and reversible reactions, solubility, electrolysis, biochemical pathways, evolution, bioluminescence, medical and psychological ruminations at the lower end of the energy scale including low temperature physics. Quantum biology and neuroscience in Nature appear fertile ground to consolidate further applications of quantum field theory as it matures while entropy changes, information theory, oscillations between self-assembly and chaos coupled with phase changes overlay multiple layers within the universe at all orders of magnitude. Enter entropic gravity that derives gravity from treating the metric of spacetime as a quantum operator. This uses quantum relative entropy from quantum information theory to link spacetime geometry and matter.
Quantum field theory has emerged from the background of fluctuating non-zero vacuum energy states. Through entanglement it appears energy can be removed from these fluctuations producing negative energy states. To accommodate these phenomena, a theoretical framework of Hilbert Spaces, nth order differential equations, group theory, complex numbers, topology, CPT Theorems, CP symmetry breaking and operators is developing. The theoretical constructs can be epitomised in part by De Broglie’s formula n(n+1) Periodicity and n(n1) Compressibility – The Quantum Mechanical Table. The inverted form of the Periodic Table with mass number removed – known as The Roberts-Janet Nuclear Periodic Table – is a testament to the empirical work of chemists previously. The one-to-one mapping between these tables merges theoretical and empirical science. From individual elements via molecules to multi-disciplinary science a new era is beginning. Underlying mechanisms of quantum tunnelling, superposition, entanglement, vibronic mixing and decoherence abound. In time such processes could extend to cosmology at the top end of the energy scale down to catalytic and reversible reactions, solubility, electrolysis, biochemical pathways, evolution, bioluminescence, medical and psychological ruminations at the lower end of the energy scale including low temperature physics. Quantum biology and neuroscience in Nature appear fertile ground to consolidate further applications of quantum field theory as it matures while entropy changes, information theory, oscillations between self-assembly and chaos coupled with phase changes overlay multiple layers within the universe at all orders of magnitude. Enter entropic gravity that derives gravity from treating the metric of spacetime as a quantum operator. This uses quantum relative entropy from quantum information theory to link spacetime geometry and matter.
Physics is written in mathematics, and at the base of mathematics lies distinction: yes or no, identical or different, one or zero. A bit is the minimal written form of such a distinction. Physics can therefore measure only what can become distinguishable. What cannot be distinguished cannot yet appear as a physical record. From distinguishability comes information; from the registration of information comes physical time. Unified informational Theory (UiT) presents a unified physical framework in which time, mass, force, thermodynamic directionality, electromagnetic coupling, nuclear structure, and horizon physics are expressed through one informational registration mechanism: closed phase becoming physical record. The central object is a closed-light phase carrier: a closed photon-like phase structure carrying informational increments of ℏ, rotating on a complex phase surface at the Compton frequency, with a Planck-scale phase radius. It is not treated as a point mechanically moving through ordinary three-dimensional space. Before measurement, its structure exists in the complex phase domain as physical distinguishability: real, active, and capable of producing measurable effects, but not yet written as an ordinary 3+1 record such as position, trajectory, detector event, clock reading, or linear-time history. Measurement is the operation that projects and registers part of this complex phase structure into ordinary record-space, using energy and carrying a thermodynamic cost. In UiT, linear physical time is the ordered registration of physical change into record. A record may be a clock reading, track, pointer state, detector click, environmental correlation, thermodynamic trace, or any stable physical mark. Time is not a passive background parameter. It is the informational order produced when phase structure becomes registered reality. The same principle also defines force. All forces are gradients of one underlying registration object, read under different load conditions, geometries, and coupling branches. A force appears where an invariant closed phase carrier is placed in a field whose time-registration rate varies across record-space. The carrier cannot change its own invariant Compton phase throughput, so the mismatch between invariant internal phase and local registration capacity becomes a physical force. Inertia and gravity are therefore not separate mysteries at the deepest level: both are responses of the same closed phase throughput to different ways of limiting temporal registration. Special relativity arises when recorded motion consumes part of the available registration bandwidth. Motion requires information about position and change of position, and this cost enters quadratically. The carrier phase itself never stops moving; what changes is how much of its invariant phase throughput can be written as linear time rather than as recorded motion. Lorentz time dilation is therefore read as a registration-budget partition: motion spends part of the time-writing capacity. Gravity arises from the same Compton throughput read radially. A mass is not merely an object placed inside space. It is closed-light Compton sampling of a Planck registration-stiffness update. Around it, record-space has reduced capacity to write distinguishable temporal information. Less capacity remains for writing time, and the radial gradient of that capacity is read as gravity. In this view, space is not a rubber sheet that literally bends. Space is the local capacity to register distinguishable physical alternatives. Changing the time-registration capacity also changes the spatial registration structure, so the same geodesics are obtained, but their ontology changes: curvature is the metric bookkeeping of variable registration capacity. This same capacity logic leads directly to thermodynamics and entropy. Entropy counts the available or dispersed ways in which distinctions can be written, stabilized, erased, hidden, or made inaccessible. Thermodynamic directionality is not added from outside. It is the cost and irreversibility of registering physical distinction into stable record. Horizon entropy is the saturated boundary count of the same closed phase surface: the point where ordinary exterior registration reaches its limiting boundary. Electromagnetism is read as a phase-connection branch of the same object. Charge is not introduced as an unrelated primitive substance, but as a coupling orientation of phase registration. Electric and magnetic effects are different record-space readouts of this phase connection under different motion and registration conditions. The weak sector gives UiT its primary empirical handle. Radioactive decay is treated as a finite identity-rewrite process. In order for a decay path to be environmentally perturbable, the environment must couple to degrees of freedom required for reverse daughter-to-parent reconstruction. This requires local reverse temporal registration: a limited branch in which identity is locally unwritten and rewritten. From this postulate, UiT produces a taxonomy of radioactive-decay perturbability, functioning like a periodic table of decay influence. The table does not merely classify known decays by name; it identifies which decay channels can be perturbed and why, according to the informational variables required by the reverse reconstruction path. The strong sector is expressed through closed multi-carrier phase geometry. Three phase carriers form a zero-sum closure in the complex plane. What appears outwardly as fractional charge is a projection of a deeper internal closure: one-third is externally read, while two-thirds remain internally locked within the phase structure. This gives a geometric and numerical account of fractional charge weights, confinement architecture, and the Cornell-potential structure, while leaving full QCD dynamics and detailed coefficients as completion targets. UiT is not presented as a theory of everything, and it does not discard established physics. It proposes a deeper informational primitive from which quantum phase, relativistic time, gravitational distortion, thermodynamic irreversibility, electromagnetic coupling, weak decay, strong closure, and horizon counting arise as different expressions of one closed phase-registration object. The empirical content is twofold. The primary tested layer is the weak-sector perturbability table, which organizes radioactive decay channels according to the informational degrees of freedom required for reverse daughter-to-parent reconstruction. A second prospective discriminant predicts photon arrival-time delay with no linear Planck-energy term and leading quadratic Planck suppression. The compact unification principle is this: physical law is the geometry of informational registration. Time is the written order of phase registration; mass is closed-light Compton throughput; force is the gradient of registration mismatch; entropy is the count and cost of distinguishable writing; and the apparent separation between relativity, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, nuclear structure, and horizon physics reflects different readout conditions of the same underlying closed phase surface.
The existence of living organisms in the mesoscopic realm may be quite nontrivial and actuallymay emerge from the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity. On one side, quantumbiology investigates how quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition, entanglement,and tunnelling, contribute to biological processes. These quantum effects, once thought to beirrelevant in the “warm, wet, and noisy” environment of living organisms due to decoherence, havebeen found to play significant roles in various biological systems, from photosynthesis to enzymecatalysis. On the other side, gravitational forces have been implicated in the organization ofmicrotubules, which are essential for maintaining cellular structure and function. Recent studieshave demonstrated that gravitational forces can induce three-dimensional chromosomal conformational changes, which are associated with rapid transcriptional responses in human T cells. Sometheories propose that gravity might play a role in decoherence, such as in the Penrose-Hameroffmodel, which proposes that quantum coherence in microtubules could be the basis for consciousawareness and quantum computing-like information processing, with gravity playing a role in thecollapse of the quantum wave function. The model predictions that microtubules can support longrange coherent phenomena have been confirmed by experimental observations of superradiancefrom mega-networks of tryptophan UV-excited transition dipoles, particularly in microtubulearchitectures. Another experimental research highlights that microtubule network exhibits ahierarchy of three-fold resonant frequency patterns across biological scales – from tubulin proteinsto microtubules and neurons. This suggests a quantum-to-classical transition governed by scalefree dynamics, potentially underlying information processing in the brain. A very intriguing fact isthat at the most fundamental level of the origin of life, the standard genetic code, we can observethe scale-free computing that arises from arithmetic regularities of the nucleon numbers related tothe code’s numerous symmetries. Given that some of these symmetries probably originate fromdifferent evolutionary epochs, such scale-free computing may be a latent background mechanismof the organization of the genetic code and therefore relevant to natural computing.
2025 is the year of Quantum Science and Technology. It celebrates 100 years since the invention of quantum theory (as previously mentioned, in 1925 Heisenberg published what is considered the first paper on quantum mechanics). How is quantum theory doing on her 100th birthday? It is thriving! Its successes continue in quantum chemistry, condensed matter, molecular, optical, nuclear and particle physics, and new areas of quantum information and quantum computation that utilize non-classical information theoretic properties of quantum systems have burst upon the scene, and many researchers are involved in the new area of quantum biology. The achievements of quantum theory are phenomenal, and there does not exist a single experiment that contradicts its basic tenets. As illustrated by the magic cube of physics, the structure of the fundamental framework of physics is completely dominated by quantum theory, which is intrinsically probabilistic and contextual, and by spacetime physics, which is not intrinsically probabilistic and it is not contextual. In the area of overlaps between quantum and spacetime physics, we find local quantum field theory, where spacetime appears as a glorified index of quantum fields—and yet is important in defining what we mean by locality, causality, etc. Nevertheless, local quantum field theory, especially in the form of effective field theory has scored (and continues to score) impressive successes in particle, nuclear and condensed matter and statistical physics, as well as in the realms of quantum field theory in curved but not dynamical backgrounds, including weakly gravitational fields and cosmology.
To the Reader (Physicists, Philosophers, Cross-Disciplinary Scholars) This paper proposes no new physical equations. Rather, it examines the structural presuppositions behind the physical realities that existing equations describe. We argue that the long-standing impasses of quantum gravity and the measurement problem stem from a confusion of "layer categories." To this end, we introduce a meta-language for describing the relationships between system layers. The core concepts of this language—such as "Self-Interest" (a system's intrinsic tendency to maintain its own existence and reduce internal friction)—can be viewed as a meta-theoretical restatement, not a replacement, of principles like the principle of least action or spontaneous symmetry breaking in physics. Reading Guide · Physicists: It is recommended to focus on Chapter 3 (Inter-Layer Information Gap and Quantum Gravity) and Chapter 4 (Inter-Layer Interaction and the Measurement Problem). This paper does not challenge existing experimental conclusions; it explains the boundaries of their validity.· Philosophers: Pay particular attention to Chapter 2 (The Core Framework) and Chapter 5 (Layer Dynamics and the Boundaries of Theory), especially the definitions of "Self-Reference" and "Self-Blindness."· Cross-Disciplinary Scholars: You may start with the discussion of "Order and Chaos" in Chapter 5 and the description of extended pathways, to assess the applicability of this framework within your own fields. --- Abstract Modern physics faces two fundamental impasses: the problem of quantum gravity and the quantum measurement problem. The former manifests as the mathematical incompatibility between the smooth, continuous spacetime geometry of general relativity and the discrete particle-exchange framework of quantum mechanics. The latter manifests as the enduring mystery of "wave function collapse," a concept that, within the Copenhagen interpretation, has sparked a century-long debate concerning the role of the observer. This paper does not attempt to put forth any new mathematical or experimental predictions within physics. It provides no new equations. Instead, it applies the layered perspective of System Agency Theory to offer a meta-theoretical explanation for both problems. We argue that gravity is not a "force" awaiting quantization, but the geometric expression of an "Inter-Layer Information Gap" generated between the spacetime geometry layer (L0) and the matter field layer (L1) as each strives to maintain its own existential steady state. Furthermore, quantum "wave function collapse" is not a mysterious physical process, but the inevitable result of an irreversible "Inter-Layer Interaction" between the observer system's agency (L5, a macroscopic, high-level system) and the observed system (L1/L2). This paper further posits that the pursuit of a "theory of everything" confined to a single descriptive layer may constitute a category error. A more inclusive framework should be established as a "Layer Dynamics" that describes how the agencies of systems at different layers interact, mask, and transform one another. This work is, in essence, a meta-theoretical reconstruction that grounds both the efficacy and the boundary of validity of physics. Keywords: System Agency Theory; Layer Dynamics; Quantum Gravity; Measurement Problem; Inter-Layer Information Gap; Wave Function Collapse; Meta-Theory --- 1. Introduction: Cracks in the Foundation of Physics Modern physics rests on two pillars: general relativity, which describes gravitational phenomena on macroscopic scales, and quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of particles on microscopic scales. Both have withstood rigorous experimental tests within their respective domains—from the detection of gravitational waves to the discovery of the Higgs boson. Yet, at their foundations, these two pillars are mutually incompatible. General relativity views gravity as the smooth, continuous curvature of spacetime geometry. Matter tells spacetime how to curve; spacetime tells matter how to move. This is a deterministic, continuous field description. Quantum mechanics, by contrast, describes fundamental forces as the exchange of discrete particles within specific gauge fields. Electromagnetism is the exchange of photons, the strong force the exchange of gluons, and the weak force the exchange of W and Z bosons. This is a non-deterministic, probabilistic framework. This incompatibility becomes particularly acute in two major problems: 1. The Problem of Quantum Gravity: All attempts to quantize the gravitational field encounter non-renormalizable infinities. At the Planck scale, the gravitational field stubbornly resists being described as an exchange of gravitons. This suggests we may be trying to force the language of discrete particles (an explanatory framework native to L1) upon a continuous, and perhaps more fundamental, emergent spacetime structure (the system dynamics of L0).2. The Quantum Measurement Problem: In quantum mechanics, an unmeasured micro-particle exists in a superposition of multiple possible states. Upon "observation," it non-deterministically and instantaneously "collapses" into a definite eigenstate. The Copenhagen interpretation attributes this process to the intervention of a macroscopic "classical instrument," but does not explain how or why this intervention causes collapse. Von Neumann's "infinite regress" argument drives the problem to its extreme: if all physical systems obey quantum mechanics, then the "observation" must ultimately be triggered by something non-physical—consciousness (or the abstract "self"). Physicists have thus been divided: some (like Wigner) accept that consciousness participates in physical processes, while others (like proponents of the Many-Worlds interpretation) deny the existence of collapse altogether. This question has remained unresolved for a century. This paper argues that the root of both problems lies in a confusion of "system dynamics" at different layers. We are attempting to borrow the cognitive tools generated by the fifth layer (L5, human consciousness and logic) to unify and explain the interaction between the zeroth layer (L0, spacetime geometric structure) and the first layer (L1, matter particles). This constitutes a category error. A new meta-framework is needed to re-examine the structure of the problem. --- 2. The Core Framework of System Agency Theory System Agency Theory provides a cross-layer, cross-domain explanatory language. Its core structure can be summarized as follows. 2.1 Foundational Axioms · Self-Interest: The fundamental driving force behind the existence and operation of all systems. Here, "Self-Interest" is not ethical selfishness, but the necessary tendency of a system to maintain its own existence, reduce internal contradictions, and pursue energy/information efficiency. An atom tending towards its most stable electron configuration (physical Self-Interest), a cell maintaining its metabolism and membrane integrity (biological Self-Interest), a corporation pursuing profit and market share (social Self-Interest), and a civilization pursuing survival and expansion (historical Self-Interest) are all concrete manifestations of this agency at different layers.· Self-Reference: The capacity of a system to take itself as an object of observation or operation. At lower layers, the rudiments of Self-Reference appear as feedback loops (e.g., chemical autocatalytic reactions). When system complexity reaches a critical threshold, Self-Reference emerges as conscious self-perception—consciousness (L5) is the high-order realization of Self-Reference within a nervous system. Self-Reference is the engine of systemic upgrading, but also the root of systemic collapse (self-deconstruction, self-referential paradoxes).· Self-Blindness: The structural deficiency of a system's inability to fully cognize its own foundational agency. Self-Blindness is the inevitable product of incomplete Self-Reference. It provides a system with three survival advantages: reducing cognitive load, preventing infinite recursion, and maintaining behavioral consistency. However, Self-Blindness also constitutes the boundary that prevents a system from completely understanding itself. No system—including the theory presented in this paper—can be fully immune to its own Self-Blindness. 2.2 Structural Model · Layers: The universe presents an emergent sequence of layers from simple to complex. This paper designates them as: · L0 (Spacetime Geometry Layer): Black holes, stars, gravitational fields. The most fundamental geometric expression of physical rules. · L1 (Physical Structure Layer): Atoms, molecules, fundamental particles. The layer where matter exists in stable structures. · L2 (Chemical Dissipation Layer): Flames, chemical oscillation reactions. Matter maintaining dissipative structures far from equilibrium within energy gradients. · L3 (Life Layer): Dissipative systems possessing the capacity for Self-Reference. Achieves precise replication and adaptation through information carriers (DNA). · L4 (Social Layer): Collective systems formed by individuals organized through protocols (language, currency, law). · L5 (Consciousness Layer): The subjective perception of one's own agency model and the capacity for logical operation, emerging when the Self-Reference of a nervous system reaches a critical complexity. · L5-M: System Agency Theory itself. The theory is aware that it is a product of L5's Self-Reference. Core Law: Higher layers are constituted by lower layers, but their rules cannot be completely reduced to those of the lower layers. This irreducibility is the essence of "emergence."· Protocols: The sets of rules that define interactions within a layer and between layers, and the interactive forms that allow layers to co-exist. Physical laws, chemical reaction pathways, biological instincts, social norms, linguistic grammar,
This paper proposes a theoretical framework—Relational Theory—based on dynamic relational networks, in which discrete spacetime serves as the fundamental ontology, while continuous geometry and gravity emerge as macroscopic statistical phenomena. This framework unifies the description of matter, spacetime, and gravity, aiming to bridge the theoretical divide between quantum field theory and general relativity, while providing a discrete spacetime physical substrate for the orthodox prob abilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. The fundamental ontology of the universe is defined as the evolution of a dynamic relational network, where nodes represent fundamental quantum units of space, edges correspond to adjacency relations between units, and matter manifests as complex probability amplitude excitation modes propagating on the network. The framework is built upon two foundational axioms: the matter field undergoes unitary evolution driven by the graph Lapla cian operator, and the network topology dynamically reconfigures in response to the matter energy density, with links undergoing continuous generation and decay, while matter evolution exhibits the discrete alternating character of “annihilation here, creation there.”Under the mean-field continuum limit, the two axioms respectively evolve into a Schr¨odinger equation describing matter propagation in curved space and a link density equation characterizing the response of spacetime geometry to matter distribution. These two sets of equations form a self-consistent feedback mechanism in which matter and spacetime geometry mutually constrain each other. The study demonstrates that grav ity is not a fundamental interaction, but rather a statistical emergent entropic force driven by the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of network link density.This paper further proposes a dynamic relational network interpretation, circumventing the collapse paradox of the Copenhagen interpreta tion, the universe-splitting problem of the many-worlds interpretation, and the non-locality dilemma of hidden variable theories. It provides an underlying topological explanation for wave function evo lution, the measurement problem, and the origin of quantum probability. The laws of black hole thermodynamics and the fundamentals of the holographic principle can all be reasonably explained within this microscopic topological framework. The paper systematically verifies the mathematical self-consistency of the model, distinguishes rigorously derived conclusions from conjectures awaiting verification, and demonstrates the feasible pathways for numerical simulation tests and astronomical observational corroboration.