Causal Collapse: A Kinematic Time-Scale for the Quantum-to-Classical Transition

John Edward Gough

Brian J Davies

The Collapse of Time explores a foundational reversal in quantum theory, proposing that time emerges from the process of wavefunction collapse rather than acting as a pre-existing background. Probability is treated as quantum possibility that becomes classical reality through irreversible collapse events. In contrast to gravity-induced collapse models, this framework examines whether collapse itself may generate temporal structure and gravitational imprinting. The work complements geometric collapse approaches by reframing the quantum-to-classical transition as the physical origin of time, causality, and classical structure. This paper is intended as a conceptual exploration. For the complete formal geometric framework, please use the link below..

CK Hung

This paper proposes Informational Flow Ontology (IFO), a minimal metaphysical framework that derives the fundamental categories of reality—time, matter, energy, consciousness, intelligence, free will, and aesthetic experience—from a small set of axioms centered on information, causality, and collapse. IFO treats collapse (the transition from possibility to determinacy) as the primitive event, information as its substrate, and causality as information in motion. Time is identified with causality itself, quantified as the count of micro-collapse events. Energy emerges as the collapsed form of time. The framework posits structural isomorphism between the physical and conscious domains, both governed by a single conservation principle (causal-energy conservation), generalizing Noether's theorem beyond physics. Beauty is defined as the perception of multi-aspect alignment, providing an internal epistemic criterion. The framework is internally closed, structurally minimal, and compatible with frontier physics (causal set theory, quantum information) and classical metaphysical traditions (Spinoza, Leibniz, Whitehead).

Jean Salmon

Maximilian Andreas Schlosshauer-Selbach

Jiaxuan Yang

We propose a kinematic criterion for the emergence of irreversibility in extended physical systems. By integrating the Quantum Lyapunov Exponent (λL)—characterizing the rate of information scrambling—with the relativistic causal bound (c), we derive a dimensionless stability parameter Ω. We demonstrate that when the scrambling rate exceeds the system’s internal causal synchronization bandwidth (Ω > 1), the physical reconstruction of an inverse time-evolution operator ˆU † becomes operationally impossible within the causal horizon. This work provides a unified, first-principles derivation for the quantum-to-classical transition, verifying experimental decoherence thresholds in mesoscopic interferometry and superconducting qubit arrays. We propose Ω as a candidate universal instability parameter marking the breakdown of operational unitarity.