A fundamental hypothesis is proposed in which information is treated as a primary physical quantity, while time is considered a derived characteristic emerging from the ordered accumulation of irreversible interaction events. The concept of an Information-Discrete Quantum Process (IDQP) is introduced as an elementary act of fixing a change in an informational state. Local time is defined as an internal characteristic of a physical system, whereas global time is interpreted as an emergent criterion of consistency among multiple local times. The hypothesis provides a conceptual framework for reexamining causality, time, and matter.
A fundamental hypothesis is proposed in which information is treated as a primary physical quantity, while time is considered a derived characteristic emerging from the ordered accumulation of irreversible interaction events. The concept of an Information-Discrete Quantum Process (IDQP) is introduced as an elementary act of fixing a change in an informational state. Local time is defined as an internal characteristic of a physical system, whereas global time is interpreted as an emergent criterion of consistency among multiple local times. The hypothesis provides a conceptual framework for reexamining causality, time, and matter.
Abstract, This paper introduces the 0 → 1 hypothesis, a conceptual framework in which physical events and their relational ordering are treated as potentially more fundamental than macroscopic time. Rather than assuming time to be a universally flowing background parameter, the framework begins with distinguishable physical states, transitions between states, and causal or relational ordering among events. The notation 0 → 1 is used as a conceptual shorthand for physical becoming; it does not imply binary computation, creation from nothing, wave-function collapse, or a universal Planck-time clock. The central question is whether familiar temporal quantities can emerge from a more fundamental relational structure while remaining compatible with relativistic causal structure, quantum theory, and the thermodynamic arrow of time. A minimal mathematical scaffold is proposed in terms of an event set, a causal partial order, state transitions, and a coarse-grained duration functional. The framework is compared with relational time, the Page–Wootters mechanism, and causal-set approaches. At its present stage, the 0 → 1 hypothesis is a conceptual research framework rather than a complete physical theory. The paper therefore identifies the mathematical and empirical requirements that would be necessary for the hypothesis to become falsifiable and experimentally distinguishable from existing approaches.
This work proposes a novel conceptual framework for the foundations of physics, based on the idea that physical reality emerges from a discrete causal network of events and the accumulation of "memory" associated with these interactions. Unlike standard approaches, spacetime and elementary particles are not presupposed but emerge dynamically. The theory reinterprets General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics as manifestations of this memory dynamic in different density regimes. Concepts such as quantum collapse, the arrow of time, and particle properties are derived within this causal ontology. The work explores the consequences of applying the Heideggerian philosophical concept of historicity to the foundations of physics. Detailed appendices provide the mathematical formalization and emergent derivations.
This preprint presents a speculative but internally consistent framework in which time is not treated as a fundamental dimension, but as an emergent ordering imposed by finite-capacity state transitions in space. Space is modeled as a discrete lattice of single-occupancy units, each capable of holding exactly one state and transitioning at a bounded rate. Within this model, apparent motion corresponds to pattern propagation rather than physical transport, the relativistic speed limit emerges as a throughput constraint, time dilation follows from update contention, and gravity arises from persistent local saturation of update capacity. Black holes correspond to permanent queue saturation. The framework is further extended to core quantum phenomena, interpreting entanglement, superposition, and measurement as consequences of shared scheduling constraints and pending state resolution rather than non-local information transfer or hidden variables. The work is intended as a foundations-level proposal designed to provoke critical analysis and identify failure modes, rather than as a completed physical theory. Keywords: time, spacetime, information theory, quantum foundations, relativity, gravity, entropy, causality, discrete spacetime, computational models of physics
This study proposes a conceptual framework in which time and space are derived from quantum state transitions rather than being treated as fundamental background entities. Temporal progression is interpreted as the ordered sequence of discrete quantum state changes, while spatial structure emerges from relational properties among quantum states.Within this framework, time is defined operationally as the measurable rate of quantum state evolution, and space arises from correlations and structural relations between quantum systems. The approach suggests that spacetime may be understood as an emergent construct grounded in quantum dynamics rather than as a primary ontological structure.The implications of this interpretation are discussed in relation to general relativity and quantum mechanics, with attention to cosmological considerations and foundational questions in theoretical physics.
Emergent Causality Through Decoherence An imaginary hypothesis, not a theory. What if causality were not fundamental? What if it emerged, like temperature, from the degree of decoherence in a system? This hypothesis proposes that there is no single causality, but three regimes of the same process. The core idea:There is no single causality. There are causalities that emerge according to the degree of decoherence in a system. In other words: causality is not a property of the universe. It is a property of the level of description. The three regimes: Quantum causality (zero or low decoherence). The system is isolated. What exists are pure correlations: entanglement, superposition. There is no causality in the classical sense. There is correlation without direction. There is no defined "before" or "after." Relativistic causality (medium decoherence). The system interacts with the environment, but not completely. There is a causal structure defined by spacetime. There is causality, but it is relative: it depends on the observer. Classical causality (high decoherence). The system is fully coupled to the environment. It is classical. There is absolute, local causality: cause → effect, without ambiguity. The mechanism: decoherence.The more degrees of freedom interact with the system, the more decoherence. More decoherence → more classical → more causal. There is no "line" that is crossed. There is a continuum. Causality emerges gradually, just as temperature emerges from the number of particles. Why this makes the three regimes fit together: They are not separate levels. They are degrees of the same process. Time emerges together with causality. Without decoherence, there is no defined time. With decoherence, irreversibility emerges. And with it, the arrow of time. Relativity is the intermediate regime. What it would resolve: The problem of time: it emerges with decoherence. The arrow of time: it is the irreversibility of decoherence. The relativity–quantum clash: it is not a clash. They are different regimes of the same process. Causality: it is not fundamental. It is emergent. What it does not resolve: What decoherence exactly is. How to quantize gravity. Why there is decoherence. The information paradox. The label (important):This is an imaginary hypothesis, not a theory. It is coherent with what we know, but it is not demonstrated. It lacks mathematics, predictions, and confirmation. It does not say that time does not exist. It says that time could emerge. It does not say that causality does not exist. It says that causality could emerge. All of this, if one takes decoherence seriously, without adding anything else. But no one has demonstrated it. That is why it is a hypothesis, not a theory. A note on the anchor:This hypothesis does not invent its premise. It takes it from established physics: quantum mechanics already treats information as correlation, not as substance. Entanglement is pure correlation. Decoherence is entanglement with the environment. If information is always relational, then causality could be relational too. Related work: "Measure Reinforcement: Emergent Causality From Quantum Interactions" (Zenodo, 2025). Proposes emergent causality from quantum interactions without predefined time. Difference: includes a conscious observer. This hypothesis does not. Here decoherence is the mechanism, without consciousness. "Spacetime as an Emergent Causal Structure: A Quantum Mechanical Perspective" (Preprints.org, 2026). Derives proper time from the degree of decoherence. Difference: focuses on time, not causality as a regime. This hypothesis unifies the three regimes (quantum, relativistic, classical) into a single continuum. "Causal Space-Time: Emergent Physics from Causality" (2010). Proposes that physics emerges from a causal network. Difference: opposite direction. There causality is fundamental; here it emerges from decoherence. "Radial Coherential Dynamics: Emergent Causality" (2025). Proposes collapse as a decoherence front that generates time and causality. Difference: it is radial and has specific predictions. This hypothesis is more general: it describes causality as a regime of description, not as a radial process. The gap: no one has unified the three regimes (quantum, relativistic, classical) into a continuum parametrized by the degree of decoherence, nor has proposed that causality is a property of the level of description, not of the universe. Keywords: decoherence, emergent causality, quantum mechanics, foundations of physics, emergent time, quantum-classical transition.
This framework preserves the empirical success of existing physical theories while proposing an alternative set of foundational assumptions from which their standard formulations emerge as effective limits. Abstract — Key Innovative Points Discrete Updating FabricThe theory postulates a fundamental discrete fabric whose elementary constituents evolve through local update processes, replacing continuous fields and background spacetime as primary entities. Irreversible Local Dynamics as FundamentalUnlike standard approaches based on unitary or reversible evolution, irreversibility is taken as ontological. Physical law emerges from irreversible local updates rather than from imposed symmetries or variational principles. Emergent Time and SpacetimeTime is not assumed as a fundamental parameter but arises from the counting of update events. Spacetime geometry emerges as a coarse-grained description of update activity across the fabric. Quantum Probability from Microstate CountingQuantum probabilities, including the Born rule, emerge from combinatorial counting of compatible microstates of the fabric, rather than being postulated axiomatically. Gravity as Update-Rate ModulationGravitational phenomena are interpreted as variations in local update rates, leading to effective curvature, time dilation, and relativistic behavior at macroscopic scales. Mass as Resistance to UpdateMass and inertia arise from stable topological structures within the fabric that resist updates, providing a dynamical origin of mass without introducing fundamental mass parameters. Fundamental Dissipation and IrreversibilityDissipation is intrinsic to the fabric dynamics and not an emergent statistical effect. The arrow of time follows directly from the irreversible nature of local updates. Extension Beyond Fundamental PhysicsThe same discrete framework accounts for macroscopic dissipative phenomena—such as friction, stick–slip dynamics, superlubricity, growth, and self-organization—linking fundamental physics and material behavior within a single process-based model. iversality Without Fundamental SymmetryLarge-scale physical laws emerge as dynamical attractors of the updating fabric, arising through elimination of unstable configurations rather than enforcement of fundamental symmetries. Emergent Rules Beyond the Born Rule in the Unified Fabric Framework The same discrete-fabric + local-update + coarse-graining structure generates multiple quantum rules without postulation. 1. Schrödinger Dynamics as an Emergent Long-Wavelength Limit Local deterministic updates on a discrete fabric admit spectral modes.In the long-wavelength limit, their evolution converges to a Schrödinger-type equation. No quantum dynamics is postulated.Only update rules and spectral structure are assumed. 2. Superposition from Coarse-Grained Microstate Counting Macroscopic amplitudes arise as sums over compatible microstates.Linearity follows from additive contributions at the amplitude level. Superposition is therefore emergent.It reflects coarse-graining, not a fundamental axiom. 3. Interference as Cross-Terms in Microstate Combinatorics Probabilities are quadratic because amplitudes sum before squaring.Cross-terms correspond exactly to interference effects. Interference is not assumed.It is a combinatorial consequence of microstate superposition. 4. Tensor Product Structure and the Origin of Entanglement Composite systems correspond to composite regions of the fabric.Global microstates factorize only if compatibility constraints separate. Entanglement arises when constraints couple subsystems.It is structural, not mysterious. 5. Decoherence from Phase Inaccessibility Observers access only coarse-grained variables.Rapidly varying microstate phases average out. Off-diagonal terms are dynamically suppressed.Decoherence emerges without postulation. 6. Measurement Collapse as Constraint Reduction Measurement is an interaction that reduces compatible microstates.The effective state updates accordingly. Collapse is not a new law.It is constraint updating under coarse-graining. 7. The Arrow of Time from Asymmetric State Counting Entropy is defined as the logarithm of compatible microstates.Local updates generically move toward larger compatible sets. Irreversibility is structural.It does not rely on subjective ignorance. 8. Coulomb Friction from Discrete Event Statistics Friction equals dissipated update energy per unit distance.The Coulomb law emerges from counting active interfacial events. The friction coefficient is not fundamental.It decomposes into microscopic event parameters. 9. Superlubricity as the Event-Free Limit Superlubricity occurs when locking events are suppressed.Dissipation is rare, not forbidden. This is a limit regime, not an exception.It confirms friction as emergent. 11. Conservation Laws from Update Invariance If the update rule is invariant under local transformations,conserved quantities emerge automatically. Noether’s theorem becomes emergent.Symmetry is a property of the update, not an axiom. 12. Classical Determinism from Phase Averaging At large scales, phase information becomes inaccessible.Only expectation values survive. Classical trajectories emerge statistically.Determinism is an effective limit. 13. Locality from Finite Update Propagation Updates propagate only through neighboring fabric nodes.Information speed is bounded. Causality is structural.Nonlocality is only apparent at coarse scales. 14. Emergent Speed Limit (c) The maximum update rate defines a universal speed.No signal can exceed it. The speed of light is not fundamental.It is a fabric update bound. 15. Metric Geometry from Update Delays Spatial curvature corresponds to spatially varying update rates.Time dilation is an update slowdown. Geometry is dynamical.The metric is emergent. 16. Gravity from Update Resistance Mass corresponds to structures resisting updates.Nearby updates slow down in response. Gravitational attraction emerges.No force field is postulated. 17. Equivalence Principle as a Structural Identity All stable update-resisting structures slow updates identically.Their response is universal. Inertial and gravitational mass coincide.Equivalence is automatic. 18. Quantization from Discrete Spectrum A finite update lattice admits discrete eigenmodes.Energy levels are quantized. Quantization is not imposed.Continuum is an approximation. 19. Noise Spectra (1/f) from Avalanche Dynamics Update cascades produce scale-free event statistics.Long-range correlations appear. 1/f noise is generic.It signals discrete underlying dynamics. 20. Criticality without Tuning The fabric naturally operates near instability thresholds.Small perturbations trigger cascades. Self-organized criticality emerges.No parameter tuning is required. 21. Thermodynamic Laws as Counting Theorems Temperature measures update activity density.Heat is disordered update flow. Thermodynamics is not independent.It is bookkeeping of updates. 22. Growth and Morphogenesis from Update Bias Directional update biases produce structured growth.Forms emerge without templates. Morphogenesis is dynamical.Shape follows update flow. 23. Fine-structure value and other unknow meaning The fine-structure value (~137) corresponds to the effective degeneracyof coherently contributing update configurations in an elementary coupling process.Proton–electron mass ratio the number of internal update cycles required to stabilize a topological vortex (proton), and a simple oscillatory update mode (electron). Mass measures cumulative resistance to updates. Lepton mass hierarchy Different stability thresholds of the same update pattern. Each mass corresponds to a different coherence regime.→ Families are metastable realizations of one structure. Reduced Planck constant Energy × time associated with one elementary update event. → ħ is the discrete unit of updating. Speed of light Maximum update propagation speed across the fabric. → c is the causal limit of the fabric. Bekenstein–Hawking entropy Number of blocked or saturated update configurations at the horizon. → An event horizon is an informational saturation boundary. Universal critical exponents They arise from the topology of update avalanches,independent of microscopic details. → Criticality is a natural fabric regime. Explanations Rarely Given in Existing Theories 1. Why probabilities are quadratic and not cubic or linear Most theories postulate P=∣ψ∣2P=|\psi|^2P=∣ψ∣2.Here it follows from coherent counting plus phase cancellation. The square is not a choice.It is the minimal stable coarse-graining. 2. Why quantum phases are physically unobservable but indispensable Phases affect interference but not outcomes directly.They label micro-configurations, not macrostates. Phase is structural memory.Measurement erases access to it. 3. Why constants are dimensionless and few Only ratios of update counts survive coarse-graining.Dimensional parameters wash out. Dimensionless constants are structural.They encode geometry, not dynamics. 4. Why “free parameters” cluster around simple numbers Many constants are order-one ratios or small inverses.They reflect combinatorial suppression. Fine tuning is apparent.It is state counting in disguise. 5. Why quantum randomness is stable and reproducible Randomness is not noise.It is deterministic micro-dynamics seen through coarse-graining. Statistics are invariant.Details are inaccessible. 6. Why identical particles are truly identical Microstates differ, macrostates do not.Labels are erased by update symmetry. Indistinguishability is enforced.It is not a postulate. 7. Why spin is quantized and half-integer values exist Spin counts topological winding in update cycles.Only discrete windings are stable. Half-integer spin reflects double-cover topology.No mystery remains. 8. Why gauge free