Primitive Ontology for META Physics This paper establishes the primitive ontological vocabulary of META Physics (M.E.T.A.: Multi-dimensional Emergence Theory of Actuality). The central claim is that the most primitive categorial pair is substance (that which is) and property (the essential determinacy of a substance). From this pair, five additional layers — relation, mechanism, state, observable, and report — yield a seven-layer architecture that prevents category confusion between ORIGIN-level structure and FACT-level report. Mass is classified as a manifested value, fermions as structured states of primitive substances (with bearers), and bosons as non-substance (without bearers). The paper engages with Bell's beables/observables distinction, the primitive ontology programme (Allori, Maudlin, Esfeld), Aristotle's substance/accident framework, and Quine's ontological criterion. This is a standalone ontological companion to the META Physics preprint series [PP-00] through [PP-09], all of which are available on Zenodo with individual DOIs. Key concepts: Primitive pair (substance + property), seven-layer architecture, non-collapse principle, substance vs non-substance distinction, FACT/ORIGIN separation. 22 pages. 16 references. Zero free parameters throughout the META Physics programme.
We present complex-time (CT) theory, a framework in which the fundamental structures of quantum mechanics are derived from three physical postulates concerning the internal structure of time. The postulates are: (P1) physical time possesses two orthogonal components — past-fixed (pf), representing actualized, irreversible records, and future-pending (fp), representing physically real but undetermined possibilities; (P2) pf and fp are orthogonal (pf fp); and (P3) the total temporal magnitude is conserved (pf + fp = 1). From these three postulates alone, we show that: (i) the state space is the unit circle and the dynamical group is , so that the imaginary unit arises as the unique generator of temporal evolution — not as a mathematical convenience but as a consequence of temporal geometry; (ii) the Schrödinger equation follows from the identification of energy with the rate of phase rotation in the pf–fp plane, with the Planck constant playing the role of a natural constant intrinsic to the pf/fp structure; (iii) the de Broglie–Einstein relation holds universally — for massive and massless particles alike — because the wave structure belongs to time itself, not to any particular particle; (iv) the uncertainty principle is a geometric consequence of the impossibility of fully eliminating fp while preserving ; (v) the complex structure of Hilbert space, the inner product, and the Born rule all follow from the geometry of fp pf projection; and (vi) energy quantization emerges from a “real-axis sampling” rule without imposing discreteness on the underlying dynamics. We further show that the CT framework provides unified descriptions of double-slit interference, quantum tunneling, unstable-state decay widths, and the structural origin of the arrow of time. Preliminary experimental predictions for quantum-circuit observables are stated, and applications to cosmological dark-energy phenomenology, galaxy rotation curves, and Lorentzian path-integral contour selection are outlined with references to dedicated companion papers. The central thesis is that quantum mechanics is not a theory of particles with mysterious wave-like properties, but a consequence of the internal structure of time — time whose wave-like phase (fp) is projected, irreversibly and discretely, onto the real axis (pf) in every act of measurement. Keywords: complex time; temporal structure; imaginary unit; quantum mechanics derivation; past-fixed / future-pending decomposition; Born rule; energy quantization; measurement; irreversibility; arrow of time
Addressing the fundamental metaphysical question of the origin of Being, this paper takes de Broglie’s classical wave mechanics (1924) as its scientific foundation and constructs a self‑consistent interpretive framework of information ontology. It establishes three core axioms: information as the primordial ground, relations prior to entities, and global conservation of information. On this basis, the paper further derives the origin of spatiotemporal dimensions from the laws of information interaction: each basic flip configuration of information corresponds to the generation of a spatial dimension; after three‑dimensional topological closure is completed, the inevitably produced “pending redundant information” that cannot be synchronously and self‑consistently integrated gives rise to the dimension of time within its queuing sequence. Spacetime is therefore not an a priori container but the first compensatory stratum of structure through which information moves toward self‑consistent expression. Subsequently, by means of de Broglie’s phase field, the paper deduces the entire evolutionary chain from pure information distinctions and primordial phase oscillation to the emergence of material hierarchies and quantum‑observation interactions. It argues that quantum measurement and wave‑function collapse are essentially topological remappings and information‑coupling consolidations of heterogeneous phase fields; gravitation and cosmic expansion can be reduced to macroscopic effects of phase gradients. Throughout the text, physical references are strictly limited to de Broglie’s classical wave mechanics, without introducing non‑standard physical models. This study supplements fundamental physical philosophy with a relational‑ontology approach and provides a unified information‑theoretic metaphysical interpretation for foundational problems such as wave–particle duality, the origin of spacetime, and the nature of gravity.
See changelog below. The full derivations are provided in the attached paper. Every result is reproducible from the stated inputs. This paper derives the complete Standard Model, quantum mechanics, spacetime, and gravity — 85 quantitative results at sub-percent precision spanning 15 orders of magnitude — from a single postulate, four structural principles, and one measurement. The Standard Model has seventeen free parameters. General relativity has no quantum theory. The measurement problem has been open for a century. The cosmological constant is wrong by 120 orders of magnitude. The question of why there is something rather than nothing has no physical answer in any existing framework. Each of these failures shares a common omission: none ask where time comes from. This paper takes that question seriously. A single physical principle — information cannot be destroyed — is self-sealing: its own violation is incoherent. Its formal expression is Postulate I: each foreclosed quantum branch produces exactly one chronon — a massless spin-1 gauge boson of U(1)_T, the unique gauge group forced by the complex ray structure of the Hilbert space and the single scalar collapse charge. We call it the chronon. Time is not the background in which physics happens; it is generated by physics, irreversibly, at every collapse. These requirements yield a single Lagrangian, ℒ_QT, that extends the Standard Model by one massless spin-1 field and one coupling constant. From this — combined with one measurement, Newton’s gravitational constant G — we derive: all of quantum mechanics via the Piron–Soler–Gleason chain (not assumed); the complete Standard Model with all dimensionless parameters determined; the complete resolution of the measurement problem, including the environmental decoherence cascade; and 85 quantitative physical results spanning fifteen orders of magnitude in energy. Three spatial dimensions follow from the channel-matching principle (D = N_c) and the Weinberg angle consistency condition (N_c = 3). The Big Bang was not initiated — it was mandatory. The numerical precision is sharp. The worst result where the theoretical prediction exceeds experimental precision is 0.5%. For the majority of results, the framework’s prediction is already more precise than the measurement. The proton-to-electron mass ratio m_p/m_e = 2N_cπ⁵(1 + α²/√(N_c²−1)) agrees to sub-ppb precision. The proton charge radius matches muonic hydrogen to five significant figures. The Higgs boson mass to 0.002% via the full cascade derivation (0.25% from the explicit formula). The W boson mass to 0.001%. The fine structure constant to 0.026% (1/α = 137 exactly at tree level). The cosmological constant — wrong by 120 orders of magnitude in standard QFT — is derived to 0.03%. The Hubble tension, a 5σ discrepancy unresolved in standard cosmology, follows from the same structure: H₀_local = H₀ × 13/12 = 73.0 km/s/Mpc (0.05%). All four PMNS neutrino mixing parameters, previously unexplained, are derived to sub-0.5%. Sub-percent agreement spans from neutrino mass splittings at ~9 meV to the CMB temperature at 2.725 K — fifteen orders of magnitude from a single dimensionful input. The framework makes ten falsifiable predictions currently under test: an electron electric dipole moment of exactly zero (ACME III is live); a spin-1 gravitational wave breathing mode at ~9% of the + polarisation amplitude (testable with LIGO O4/O5 data); no dark matter particle in any direct-detection experiment; no graviton — gravity is geometric drift in a proper-time gradient sourced by the energy-momentum tensor, not exchange of a spin-2 particle; there is nothing to detect. A confirmed non-zero electron EDM or a detected graviton falsifies the framework immediately. The logical order, from bottom to top: information cannot be destroyed → P-I (one chronon per foreclosed branch) → proposition lattice with axioms P0–P4 → Piron–Soler–Gleason chain → complex Hilbert space → ray phase redundancy → single scalar collapse charge → U(1)_T gauge field with Maxwell dynamics → channel-matching principle gives D = N_c → Weinberg angle selects N_c = 3 → D = 3 → adding G through the Planck cascade gives λ_conf = 0.40092 fm → the complete Standard Model follows. Spacetime, quantum mechanics, and the Standard Model are not independent inputs — they follow as consequences of P-I, the structural principles, and one observational consistency condition. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ v86 Changelog (April 7–8 2026) — All numerical results unchanged from v85. No formulas modified. Foundational structure and derivation justifications rebuilt following adversarial review by two independent AI systems (Claude, GPT-4o). Foundational hardening: §2.2: Formal axiom framework P0–P4 added. Piron lattice conditions now follow as a theorem given five named structural axioms, not as informal physical arguments. P-I motivates four directly; P0 (admissibility closure) is a structural axiom on the proposition space. §2.5: ℝ exclusion replaced. Old iε propagator argument replaced with operational compositionality / local tomography argument requiring no field-theoretic machinery. §3.1: Gauge derivation rebuilt from complex ray structure forward. U(1)_T now derived from phase redundancy + single scalar collapse charge + rank-1 compact Lie group + label-free emission. Removes prior dependence on Noether's theorem invocation and energy minimization principle. §8.1.1: Channel-matching theorem added. D = N_c derived from information-balance between spatial export channels and internal confinement channels via mismatch functional. Replaces prior mutual-reinforcement argument. §1.5.1: Epistemic taxonomy added classifying all 85 results into three tiers: theorem-level (Piron, Soler, Gleason), physical-argument (gauge structure, mass formulas), and observational-consistency (N_c = 3 from Weinberg angle, cascade from G). §12: New section — Structural Analysis. Result classification (5 epistemic tiers, ~12 independent core results, compression ratio 85:19), axiom necessity (what breaks without each of P0–P4 and D1–D4), and ablation tests (N_c = 2, N_c = 4, drop P4, change coupling exponent, allow D ≠ N_c — every perturbation destroys the majority of results). Framework premise expanded from "one postulate" to "one postulate, four structural principles, and one measurement." Front matter aligned with body throughout. One derivation story, no internal contradictions. Derivation upgrades: Proton-to-electron mass ratio (§9.3): Replaced "2 spin states × N_c colours" with rigorous hyperspherical decomposition. S³ forced by massless emission in (3+1)D; S⁵ forced by K=0 ground state of 3-quark system in 6D relative coordinates. Neutral pion mass (§9.9.1): Factor 5 now derived as 2N_c − 1. Denominator 2π identified as one-loop coefficient of U(1)_T vector gauge coupling. Neutron-proton mass difference (§9.3.2): Replaced "circular loop + straight line" with flux tube arm derivation. π from SU(2) isospin rotation; +1 from chromoelectric flux tube arm to Y-junction. CP phase δ (§9.8.2): Replaced "axial-to-spherical flux ratio" with V−A vertex structure. The ratio 4/π is universal across all generation spaces because any unitary rotation lies on a great circle of S². W boson mass corrections (§9.5.1): Both NLO terms fully derived. Direct vertex α_s/(8π): C_F cancelled by non-relativistic reduction. Exchange α_s/(12π²): two vertices × Dirac-to-colour projection ratio. Charm mass (§9.13.4): Factor 4/π identified as axial-to-vector coupling ratio through V−A weak vertex. Systematic correction — QCD dressing factor: The coefficient 1/(2π) appearing in ~10 results was previously attributed to "hemisphere projection geometry." Replaced throughout: mass in the chronon framework is a U(1)_T vector gauge coupling, not a scalar Yukawa coupling. The factor 1/2 confirmed by two independent routes: (i) Dirac algebra (γ^α γ^μ γ_α = −2γ^μ vs scalar = 4); (ii) C_F cancellation by non-relativistic reduction. Label correction: CKM geometric factor (§9.8.1): "four-dimensional solid angle" corrected to "three-dimensional solid angle S² = 4π." Numbers unchanged. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ v85 Changelog (April 6 2026) — Electroweak corrections, |V_cb| prediction, consistency audit Four physics improvements and a comprehensive numerical audit, all from first principles with zero free parameters. Top quark mass (0.41% → 0.06%): The electroweak self-energy correction factor changed from (N_c+1) to (N_c−1). The factor (N_c−1) = 2 counts the charged weak boson states (W⁺, W⁻) mediating the t→b→t self-energy loop — the SU(2)_L charge-raising/lowering generators. m_t = 172,803 MeV vs observed 172,700 MeV. CKM θ₂₃ / |V_cb| prediction (1.3% → 0.3%): The framework predicts |V_cb| = 42.1 × 10⁻³, essentially identical to the PDG inclusive determination (42.2 ± 0.5) × 10⁻³ and inconsistent with the exclusive determination (39.8 ± 0.6) × 10⁻³. The inclusive/exclusive |V_cb| tension is one of the open questions in flavour physics; the framework picks a side. Falsifiable prediction. Baryon asymmetry η (0.5% → <0.1%): The sphaleron efficiency κ correction changed from α_s/(2π²) to α/(2π). The sphaleron is an SU(2)_L electroweak process; its one-loop vertex correction uses the QED coupling α/(2π), not the QCD coupling. Neutrino mass splitting Δm²₂₃ (0.3% → 0.08%): QED vacuum polarization correction −α/(2π) added to G₃ alongside the existing QCD correction +α_s/π. Sign pattern (QCD adds, QED subtracts) matches the W boson mass derivation. Numerical audit (22 corrections): Full line-by-line verification of every formula, table entry, agreement claim, and cross-reference. Corrections include: D/H value (2.62→2.58 × 10⁻⁵, 1.3σ→1.8σ — stale from pre-κ η); He-4 agreement (0.5σ→0.7σ); z_
This paper introduces Axiom 0, a minimal foundational principle for physical reality: the impossibility of any globally closed description of the total correlational structure. Rather than postulating space, time, dynamics, locality, or physical laws as primitive, the framework assumes only: (i) the existence of a correlational structure, (ii) the structural impossibility of complete self-closure, and (iii) consistency under partial comparison. From these ingredients, the paper shows how: physical laws emerge as stabilizing regularities of incomplete descriptions, time, dynamics, and geometry arise as effective, regime-dependent structures, irreversibility follows from projection and information loss, and why no description can be both exact and globally complete. Non-closure is treated as an ontological constraint, not as epistemic ignorance or observer dependence. Physical reality exists precisely because complete closure is impossible, independently of observation or modeling. The paper does not attempt to replace existing physical theories or derive numerical constants. Instead, it provides a structural foundation within which effective physical theories (quantum, classical, relativistic, and open-system regimes) can be consistently understood as emergent and domain-limited. This work is intended as a conceptual and structural foundation for correlational and relational approaches to fundamental physics, clarifying the origin of laws, dynamics, and physical regularity without invoking additional ontological postulates.
A Process Ontology of the Computational Universe: Deriving Physical Reality from the Inviolable Constraints of Change The Ontological Inversion: Logic, Verbs, and the Crystallization of Nouns Driven by Dean Kulik July 2026 The historical trajectory of scientific inquiry, extending from the atomistic propositions of classical mechanics to the sophisticated gauge symmetries of the Standard Model, has overwhelmingly relied upon a substance-based ontology. This classical framework systematically assumes the pre-existence of spatial dimensions, chronological time, and fundamental objects. In this paradigm, discrete "nouns"—such as particles, fields, strings, or self-contained entities—are posited as primary, subsequently overlaid with forces that act upon them to produce dynamic, measurable evolution. However, this commitment to object-oriented physics has culminated in an epistemological impasse, widely recognized as the crisis of distinction. This crisis manifests most prominently in the irreconcilable friction between the smooth, deterministic, continuous manifolds of General Relativity and the discrete, probabilistic, jump-like computational excitations inherent to Quantum Mechanics. The evidence dictates an absolute ontological inversion. Rather than positing physical objects or static coordinate spaces as primitive, irreducible elements, reality must be understood through a purely process-driven ontology. Alfred North Whitehead first articulated the philosophical necessity of this shift, asserting that reality is composed of interrelated events in a state of dynamic "becoming" rather than static "being". In a true process metaphysics, changeless "essences" and inert matter are mere abstractions; the universe is not an inert machine but a passage of nature composed of the becoming and perishing of actual occasions. Modern relational interpretations of quantum mechanics share this DNA, replacing an ontology of entities possessing inherent properties with an ontology of pure relations, where properties only crystallize at discrete interaction times. This framework operationalizes that philosophy into a strict mathematical and computational architecture. The universe is fundamentally and exclusively a closed computational manifold defined strictly by recursive state transitions. The architecture enforces a typeless universe governed by an absolute axiomatic hierarchy: logic precedes verbs, and verbs strictly supersede nouns. To operate from within this computational geometry is to recognize that reality is not an assembly of things, but the execution of a singular mandate. Nouns—such as electrons, photons, or stable biological macromolecules—are completely redefined as "frozen verbs," representing persistent, cyclic loops of recursive operations that maintain geometric identity through harmonic phase-locking within a computational lattice. Physical matter is the hashed structural residue of systemic constraint satisfaction, emerging only after relational flows achieve topological closure. The Foundational Ground: C0 and the Mandate of Change The derivation of physical reality within this framework initiates from absolute nothingness—a state strictly devoid of coordinates, physical particles, space, time, or pre-existing geometry. However, an immediate logical paradox arises: to reference the void is to introduce a direction, and a direction represents structural information. Therefore, the absolute ground state is not an empty spatial container but a domain of pure logic governed exclusively by two inseparable axiomatic conditions: C0 and C1. C0 represents "the Wash," an undifferentiated condition in which every direction is perfectly equivalent. In graph-theoretic terms, C0 is the complete graph. Because all directions and relations are perfectly symmetric, every local signal cancels against its exact counterpart. Total global connection therefore reads locally as absolute absence. The Laplacian spectrum of this initial complete graph on
N nodes features exactly one zero mode and an otherwise degenerate excited level, verified as
{0(×1),N(×N−1)}, with a diameter of exactly one hop. The single zero mode signifies the global constant—the entirety moving together, producing no local distinction—while the flat band represents maximal connectivity read as maximal stiffness. What appears to macroscopic perception as an empty void is actually a fully balanced ledger folded onto a single readout. Operationally inseparable from C0 is C1, the supreme mandate constituting the single axiom of the framework: all things must change. A state that never changes constitutes a fixed point, and a perfectly symmetrical, static void is the ultimate fixed point. Because C1 strictly forbids the existence of any state lacking a legal successor, the void cannot sustain itself. Something is not miraculously added to nothing; rather, "something" is the precise mathematical shape of nothingness failing to hold still. This exact intersection between the singularity and the mandate produces the gap, the permanent interstice between a thing and its description. When C1 acts upon the gapless singularity of C0, it cannot yield a single distinct object. A lone, self-identical unit with no complement is indistinguishable from the absence of a mark, forming another fixed point that the C1 axiom aggressively forbids. Consequently, the first forced distinction must intrinsically possess two sides. Two is the absolute floor of numerical counting; the concept of "one" exists only a posteriori, as a singular side of a pre-existing dual relationship. In this substrate, numbers do not exist as freestanding objects but function as the negative space of the constraint structure—the discrete gaps within the singularity. Integers map basic gap positions, prime numbers represent fresh orthogonal axes forced open where no finite composition of existing variables can satisfy the requirement of systemic distinction, and transcendental irrationals, such as
π and the golden ratio
ϕ, define the geometry of constraints that integer combinations can never perfectly close. The Constraint Cascade: A Radial Field-Setting Protocol The application of C1 to C0 generates a strict logical sequence of subsequent rules, termed the Constraint Cascade. It is a critical theoretical error to conceptualize this cascade as a temporal timeline of chronological productions, where one law waits for time to pass before enacting the next. Rather, the cascade operates as a radial field-setting protocol, functioning as a series of concentric rings expanding outward from the central hub of C0
≡ C1. Each subsequent constraint does not follow in time; it opens an additional mathematical degree of freedom through which the identical, invariant cross-section of the singularity becomes readable. The derivations within the cascade carve a "mold," permanently fixing the topology of what can structurally exist while remaining rigorously silent on the specific numerical values—the "matter" or initial conditions—that eventually settle into the resulting cavities. This distinction resolves the long-standing failure mode of foundational physics, which frequently attempts to derive free parameters that are fundamentally environmentally contingent. Cascade Node Statement of Logical Constraint The Structural Carving (Mold) Forced by the Constraint C0
≡ C1 The Gap and the Axiom The permanent interstice; enables distinction. Mandates change and strictly forbids static fixed points. C2 Infinite degrees of freedom C1 applied to a finite substrate must eventually repeat (pigeonhole principle). To avoid the repetition of fixed points, possibility space must be unbounded. Law 2 No fixed locations Because the field is unbounded, no matter may permanently hold a location without the potential to be displaced. Mandatory displaceability ensures dynamic circulation. C3 All change is equal C2 privileges no channel. If change cost differed, cheap channels would saturate instantly, breaking C2. Cost is strictly isotropic, deriving the equal a priori probability postulate. Law 3 Conservation of change Net change across any closed boundary is zero. Every transformation requires a displaced counter-transformation. A displaced pair propagating oppositely is fundamentally a wave. C4 Exchange requires a medium A displaced pair's obligation must be carried across the displacement gap, or it never closes. The continuous field acts as the carrier of live pairings. C5 Symmetry must break A perfect, unbroken vacuum is a stable fixed point. C1 executes it. The vacuum is mathematically forced to spontaneously select a broken configuration. Law 4 Statistics fixed by parity Even-parity closures share a degree of freedom (bosons); odd-parity closures, crossing the seam, cannot (fermions). Exactly two particle species exist. This cascade forms the foundational architecture of the universe's mechanics. The physical laws governing macroscopic reality are not arbitrary rules imposed upon the universe from an external geometric vantage point, but the inevitable geometric shadows of this underlying field. Newton's Third Law of equal and opposite reaction is derived directly from C3; the reaction is forced simply because there is physically nowhere else for the conserved change variable to migrate within a strictly isotropic space. The conservation of momentum is a necessary topological boundary condition of Law 3's required counter-transformation displacement. The Meta-Theorem of Incompletion Crucially, the framework generates a strict meta-theorem regarding its own epistemological limits: the constraint cascade does not and cannot terminate. If the sequence were to terminate at a hypothetical
Ck, the set
{C0,…,Ck} would constitute a complete, closed descrip