The core dilemma of modern physics stems from two unproven ontological presuppositions: that spacetime is an innate container preceding matter, and that matter is an entity composed of indivisible particles. These presuppositions have led to the fundamental split between general relativity and quantum mechanics, giving rise to a series of century-old unsolved problems such as wave-particle duality, the quantum measurement paradox, the nature of gravity, and dark matter and dark energy. Based on the sole unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession", this paper deduces a complete ontological system through pure a priori reasoning: the authentic physical world consists solely of one-dimensional successive rays and their transverse coupling relations; time is the successive extension of rays, space is the network of coupling relations, matter is the steady state of closed coupling, and all interactions are different manifestations of coupling actions. Particles are not authentically existing entities, but rather point-like endpoint phenomena presented in the observer's phenomenal world when two rays undergo an all-or-nothing coupling. Based on this framework, this paper uniformly explains all core phenomena in both the microscopic quantum domain and the macroscopic relativistic domain in one go, resolves all traditional physical paradoxes at the ontological level, achieves the ontological unification of the four fundamental forces, and proposes three falsifiable core predictions. This paper demonstrates that all theories of traditional physics are approximate descriptions of the authentic physical world at the phenomenal level, and their fundamental error lies in mistaking "coupling endpoints" for "primitive entities", thereby reversing the causal relationship. Cognitive Succession Ontology provides a logically consistent and universally unified ultimate foundation for physics.
The core dilemma of modern physics stems from two unproven ontological presuppositions: that spacetime is an innate container preceding matter, and that matter is an entity composed of indivisible particles. These presuppositions have led to the fundamental split between general relativity and quantum mechanics, giving rise to a series of century-old unsolved problems such as wave-particle duality, the quantum measurement paradox, the nature of gravity, and dark matter and dark energy. Based on the sole unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession", this paper deduces a complete ontological system through pure a priori reasoning: the authentic physical world consists solely of one-dimensional successive rays and their transverse coupling relations; time is the successive extension of rays, space is the network of coupling relations, matter is the steady state of closed coupling, and all interactions are different manifestations of coupling actions. Particles are not authentically existing entities, but rather point-like endpoint phenomena presented in the observer's phenomenal world when two rays undergo an all-or-nothing coupling. Based on this framework, this paper uniformly explains all core phenomena in both the microscopic quantum domain and the macroscopic relativistic domain in one go, resolves all traditional physical paradoxes at the ontological level, achieves the ontological unification of the four fundamental forces, and proposes three falsifiable core predictions. This paper demonstrates that all theories of traditional physics are approximate descriptions of the authentic physical world at the phenomenal level, and their fundamental error lies in mistaking "coupling endpoints" for "primitive entities", thereby reversing the causal relationship. Cognitive Succession Ontology provides a logically consistent and universally unified ultimate foundation for physics.
This work proposes a minimal ontological framework aimed at systematically resolving key conceptual paradoxes of contemporary physics. The central claim is that many foundational difficulties of twentieth- and twenty-first-century physics arise not from empirical anomalies or mathematical inconsistencies, but from a conflation of mathematical formalism with ontological interpretation. On the basis of a small set of minimal ontological axioms, the work addresses and resolves ten fundamental paradoxes, including wave–particle duality, the measurement problem and collapse, the arrow of time, irreversibility, quantization, the nature of gravity, cosmological origin, the finiteness of the Universe, the status of singularities, and the information paradox. The proposed framework introduces no new physical entities and does not modify existing physical equations. Instead, it imposes strict ontological constraints from which these phenomena follow as necessary consequences. The work does not present an alternative physical theory, but rather an ontological foundation explaining why modern physical theories are successful and why they encounter inherent explanatory limits.
The incompatibility between quantum mechanics and relativity is not a lack of technical details, but a fundamental one—they are each built on distinct local invariants: quantum mechanics relies on gauge invariance, while relativity is based on Lorentz invariance. Starting from different mountain feet, they naturally cannot converge at the summit. What physicists are truly seeking is a global, absolute, and simple invariant—one that can govern all physical phenomena and serve as the common source of all physical laws.This paper proposes the Axiom of Cosmic Uniqueness: all events, physical states, particle configurations, and interaction relationships in the universe are strictly unique, and there are no two identical forms of existence. From the perspective of group theory, this axiom is the ultimate invariant that physicists have long pursued—because the attribute of "everything is unique" remains unchanged regardless of any transformation applied (temporal evolution, spatial translation, rotation, gauge transformation, etc.).Based on this single axiom, this paper argues that:· The essence of time is the sequential unfolding of unique states, and the unidirectionality of the arrow of time is a direct inference of uniqueness;· The essence of space is the topological structure of causal correlations between unique events;· Causality possesses absolute necessity, and the "randomness" in quantum mechanics is a cognitive limitation rather than physical reality;· Probability has no physical reality and is purely an instrumental approximation under cognitive limitations—because the definition of probability relies on "repeatable experiments", a premise negated by the Axiom of Cosmic Uniqueness;· The paradox of the origin of life is thus resolved: the origin of life has already occurred, and no probabilistic explanation is needed under the Axiom of Cosmic Uniqueness—the so-called "extremely low probability" is a pseudo-problem arising from the misapplication of the concept of probability to unique historical events.This axiom requires no presupposition of any physical laws, particle properties, or spacetime frameworks, and achieves self-consistency solely through ontological logic. It is a more fundamental global invariant than Lorentz invariance and gauge invariance, and can govern the core laws of classical physics, quantum mechanics, relativity, and cosmic evolution—for all of them are branches growing from this common source.
The incompatibility between quantum mechanics and relativity is not a lack of technical details, but a fundamental one—they are each built on distinct local invariants: quantum mechanics relies on gauge invariance, while relativity is based on Lorentz invariance. Starting from different mountain feet, they naturally cannot converge at the summit. What physicists are truly seeking is a global, absolute, and simple invariant—one that can govern all physical phenomena and serve as the common source of all physical laws. This paper proposes the Axiom of Cosmic Uniqueness: all events, physical states, particle configurations, and interaction relationships in the universe are strictly unique, and there are no two identical forms of existence. From the perspective of group theory, this axiom is the ultimate invariant that physicists have long pursued—because the attribute of "everything is unique" remains unchanged regardless of any transformation applied (temporal evolution, spatial translation, rotation, gauge transformation, etc.). Based on this single axiom, this paper argues that: · The essence of time is the sequential unfolding of unique states, and the unidirectionality of the arrow of time is a direct inference of uniqueness; · The essence of space is the topological structure of causal correlations between unique events; · Causality possesses absolute necessity, and the "randomness" in quantum mechanics is a cognitive limitation rather than physical reality; · Probability has no physical reality and is purely an instrumental approximation under cognitive limitations—because the definition of probability relies on "repeatable experiments", a premise negated by the Axiom of Cosmic Uniqueness; · The paradox of the origin of life is thus resolved: the origin of life has already occurred, and no probabilistic explanation is needed under the Axiom of Cosmic Uniqueness—the so-called "extremely low probability" is a pseudo-problem arising from the misapplication of the concept of probability to unique historical events. This axiom requires no presupposition of any physical laws, particle properties, or spacetime frameworks, and achieves self-consistency solely through ontological logic. It is a more fundamental global invariant than Lorentz invariance and gauge invariance, and can govern the core laws of classical physics, quantum mechanics, relativity, and cosmic evolution—for all of them are branches growing from this common source.
License: CC BY-NC-ND 1. Introduction and epistemological framework Despite extraordinary empirical successes, modern natural science faces a fundamental explanatory gap. The General Theory of Relativity (GTR) describes the macroscopic structure of space, time and gravitation with unrivalled precision, whilst quantum mechanics (QM) governs the probabilistic laws of the microscopic world. However, both theoretical foundations are based on incompatible mathematical and ontological assumptions: GR assumes a continuous, deterministic space-time continuum; QM operates on discrete, non-local state spaces and is inextricably linked to the unsolved measurement problem. Holistic Information Theory (HIT) proposes a formal extension of the physical frame of reference. It begins one step prior to spatio-temporal localisation and poses the fundamental question regarding the a priori condition under which physical quantities can arise, be distinguished and measured in the first place. Every scientific description necessarily begins with a distinction; every distinction encodes a difference, and every difference is, at its core, pure information. From this methodological premise, GIT deduces that information is not a secondary product of biological evolution or technical data processing, nor is it merely a property of matter. Information is the primary ontological quantity of existence. Space, time, gravity, light, energy and matter are established as secondary forms of organisation and manifestation of an all-encompassing, evolutionary information process. In this system, cognition and physical manifestation are not passive processes, but active acts of information creation, initiated by a directed ‘question’ – understood as a physical interaction or systemic coupling.
As the two pillars of modern physics, relativity and quantum mechanics have both achieved overwhelming experimental success in their respective domains, yet they have never realized self-consistent unification at the underlying logical level. Most existing studies focus on the mathematical technical difficulties of quantum gravity, while generally neglecting the structural divergence of the core concepts of "observer" and "time" between the two theories. Through conceptual analysis and logical tracing, this paper points out that the observer in relativity is essentially a massless geometric coordinate marker with no intrinsic clock, which only undertakes the functions of event marking and reference frame mutual translation. It belongs to the object level concept within the classical world, and can be summarized as the translator of the ready-made world. The observer required by quantum mechanics is a physical entity that can trigger wave function collapse and carry the time metric benchmark. It is the logical premise for the generation of the observable classical world, belonging to the meta-level concept, and can be summarized as the legislator of the real world. The divergence between the two is not an isolated terminological difference. Its deep root lies in the completely heterogeneous presuppositions of the two theories on "time": time in quantum mechanics is a transcendental, uniform global background parameter "before the birth of clocks", that is, a "logical concept before measurement"; time in relativity is a local, operable relative metric result "after the birth of clocks", that is, a "logical concept of the classical deterministic motion world". As physical theories both belonging to the principle theory paradigm, both actively skip the construction of the physical ontology of time and directly presuppose the functional role of time, which eventually leads to the double logical dislocation of observer and time concepts. Relativity lacks the "first chapter" of deriving observers from the vacuum substrate, and quantum mechanics lacks the physical carrier definition of observers, which are essentially two manifestations of the same ontological gap. Metretics Dynamics (MD; formerly Time Field Theory, TFT) takes the scalar time field as the only physical ontology, defines mass as the local condensed state of the time field, and deduces the ontological proposition that "mass is the observer". It eliminates the absolute division between meta-level and object level from the ontological level, and reduces "global background time" and "local relative time" to the apparent forms of the same physical field under different condensation degrees. The continuous unitary evolution of the wave function corresponds to the uniform rhythmic flow of the time field in its diffuse state, while wave function collapse is essentially a local state mutation of the time field when coupled with a macroscopic mass condensate. Both processes are unified under the intrinsic dynamical laws of the time field. Within a unified framework, it simultaneously accommodates the metric anchor of quantum measurement and the coordinate mutual translation mechanism of relativity, providing a constructive ontological path for the conceptual compatibility of the two major theories.
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.