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Measurement-Induced Temporal Geometry

High Energy Physics - Theory 2025-07-08 v1 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We propose a unified theoretical framework, Measurement-Induced Temporal Geometry (MTG), in which time, causality, and spacetime geometry emerge from quantum measurement acting on a fiber-valued internal time field. Each spacetime point supports a local degree of freedom τ\tau, modeled as a smooth section of a fiber bundle π:EM\pi: E \to M, with projection events μ[τ]\mu[\tau] generating classical temporal flow. Quantum coherence and entanglement are encoded in the curvature F=2F = \nabla^2 of a connection on the time-fiber, while the effective spacetime metric gμνeffg_{\mu\nu}^{\mathrm{eff}} arises as an integral over measurement histories. We derive the dynamical equations governing τ\tau, its supersymmetric completions, and the entanglement connection AμA_\mu, showing how quantization proceeds via both canonical and path-integral methods. Standard Model fields couple covariantly to the fiber geometry, and gravitational dynamics emerge from variational principles over projection-induced entropy. Cosmological inflation, dark energy, and large-scale structure are reinterpreted as consequences of modular coherence, topological obstruction, and fluctuations in the projection density ρ(x)\rho(x). Within the AdS/CFT correspondence, MTG reinterprets modular Hamiltonians as boundary projections of bulk time flow and identifies entanglement wedges with surfaces minimizing measurement-induced projection current. A UV-complete embedding arises through string theory, where τ\tau descends from compactified moduli and projection corresponds to brane interaction and spontaneous supersymmetry breaking. The framework yields a set of falsifiable predictions, including CMB anisotropies, black hole ringdown echoes, and modular deviations in lab-scale quantum systems, offering a consistent and testable account of spacetime as an emergent property of quantum measurement.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.04514,
  title  = {Measurement-Induced Temporal Geometry},
  author = {James C. Hateley},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.04514},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T03:48:35.276Z