New Framework Proposes Spacetime as an Emergent Irreversible Information Process
zenodo.org
zenodo.org
The work spans over 440 pages and develops a fully formal theory in which spacetime is not assumed as a background structure, but emerges from irreversible information dynamics in networks of microscopic relational degrees of freedom. Using tools from differential geometry, stochastic processes, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and quantum field theory, EMSTI derives an effective metric, curvature, and Einstein field equations as theorems, rather than postulates. General Relativity appears as the macroscopic limit of a deeper dissipative structure, with a built-in thermodynamic arrow of time.
A central mathematical result of EMSTI is the emergence of geometry via diffusion and large-deviation theory (Varadhan’s formula), linking curvature directly to entropy production. The framework naturally reproduces key results of General Relativity while avoiding classical singularities, and it predicts a scale-dependent spectral dimension flowing from 2 (UV) to 4 (IR), a feature shared with several quantum gravity approaches. The theory is explicitly compared with GR, effective field theory, and string-inspired scenarios, positioning EMSTI as an alternative route to quantum gravity grounded in irreversibility rather than quantization of geometry itself.
Beyond formal structure, EMSTI is accompanied by empirical and computational tests, including a large-scale Bayesian analysis of galaxy rotation curves (SPARC database), where the theory reproduces observed dynamics without invoking particle dark matter, and derives testable predictions distinct from MOND and ΛCDM. The work also outlines falsifiable predictions in cosmology, gravitational waves, and temperature-dependent gravitational coupling.
EMSTI is presented as a unifying, mathematically rigorous program connecting General Relativity, quantum theory, thermodynamics, and information theory within a single coherent framework. The full manuscript, including derivations, proofs, numerical methods, and validation protocols, is openly available on Zenodo and intended for researchers in gravitational physics, mathematical physics, and foundations of quantum theory.
Access the full article: https://zenodo.org/records/17911993
The manuscript exceeds 400 pages and develops EMSTI as a first-principles theory, combining differential geometry, stochastic processes, large-deviation theory, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and effective field theory. In contrast to approaches that quantize a pre-existing spacetime manifold, EMSTI starts from a microscopic relational substrate governed by irreversible dynamics and derives macroscopic geometry as a statistical and thermodynamic limit.
At the core of the theory is a scalar coherence field, \xi(x,t), whose evolution is intrinsically dissipative. The geometry of spacetime emerges from the diffusion properties of this field through a generalized Varadhan-type metric construction, in which distances are defined by information flow rather than by an a priori metric. In this formulation, curvature, geodesics, and causal structure arise dynamically from entropy production and information gradients.
General Relativity appears in EMSTI as an effective large-scale limit. The Einstein field equations are recovered under well-defined coarse-graining assumptions, while additional scalar–tensor corrections emerge naturally at smaller scales. Importantly, irreversibility is built into the fundamental equations, providing a physical origin for the arrow of time that is absent in classical GR and only imposed externally in standard quantum gravity approaches.
The work positions EMSTI relative to existing frameworks in quantum gravity. Like string theory and asymptotic safety, EMSTI predicts a scale-dependent effective dimensionality of spacetime, flowing from lower dimensions in the ultraviolet to four dimensions in the infrared. Unlike string theory, however, EMSTI does not require extra spatial dimensions or a predefined background geometry. Instead, dimensional flow, curvature, and effective fields arise from statistical properties of the underlying information dynamics.
A distinctive result of the theory is the emergence of a universal thermodynamic efficiency bound, with numerical simulations showing convergence of the ratio \Delta I / \Delta E toward 2/\pi across a broad class of dynamical regimes. This quantity links information processing directly to energetic cost and plays a central role in the stability and self-organization of emergent geometry.
Beyond formal development, the manuscript includes empirical and computational validation programs. These include Bayesian fits to galactic rotation curves using the SPARC database, where EMSTI reproduces observed dynamics without introducing particle dark matter, and yields statistically significant improvements over Newtonian gravity. The theory also formulates falsifiable predictions in cosmology, gravitational wave propagation, and temperature-dependent gravitational coupling, distinguishing it from both ΛCDM and modified gravity phenomenologies.
EMSTI is presented as a foundational and unifying framework, not as a phenomenological patch. Its central claim is that spacetime, gravity, and time’s direction are emergent consequences of irreversible information dynamics, providing a common conceptual and mathematical language for General Relativity, quantum theory, and thermodynamics.
The complete manuscript, including full derivations, proofs, simulations, and appendices, is openly available on Zenodo under a Creative Commons license.
> networks of dissipative relational atoms
These aren't atoms in the usual sense, I take it?
These aren't atoms in the usual sense, I take it? Yes and no. Usual atoms act like relational atoms, as computing, machine learning or finance. All the math and physics has been fully explained.