The Discrete Nature of Time: A Causal Interaction Framework

ABSTRACT { We derive the discreteness of time from two empirically established results of Einstein (1905): the photoelectric effect (energy is quantized) and special relativity (time is relative). The derivation is algebraic: E = hf and E = mc² yield f = mc²/h and T = h/mc², establishing a mass-dependent minimum temporal resolution for any discrete energy packet. Combined with a principle of ontological parsimony that excludes unobservable continuous background time, this yields the central claim: time does not exist as a continuous substrate — it emerges as the discrete sequence of causal interaction events between energy packets. The framework generates a complete temporal ontology: the past is the absolute, immutable record of resolved events; the present is the local interface of causal resolution; the future is the genuinely open space of unresolved possibilities. Compatibility with special relativity is total; general relativity is partially superseded (quantitative predictions preserved, ontology replaced); statistical thermodynamics is superseded at the foundational level; quantum mechanics is compatible and extended. Three falsifiable predictions are stated: (1) a dual-regime discrete time signature (local T = h/mc² and universal t_Planck), (2) thermal gradient time dilation beyond GR predictions, and (3) finite maximum event density (no singularities). The derivability of fundamental constants (c, ħ, α) as geometric invariants of the discrete interaction structure is identified as a conjecture with known attack vectors, with α deferred to a separate paper. axiom_count: 2 (+ 1 postulate, 1 methodological principle) theorem_count: 6 prediction_count: 3 (falsifiable) + 1 (qualitative) new_definitions: 4 pages_equivalent: ~50 (Format A density)}摘要： 我们基于爱因斯坦1905年的两项经实验证实的研究成果，推导出时间的离散性：其一为光电效应（能量量子化），其二为狭义相对论（时间具有相对性）。本次推导采用代数路径：由E = hf与E = mc²可推导出f = mc²/h与T = h/mc²，由此为任意离散能量包确立了依赖于质量的最小时间分辨率。结合“排除不可观测的连续背景时间”的本体论简约原则，我们得到核心论断：时间并非作为连续基底而存在，而是作为能量包之间因果相互作用事件的离散序列涌现而来。 该框架构建了一套完整的时间本体论：过去是已解算事件的绝对且不可变的记录；当下是因果解算的局域界面；未来则是未被解算的可能性构成的真正开放空间。本框架与狭义相对论完全兼容；对广义相对论（General Relativity，简称GR）则实现了部分取代（定量预测得以保留，本体论框架完成替换）；在基础层面取代了统计热力学；同时兼容量子力学并对其进行了拓展。 本文提出三项可证伪预言：（1）双区域离散时间特征（局域时间T = h/mc²与普朗克时间t_Planck）；（2）超出广义相对论预测范围的热梯度时间膨胀；（3）有限最大事件密度（不存在奇点）。我们将“基本常数（c、ħ、α）可作为离散相互作用结构的几何不变量推导得出”视为一项存在已知研究路径的猜想，其中关于α的相关内容将交由另一篇论文单独发表。 公理数：2（含1项公设、1项方法论原则） 定理数：6 预言数：3项可证伪预言 + 1项定性预言 新增定义数：4 等效页数：约50页（按A版式排版密度计算）