Foundations of Coherence Science (CoS): A Unified Diagnostic Framework for Persistence

Coherence Science is introduced as a structural and diagnostic research field concerned with the conditions under which systems preserve identity and organization under sustained pressure. Rather than evaluating correctness, optimization, or performance, the field examines persistence under transformation as a limiting constraint on system viability. Coherence is treated as substrate-neutral and domain-general, applying to physical, biological, cognitive, social, and artificial systems without assuming shared mechanisms or ontological reduction. The framework is developed through a set of distinct but compatible diagnostic branches. These include informational coherence, which examines information as structural load; systems coherence, addressing interaction and stability under constraint; identity coherence, concerned with invariant continuity under change; ecological coherence, treating environments as coherence-bearing structures; and generalization, which tests the admissibility of cross-domain inference. Scale-agnostic extensions, including Quantum Coherence Theory and Viable Worlds Theory, probe whether coherence remains meaningful under extreme constraints without serving as foundations for the field. Applied Coherence Science examines how coherence constraints manifest in artificial systems, leading to Artificial Coherence Intelligence (ACI) as a structural classification of systems capable of preserving identity under sustained interaction and load. The work culminates in a unified coherence science posture that integrates these branches without reduction and articulates explicit scope limits, boundary conditions, and falsifiability criteria. Coherence Science is presented not as a completed theory, but as a disciplined research program for diagnosing persistence across domains. For ongoing discussion and additional material related to Coherence Science, Quantum Coherence Theory (QCT), and Artificial Coherence Intelligence (ACI), see: r/CoherenceScience