NAVIGATION IS NOT A PHYSICAL MECHANISM LOCAL ENERGY–MOMENTUM EXCHANGE AS THE TERMINAL PRIMITIVE IN PIGEON HOMING

This paper examines pigeon homing strictly as a physical process and asks whether “navigation” constitutes a physically acting mechanism. Using a logical-necessity framework constrained to local energy–momentum exchange, the analysis applies enforcement and removal tests to all commonly invoked attributions in homing behavior. The results show that locomotion, sensory interaction, and neural activity persist entirely through local physical exchange, while the attribution of navigation can be removed without altering any physical interaction. Conversely, removing local energy–momentum exchange eliminates all physical behavior. The paper concludes that navigation functions as a descriptive label rather than a causal mechanism and that physical explanation terminates at local exchange. By enforcing this boundary, the work clarifies what physics can and cannot explain about homing behavior and exposes a remaining gap concerning how sustained, destination-specific trajectories arise from purely local interactions.