The Covariant Emergence Principle: A Computational Heuristic for Quantum Gravity Ontology

This project introduces the "Covariant Emergence Principle" (CEP), a heuristic ontological razor for fundamental physics. The core argument is based on an information-theoretic criterion: "Coordination implies Emergence." We propose that any physical quantity (such as spacetime metric or relativistic mass) that requires intricate, synchronized transformations (covariance) to maintain consistency is, by definition, not a fundamental entity but a macroscopic effective description similar to thermodynamic temperature. Instead of viewing Lorentz covariance as a fundamental law, this framework treats it as a simplified "equation of state" for an underlying substrate. The associated manuscript provides a "Covariance-Coherence Complementarity Inequality" to quantify the computational cost of this emergent coordination, suggesting that the smooth geometry of spacetime is a result of complexity compression rather than a fundamental reality.