A–B ONTOLOGY Existence · Life · Death · Local Entropy · Universal Harmony A Structural and Ontological Framework on the 1/137 Interface

This accepted manuscript is structurally governed by THE META-INDEX (Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18169167) This work proposes an ontological framework in which existence is defined not by static states or entities, but by directed transitions between potential (A) and realization (B). Life is described as the sustained capacity of A–B transitions to occur without collapse, while death corresponds to the interruption of this transition. The study builds upon the previously introduced A–B Point concept, which characterized A–B transitions at the level of behavior, consciousness, and lived systems. Rather than introducing a new model, the present work provides an ontological deepening at the physical level, addressing a fundamental question: why A–B transitions can occur in physical reality without producing instantaneous collapse, chaos, or annihilation. Within this framework, the fine-structure constant α ≈ 1/137 is not treated as a mystical or numerological value, nor as a replacement for physical laws. Instead, it is interpreted as the most precisely measured physical manifestation of a universal ontological interface principle—a coupling boundary that prevents direct A–B collision while allowing stable, directed realization. Without such an interface, neither ordered transitions, local entropy, nor life would be possible. Entropy is redefined accordingly. Rather than a global principle of decay, entropy is described here as a local and necessary transformation cost, arising from the dissolution of A’s identity as it becomes B. This ontological entropy is distinct from classical thermodynamic entropy and is fully compatible with open-system thermodynamics and Schrödinger’s conception of life as a locally ordered process within global entropy increase. The framework further generalizes the interface principle by identifying a family of physical constants (α, ħ, c, G) as scale-specific expressions of the same structural function: preventing different forms of collapse, instantaneous interaction, or causal rupture. In this view, α represents the most directly life-relevant and precisely measured interface, but not the sole one. This study does not seek to derive physical constants or replace existing theories. Its contribution lies in offering a structural ontology of transition, in which existence, life, entropy, and stability emerge from interface-mediated A–B realization.