Sequential Time Theory: From Time Metrology to Higgs Mechanism - A Metrological Audit of the Standard Model

Sequential Time Theory (STT) provides a metrological foundation for physics, defining time through operational procedures rather than as a geometric coordinate. STT CR (Metrological Completion of Relativity) established a formal framework: Physics ≡ (STT-Core → Bridge → L1) → $\Theta_{sys}$ Physical Systems, where L1 is the formal language of dynamics, L2 (STT-Core) is the operational definition of time, and $\Theta_{sys}$ is the mapping rule to specific physical systems. This paper applies this framework to audit the Standard Model ($\Theta_{SM}$), focusing on the Higgs mechanism. We propose that mass is not a primitive quantity but is defined through the time unit process: $m \equiv h/(c^2 \cdot \Delta Q_{unit})$. From Bridge axiom B4 (local calibration consistency), we derive that mass must be determined by a spatially uniform Lorentz-scalar quantity. From metrological constraints on $\Delta Q_{unit}$—positivity (C1), finiteness (C2), and statistical reproducibility (C3)—together with an explicit minimality assumption ($\Theta_{minimal}$), we derive the form of the Higgs potential $V(\phi) = -\mu^2|\phi|^2 + \lambda|\phi|^4$, where the derivation is conditional on the stated assumptions. We show that, for UV-complete fundamental descriptions, renormalizability is a metrological necessity: otherwise the operational distribution of clock-ticks becomes resolution-dependent in a way that cannot be removed by finitely many calibrations (violating C3 and B4). Effective-field descriptions can still satisfy C3 within a finite resolution window. Finally, we present a testable prediction distinguishing STT from standard quantum mechanics: intrinsic clock fluctuations scale as $\sigma_Q \propto 1/m^2$, predicting $\sigma_Q^{(e)}/\sigma_Q^{(\mu)} \approx m_{\mu}/m_e \approx 2.07 \times 10^2$ for electrons versus muons.