Baryon Asymmetry (Why Do We Exist?) Through the Lens of GCST Global Complexity–Stability Theory as a Thermodynamic Generalization of the Sakharov Conditions

Abstract Standard cosmology predicts equal production of matter and antimatter in the early Universe, which should have annihilated completely, leaving only radiation. Yet we observe a tiny baryon asymmetry η = n_b / n_γ ≈ 6 × 10⁻¹⁰ — one extra baryon per billion particle–antiparticle pairs — allowing atoms, stars, and life to exist. Global Complexity–Stability Theory (GCST) interprets this asymmetry not as an ad-hoc CP-violating parameter, but as the inevitable outcome of a Rate-Induced Transition when the complexity growth rate α overwhelmed the symmetric recovery capacity γ. The stability index dropped below 1 during a brief “instability window” (electroweak phase transition era, t ≈ 10⁻¹² s), forcing irreversible accumulation of structural debt D in the form of excess baryons. GCST generalizes the Sakharov conditions: baryon number violation, CP violation, and departure from equilibrium are necessary but not sufficient — the thermodynamic trigger is the transient G < 1 regime that selects the direction of debt accumulation.