Distinction and Observation - How Reality Becomes Observable

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Authors: Joshua Ross Gottlieb
Cited by: 0

Abstract

This paper develops a mathematical framework for analyzing how physical distinctions becomeobservable through restricted measurement interfaces. Rather than taking objects or entities as primitive, the framework begins with a more basicnotion: distinguishability within a state space. Observers interact with systems throughrestricted measurement interfaces, which expose only a subset of the underlying distinctionstructure. We show how stable structure arises when distinctions remain persistently discriminableunder dynamical evolution and across observational interfaces. This leads naturally to the conceptsof stable sectors, object-like sectors, relational emergence, and consensus versus divergenceacross systems of apertures. The framework is compatible with operational approaches to physics and is particularlyclose in spirit to measurement-restricted distinguishability in quantum information theory. Itis intended as an exploratory mathematical program for studying observation, emergence, andshared structure in systems where measurement access may be restricted or dynamically evolving.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Quantum Mechanics and Applications Philosophy and Theoretical Science Complex Systems and Dynamics

Publication details

Journal / source
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Publication date
13 March 2026
Language
EN