Collapse is packaging, not a new law
Recasts quantum "collapse" as a packaging step: quantum objects become definite when a stable record forms, not through a mysterious new physical law.
The paper applies Six Birds Theory to quantum foundations by treating record formation as the key packaging step. When a measurement apparatus creates a stable, irreversible record, the quantum state is compressed into definite outcomes. This compression is idempotent (collapsing twice changes nothing further) and its fixed points are exactly the "classical" states. The paper formalizes this in Lean 4, then tests it with reproducible simulations: dephasing, double-slit interference with quantum eraser, and a full system-apparatus-environment measurement model.
Collapse is a closure, not a new dynamical law.
- Ioannis Tsiokos
Collapse is packaging
When a stable record forms, the quantum state is compressed to definite outcomes. Compressing twice changes nothing further. This is what "collapse" is: a closure, not a new physical law.
Context dependence is structural
Different measurement setups define different record bases. These do not commute: measuring spin-z then spin-x gives a different result than the reverse. This is route mismatch, not mystery.
Controlled demonstrations
Double-slit interference, quantum eraser, and full measurement models each isolate a specific aspect of record formation.
Machine-checked core
The key mathematical lemmas (quotient structures and closure properties) are verified in Lean 4.
Core lens
What is observable
Record interface
A lens specifies which distinctions count as stable records at this descriptive layer. Everything else is "quantum" (not yet definite).
How objects form
Packaging closure
An idempotent compression: apply it once and quantum states become definite records. Apply it again and nothing changes. The fixed points are exactly the classical states.
How to test
Mismatch diagnostics
Different record bases define different compressions. When these do not commute, the mismatch is measurable. This exposes context dependence without invoking extra causation.
Highlighted results
Dephasing is perfectly idempotent
Removing off-diagonal quantum coherences in a chosen basis is exactly idempotent. The fixed points are precisely the classical (diagonal) states.
Mismatch depends on measurement basis
When the Hamiltonian is diagonal in the record basis, mismatch is near zero. For a generic (non-aligned) basis, mismatch is large.
Which-path records control interference
In the double-slit model, interference visibility fades continuously as which-path record overlap decreases. A quantum eraser restores fringes by conditioning on retained records.
Cat model separates description layers
The global quantum state can remain nearly pure while the packaged record-level description is a classical mixture. There is no contradiction: "alive" and "dead" are layer-relative.
Methods and reproducibility
Sanity checks
Media-ready
The repository regenerates all figures, mismatch metrics, and record-basis sweeps from configuration files.
- Double-slit interference and quantum eraser simulations
- Full measurement model and Schrodinger cat diagnostics
- Mismatch sweeps across different measurement bases
Limitations and scope
Resources
Code and reproducibility
Lean anchors + Python simulations
Framework paper landing page
Six Birds: Foundations of Emergence Calculus
Request the preprint
DOI pending
Access
Preprint release with DOI pending.
Citation
Ioannis Tsiokos (2026). A Six-Birds' Eye View of Quantum Theory: Defining Objects by What We Can Distinguish, Not What We Imagine. Preprint.
BibTeX
@misc{tsiokos2026quantum,
title = {A Six-Birds' Eye View of Quantum Theory: Defining Objects by What We Can Distinguish, Not What We Imagine},
author = {Tsiokos, Ioannis},
year = {2026},
note = {Preprint, DOI pending}
}Press and contact
For media inquiries, figures, or walkthroughs of the artifacts, reach out directly.
Ioannis Tsiokos
ioannis@automorph.io
Corresponding author - Press contact