journal: Preferred Frame publication_type: article title: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance doi: 10.5281/zenodo.17613402 concept_doi: 10.5281/zenodo.17613401 permalink: "https://preferredframe.com/prints/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/" publication_date: '2025-11-14' publication_year: '2025' keywords: - cause-effect - emergent time - emergent distance - subnodes - order - stable Node one_sentence_summary: A single stable Node with incomputable internal structure yields emergent time from cause-effect ordering and distance from causal step counts. abstract: We present a framework in which reality emerges from a single, stable Node possessing an incomputable internal structure. This Node is fundamentally unchanging in total energy, yet contains subnodes capable of creating cause-effect relationships. These relationships define an ordering of "before" and "after"-which we interpret as time. Distance likewise emerges by counting the number of causal steps required for a subnode i to affect a subnode j. When access to j is indirect or nonexistent, a round-trip chain of cause and effect within the same subnode can serve to define both a clock and a notion of distance. Despite its minimal assumptions, this scheme remains consistent with the idea that space, time, and measurement originate from interactions internal to a stable underlying structure. authors: - name: Anes Palma - name: An M. Rodriguez orcid: 0009-0009-9098-9468 email: an@preferredframe.com references_doi: - https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500410004144X - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.521 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.237901 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1992.tb17083.x - https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.35753.30569 zenodo_metadata: upload_type: publication publication_type: article title: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance creators: - name: Anes Palma - name: An M. Rodriguez orcid: 0009-0009-9098-9468 email: an@preferredframe.com description: We present a framework in which reality emerges from a single, stable Node possessing an incomputable internal structure. This Node is fundamentally unchanging in total energy, yet contains subnodes capable of creating cause-effect relationships. These relationships define an ordering of "before" and "after"-which we interpret as time. Distance likewise emerges by counting the number of causal steps required for a subnode i to affect a subnode j. When access to j is indirect or nonexistent, a round-trip chain of cause and effect within the same subnode can serve to define both a clock and a notion of distance. Despite its minimal assumptions, this scheme remains consistent with the idea that space, time, and measurement originate from interactions internal to a stable underlying structure. notes: A single stable Node with incomputable internal structure yields emergent time from cause-effect ordering and distance from causal step counts. keywords: - cause-effect - emergent time - emergent distance - subnodes - order - stable Node journal_title: Preferred Frame publisher: name: Preferred Frame publication_year: '2025' date: '2025-11-14' license: cc-by-4.0 related_identifiers: - relation: isIdenticalTo identifier: "https://preferredframe.com/prints/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.html" resource_type: publication-article - relation: isIdenticalTo identifier: "https://preferredframe.com/prints/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.md" resource_type: publication-article - relation: isIdenticalTo identifier: "https://assets.preferredframe.com/preferredframe/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.pdf" resource_type: publication-article - relation: cites identifier: https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500410004144X resource_type: publication-article - relation: cites identifier: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.521 resource_type: publication-article - relation: cites identifier: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.237901 resource_type: publication-article - relation: cites identifier: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1992.tb17083.x resource_type: publication-article - relation: cites identifier: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.35753.30569 resource_type: publication-article communities: - identifier: preferredframe prereserve_doi: true source: repo_origin: git@github.com:siran/research.git commit: 114cde545019e66d5ecbb108e930133a4cb9c63c filename: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.md artifacts: md: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.md md_url: "https://preferredframe.com/prints/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.md" pandoc_md_name: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.pandoc.md pandoc_md_url: "https://preferredframe.com/prints/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.pandoc.md" pdf_name: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.pdf pdf_url: "https://assets.preferredframe.com/preferredframe/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.pdf" html_name: A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.html html_url: "https://preferredframe.com/prints/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance/10.5281/zenodo.17613402/A Cause-Effect Model for Emergent Time and Distance.html" primary: md