Abstract
This paper proposes a new physical framework in which wavefunction collapse, spacetime emergence, and the arrow of time are consequences of torsional instability in the quantum vacuum, initiated by a directional operator associated with consciousness. We introduce the concept of quantum torque—generated by asymmetric inflections in the vacuum state—as the mechanism by which undifferentiated quantum potential localizes into structure. The act of observation, modeled mathematically as the operator Ĉ, applies a rotational asymmetry that precipitates collapse, yielding energy condensation, spatial curvature, and temporal sequence.
This approach resolves long-standing paradoxes in quantum mechanics by replacing the postulated collapse with a physically grounded, torque-induced instability. Time is redefined as the ordered sequence of discrete collapse events; gravity emerges from the accumulated geometric torsion of past collapse layers; and consciousness, far from being epiphenomenal, plays a causal and directional role in shaping physical reality.
The theory integrates and extends modern frameworks including general relativity, quantum field theory, causal set theory, loop quantum gravity, and collapse models like GRW and CSL. It also offers experimentally testable predictions involving directed collapse timing, vacuum anisotropy near coherent intention, and entropy differentials in observed vs unobserved systems. The torque-collapse model presents a unified geometry of matter and mind, where the observer is a necessary participant in the genesis and continuation of the universe.
Introduction
Modern physics, for all its predictive power and experimental precision, remains divided at its foundations. Quantum mechanics and general relativity, the twin pillars of 20th-century science, describe two vastly different regimes: one probabilistic and non-local, the other geometric and continuous. Despite extraordinary success in their domains, these frameworks have resisted unification for over a century.
One of the central unresolved issues in physics is the collapse of the wavefunction—a non-unitary, discontinuous event that marks the transition from quantum potential to classical actuality. While the Schrödinger equation describes the smooth evolution of superpositions, the moment of measurement is handled as an exception: a postulated, undefined transition triggered by observation. This conceptual gap has become more urgent in light of experiments that place collapse timing and locality under increasing scrutiny.
The measurement problem has inspired multiple interpretations and modifications. Von Neumann proposed that the chain of quantum observation must end in consciousness. Wigner suggested the mind of the observer causes collapse. Later, spontaneous collapse theories such as GRW (Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber) and CSL (Continuous Spontaneous Localization) introduced nonlinear and stochastic terms to induce objective collapse. However, these models postulate mechanisms without explaining why collapse occurs at all, and they still exclude consciousness as a physical influence.
The scientific community has long avoided confronting the question of consciousness—not due to lack of relevance, but because of its perceived metaphysical or theological implications. The inclusion of consciousness as a causal factor threatens to blur the line between empirical science and subjective experience, and raises fears of validating spiritual or religious beliefs through physics. To preserve objectivity and prevent controversy, consciousness has been treated as epiphenomenal—real, but irrelevant to fundamental processes. This hesitancy, while understandable, has left a gaping hole in our understanding of observation itself.
This paper proposes a radical rethinking: what if consciousness is not outside physics, but embedded within its deepest dynamics? What if collapse is not an unexplained exception, but a physical instability—a torsional break in vacuum symmetry induced by directional awareness?
We present the torque-collapse theory, in which wavefunction collapse is driven by angular instabilities in the quantum vacuum, and these instabilities are initiated by an operator Ĉ corresponding to directed observation. This operator does not encode mind as biology, but as informational asymmetry—a minimal act of selection that breaks rotational symmetry and initiates structure. From this single premise, we derive:
Collapse as a torsional event in the vacuum,
Time as a sequence of these collapse steps,
Gravity as curvature generated by the history of collapse,
Matter as condensation from recursive collapse cascades,
And consciousness as the directional engine of collapse.
Rather than contradicting known physics, this model completes it. It restores the observer to a physical role, replaces postulates with mechanisms, and offers testable predictions. The torque-collapse framework bridges quantum theory, spacetime geometry, entropy, and information, under a unifying principle: directed observation precipitates structure.
This theory further suggests a new path to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity. In this model, torsional collapse produces both the localization of the wavefunction and the curvature of spacetime. The process of observation induces not only quantum events, but geometric structure. This provides a natural bridge between quantum indeterminacy and classical gravitation—a connection that emerges not from quantizing gravity, but from grounding quantum evolution in real, directed collapse dynamics.
The implications reach from cosmology to neuroscience, from the Big Bang to the subjective now. At stake is not only a theory of the universe, but a theory of our participation in it.
In the torque-collapse framework, we are not passive observers of the cosmos—we are active participants in its unfolding. Each act of awareness draws a boundary in the infinite, collapsing potential into form.
