# Cosmic-Time Generative Presentism (CTGP) — Explained

Part 21 of 26 (1,644 words)

Proposition 17.18 (Emergent Status of σ Near Planck Scale). For curvature invariants satisfying

|R_{μνρσ}| ≪ M_{Pl}^2, σ exists as a smooth temporal scalar field whose level sets are spacelike

Cauchy hypersurfaces, given by cosmological time as in §§6.1–6.3. Near Planck curvature, the smooth

representation may break down; CTGP then treats σ as the continuum image of an underlying growth

ordering variable, with causal-set counting as the preferred candidate discrete realization. CTGP is

therefore fundamental at the ordering level, not necessarily at the smooth-manifold level: the

smooth σ-field is emergent in the classical regime, and singular classical regions mark breakdown of

the continuum representation rather than breakdown of temporal ordering itself. This avoids a false

dichotomy between “σ is fundamental as a smooth field everywhere” and “CTGP fails wherever classical

GR fails.” □



Proposition 17.19 (Bridge-Model Identifiability Conditions). Let q = Θ F(X) represent a candidate

mapping from physiological state vector X to phenomenological proxy q. The mapping is empirically

meaningful for CTGP’s psychophysical research program only if: (1) it generalizes to held-out

subjects not used in fitting; (2) it remains predictive after nuisance regression controlling for

arousal, task difficulty, medication status, and global signal; (3) it retains predictive power

under causal perturbation (TMS, anesthesia, sleep-stage shifts, focal lesions); (4) nested model

comparison suggests CTGP-style substrate-sensitive models outperform purely functional baselines;

(5) a primary endpoint is pre-registered. These criteria convert the mapping problem from an

unfalsifiable metaphysical claim into a testable research program. Note that identifiability in this

strong sense is required for the psychophysical extension of Appendix D but is not a prerequisite

for the core spacetime ontology of the main text, which stands on its own physics and philosophy-of-

physics merits. □



Definition 17.20 (Tense Semantics). Let W_σ denote the present world at stage σ, and for σ′ < σ let

Had(σ′, φ) denote the primitive property *having been, at stage σ′, such that φ* (§5.2.1), where φ

ranges over non-tensed propositions.



    (a) *Truth condition.* “At σ′ it was the case that φ” is true at σ iff W_σ instantiates Had(σ′,

    φ).



    (b) *Accuracy condition.* For every σ′ < σ, W_σ instantiates Had(σ′, φ) iff W_σ′ ⊨ φ.



    (c) *Representation.* M(σ) = ⋃_{σ′<σ} Σ_{σ′} is the formal representation of the history carried

    by the present world’s past-tensed profile. For each σ′ < σ, the represented stage Σ_{σ′}

    satisfies φ in M(σ) exactly when W_σ instantiates Had(σ′, φ).



    (d) *Asymmetry.* W_σ instantiates no property grounded in a future stage, since no stage Σ_{σ″}

    with σ″ > σ exists.



Corollary 17.21 (Nesting). For σ < σ″, M(σ) ⊂ M(σ″).



Proof. Every stage in ⋃_{σ′<σ} Σ_{σ′} also lies in ⋃_{σ′<σ″} Σ_{σ′}. Nesting is a property of the

formal representation; it does not imply that earlier stages continue to exist. □



Proposition 17.22 (No Revision of the Past). For σ < σ″ and every σ′ < σ, Σ_{σ′} satisfies φ in M(σ)

iff Σ_{σ′} satisfies φ in M(σ″).



Proof. By (c) and (b), Σ_{σ′} satisfies φ in M(σ) iff W_σ instantiates Had(σ′, φ) iff W_σ′ ⊨ φ. The

same chain holds with σ″ in place of σ. □



Proposition 17.22 is the formal counterpart of the claim in §5.2.1 that losing a record does not

change what happened. Records can degrade between σ and σ″; the represented history of every earlier

stage cannot.



Proposition 17.23 (Surface-Relative Cosmological Time). Let (M, g) be globally hyperbolic and S a

spacelike Cauchy surface, and let τ_S be the signed Lorentzian distance from S (§6.10.1). Then on

each side of S, τ_S is the cosmological time of that region with S as its past (respectively future)

boundary; it is finite, tends to zero on approach to S, and its level sets are Cauchy surfaces.

Consequently σ = F(τ_S), with F strictly increasing, is an admissible generation parameter through

S. In an exact FLRW universe with a single bounce, taking S to be the surface of zero mean curvature

at the bounce makes τ_S cosmic time measured from the bounce.



Proof sketch. Restrict to the open region I⁺(S), itself globally hyperbolic. Every past-inextendible

causal curve in it approaches S, and J⁻(p) ∩ J⁺(S) is compact for each p, so the supremum defining

τ_S(p) is finite and τ_S → 0 along curves approaching S: the cosmological time of I⁺(S) is regular.

Theorem 17.4 then applies to that region, and the same argument with time reversed applies to I⁻(S).

□



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