Unified Time-Sector Effective Field Theory

Unified Time-Sector Effective Field Theory | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Unified Time-Sector Effective Field Theory Behnam Dehghani This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7695888/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract We develop a time-sector effective field theory (EFT) in which time carries an internal orientation θ(x) ∈ [0, π/2) and a single positive lapse A(θ) entering a universal, time-only disformal coupling. In vacuum (θ = 0), the signal front remains luminal (under a mild UV analyticity assumption on retarded correlators), while all relativistic waves share the same leading quartic dispersion characterized by a single scale M disp , thereby avoiding photon-graviton speed splits. In interaction-dominated regimes (θ > 0), the same angle controls irreducible decoherence floors, general-relativity (GR)-subtracted clock residuals, and a far-observer horizon temperature rescaled by a ratio of lapses and the surface gravity. We provide an experiment-facing inference map spanning propagation, laboratory open-system platforms, clocks, and analogue horizons, and outline a cosmological extension where θ̄(t) interpolates between dark-energy-like, matter-like, and early-dark-energy-like phases. The framework is falsifiable across orthogonal channels, preserves post-Newtonian safety in vacuum, and organizes sector-universal constraints on quartic dispersion without introducing speed thresholds. Physical sciences/Physics/Astronomy and astrophysics Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Theoretical physics Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Thermodynamics Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7695888","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":520270437,"identity":"40a17fe9-51ac-4ea3-bf2d-d5ebdf56b634","order_by":0,"name":"Behnam Dehghani","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYeMM3YIMHABqQl5EC8Aw9I0WIM1pJAghaGxAYQiU+LOXvvsQc/cxhk+6Xbrz34ucMifX7Y4YdAW+zkdBuwa7HsOZdu2LuNwXjmnDPlhr1nJHI33k4zAGpJNjY7gMNhN3LMJHi3MSRuuJGTJsHbBtQyOwGk5UDiNlxa7r8xk/wL1LIfqEXyb5tEuuHs9A/4tdzgMZMG2yKRfkwaaEuCvHQOflsse3LMpGW3SRjPuJHDJi3bJmG4QTqn4ECCAW6/mLOfMZN8u81Gtn9G+jPJt2118vKz0zd/+FBhJ4dLCxRIADGPAcSpYJUGeJXDAPsDMCXfQJTqUTAKRsEoGEEAAGw7YVyo6eL0AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-5037","institution":"Intelitive Research Lab","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Behnam","middleName":"","lastName":"Dehghani","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-23 15:13:51","currentVersionCode":2,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7695888/v2","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7695888/v2","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92981160,"identity":"78b45138-b6fc-4b6d-891b-68dad22b89ce","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 19:31:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":3872045,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"main.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7695888/v2/939ed7c53a552a34aeea77ad.pdf"},{"id":92981159,"identity":"87f88d64-965b-4262-b4d2-71855252a53e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 19:31:26","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":3244,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"COMMSPHYS251581.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7695888/v2/c3b043624f9b1a5a93abb2b1.json"},{"id":92981716,"identity":"aec76c9b-ba51-4050-99da-7bd31663d466","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 19:47:35","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4556859,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"main.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7695888/v2_covered_7480feb4-9ae1-45b0-8898-4b8faf9f2ead.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"Unified Time-Sector Effective Field Theory","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7695888/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7695888/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"We develop a time-sector effective field theory (EFT) in which time carries an internal orientation θ(x) ∈ [0, π/2) and a single positive lapse A(θ) entering a universal, time-only disformal coupling. 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