A Testable Information-Theoretic Origin of Dark Matter: Quantum Actualization as Cosmic Thermodynamic Record

We propose dark matter emerges from quantum information thermodynamics rather than new particles. The framework predicts Ω_DM = 0.29 ± 0.09 with zero fitted parameters, matching Planck observations (0.27 ± 0.01).

The derivation proceeds from: (1) census of cosmic decoherence events—hydrogen recombination at z ≈ 1100 and neutrino oscillations at z ≈ 0, (2) Landauer's principle for information-to-mass conversion (E = k_B T ln 2 per bit), (3) archival efficiency η ≈ 0.90 from Quantum Darwinism. Each input is either a fundamental constant or independently measured observable.

In the Cosmology of Time framework, dark matter is the thermodynamic record of quantum measurement history: archived information states persisting in spacetime as gravitational mass. This temporal duality—Dark Energy as the forward work of opening the future, Dark Matter as the backward record of archiving the past—resolves the coincidence problem naturally.

Key testable prediction: 3% secular decline in Ω_DM from z = 0 to z = 3.5 creates distinctive suppression in structure growth rate (fσ_8) distinguishable from ΛCDM at 3σ significance. DESI Year 5 data (2028) and Euclid (2027–2030) will falsify or corroborate this prediction with high confidence.