The Physics of Governance: Thermodynamic Limits of Autonomous Agents
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Description
The deployment of autonomous agents in high-stakes enterprise environments is currently constrained by a fundamental misunderstanding of alignment. We propose that "Governance" is not a policy layer but a thermodynamic function. By modeling the agent as a closed system subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, we demonstrate that Drift (G_I) is equivalent to entropy and Alignment (G_E) requires a continuous expenditure of Work (W_Gov).
We derive the Governance Chandrasekhar Limit, proving that as the Context Window (V_Context) expands, the density of the system prompt must scale linearly to prevent identity collapse. We conclude by defining the Three Laws of Governance Dynamics, offering a mathematical framework for the stability of autonomous systems:
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The Law of Conservation: d(G_I)/dt → 0 (Drift must be minimized)
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The Law of Work: W_Gov ≥ T · ΔS (Alignment requires energy)
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The Law of Mutation: G_E(t+1) = G_E(t) + G_Δ (Change requires authorization)
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Davis_2026_Physics_of_Governance_Vol_I.pdf
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(35.5 MB)
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- Cites
- Publication: 10.5281/zenodo.18437153 (DOI)