Temporal Rate Ontology: A Programmatic Overview of a Succession-Based Framework for Physical Foundations

Temporal Rate Ontology (TRO) proposes a non geometric framework for the foundations of physics in which the primitive structure of reality is an asymmetric relation of temporal succession among events. In contrast to standard spacetime ontologies, spacetime geometry, temporal rates, and spatial relations are treated as representational encodings of coordination patterns within a growing network of succession relations.

This paper presents a programmatic overview of the TRO framework. Its aim is not to derive a complete physical theory but to articulate the conceptual architecture of the program and to identify the structural conditions under which heterogeneous temporal behavior, structural entropy, and geometric representation can be consistently defined within a succession based ontology.

The framework is organized around four central elements: the primacy of succession, the representational status of geometry, a global consistency constraint prohibiting cyclic succession, and a selection principle based on maximal continuation freedom. The latter is formulated as a stochastic rule over admissible extensions defined in terms of finite horizon continuation multiplicity.

A minimal constructive realization is provided, demonstrating that continuation multiplicity, structural complexity, and effective temporal rates are well defined and computable within constrained directed acyclic growth models. This establishes that continuation based selection mechanisms are both mathematically well posed and structurally nontrivial.

The result is a unified presentation of a succession based research program that combines a clear ontological foundation with a concrete formal and computational pathway for further development.

Related works:

Geometry as Representation (2026a): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18805176  
Formalizing Freedom (2026b): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18605770  
Finite-Horizon Growth Model (2026c): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18976908  
Falsifiability Analysis (2026f): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18659327