Abstract CHRONONmration that treats the Chronon Field hypothesis as a strictly operational question: after full General Relativity (GR) subtraction, do modern precision platforms leave a reproducible, gauge-safe residual compatible with a local tempo field Φ (x) (and an associated loss/decoherence rate Γ (x) )? This document does not argue for Φ (x). It locks a falsifiable test, defines what would kill the signal, and specifies how to avoid self-deception through endpoint locking, blinding, veto logic, and adversarial null tests. The primary observable is a dimensionless signed slope εΦ obtained from vertical clock comparisons using GR-subtracted residuals only. Conventions such as dτ=Φ−1 (x) dtd=^-1 (x) \, dtdτ=Φ−1 (x) dt are treated operationally; the registered endpoint depends only on Δ ln Φ (slopes) and remains invariant under the reciprocal convention Φ↔1/Φ 1/Φ↔1/Φ. Design sensitivity (order-of-magnitude): ∣εΦ∣95%∼10−4−10−3|_|₉₅\% 10^-4 - 10^-3∣εΦ∣95%∼10−4−10−3 depending on height spread, run count, and clock stability. Decision boundary: detection requires |z| ≥ 5 plus all pre-registered gates passing. Key points GR intact, residuals only: all admissible observables are defined after GR subtraction and known corrections. No metric replacement, no narrative before subtraction. Single primary endpoint: εΦ is the only claim-carrying quantity; everything else is secondary/diagnostic. Progressive Validation Gates (G1-G6): witness (Δh≈0), A/B inversion, link swaps, time-shift nulls, covariate veto, and ablation suite. Any hard failure freezes the pipeline and forces a publishable verdict. Blinding + frozen pipeline: hashes, locked configs, deviation log, and role separation (blinding owner vs analysis runner vs stats reviewer). Identifiability discipline: explicit separation between Φ (x) (tempo modulation) and Γ (x) (loss channel) to avoid “fit-anything” degeneracy. Replication-first packaging: schema, ledger, and reproducible artifacts (environment pinning, SHA-256, regenerated figures) so labs can publish PASS / FAIL / AUDIT cleanly. Quotation “If a slope survives GR subtraction, survives permutations and link swaps, survives time-shift nulls, and survives replication, then it earns the right to be discussed. ” Intended audience Metrology and experimental groups working on optical clocks, time-transfer links, relativistic geodesy, or precision synchronization. Skeptics/reviewers who want explicit kill criteria, locked endpoints, and systematics veto logic. Theorists interested in an operational tempo-like degree of freedom without modifying GR geometry. Open-science / reproducibility practitioners looking for an adversarial template. Outcome This preregistration is designed to produce a decisive outcome with minimal ambiguity: Either the integrity gates fail and the hypothesis is constrained or rejected at the front door, Or a GR-subtracted residual survives adversarial checks and justifies deeper staged tests. In both cases, the deliverable is the same: a cleaner, more reliable pipeline for precision time and frequency science - where claims are earned, not declared.
Benjamin Brécheteau (Mon,) studied this question.