Relational Dissipation Selects Time in Quantum Gravity

The canonical program of quantum cosmology is hindered by a timeless Wheeler–DeWitt equation and a classical big-bang singularity. I show that both obstacles are removed by adding a single, physically motivated dissipative term—parametrized by an experimentally anchored constant χ—to the metric-affine action of general relativity. The resulting modified Einstein equations select the cosmological scale factor as an intrinsic clock, converting the Wheeler–DeWitt constraint into a first-order evolution law. Near the origin this same term lifts the minisuperspace potential, replacing the singularity with a finite “Dynergic bounce” at ≈ 1.3 ℓ_P. At strong-field scales it predicts an ℓ-linear excess damping of high-multipole black-hole quasinormal modes, a distinctive signature within reach of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Thus time, singularity resolution, and observable ring-down phenomenology emerge as linked consequences of the single parameter χ, providing an experimentally testable foothold for quantum gravity.