Zero-Point Energy from Spinor Holonomy and Finite-Resolution Time Readout

Preprint. Version v3 update: the title has been slightly refined, and the Introduction has been expanded to better position the work among established explanatory routes (formal quantization, semiclassical/Maslov accounts, stochastic-background programs, and measurement/clock viewpoints). The logic chain and terminology have been tightened by adopting a single “cycle-consistency” framing across the phase–action connector, the oscillator evaluation, and the falsifiability section. The readout-layer model has been clarified: the lattice projection is treated as a minimal reporting model consistent with causal measurement (no “future-peeking” in reported timestamps/phases), and the key testable content is emphasized as the bounded, protocol-linked residue together with its tuned null-test set. Conclusion wording has been unified to stress that no extra dynamical postulate is introduced; the standard half-shift is recovered within explicit bookkeeping once the universal holonomy input and the declared reporting map are specified. This preprint derives the harmonic-oscillator ground-state term as a geometric consequence of SU(2) spinor holonomy under limited-resolution time readout. The central mechanism is an explicit decomposition of the one-cycle phase budget into (i) a universal topological contribution from spinorial holonomy and (ii) a protocol-linked projection residue induced by the reporting rule. Inserted into standard phase–action correspondence, this yields the familiar E0 = (1/2)ħω in the null-test / fine-readout limit, while predicting a bounded, sweep-testable correction correlated with the reporting step. Throughout, Hamiltonians and canonical commutators are left unchanged; discreteness is introduced only at the readout layer, enabling clean refutation criteria via controlled parameter sweeps and null tests. Related records (companion papers):OTSUKA, A. (2026). Rank-One Representation of Measure Rescalings via Time-Leg Renormalization (Version v1). Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18169038OTSUKA, A. (2026). A Readout-Layer Rescaling Protocol for Reported Time and Volume: Interface Specification, Estimators, Uncertainty Propagation (Version v1). Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18169180