Ternary Motion Theory

This theory describes the lowest layer of nature — Layer 0, the layer of motion units — andprovides a bottom-layer kinematic framework for heat, temperature, entropy productionand energy persistence. It is built from exactly three primitive notions: spin, translation,and collision. Temperature is axiomatically defined as the product of collision statistics:the collision frequency and the mean per-collision energy exchange — twofactors, neither of which can be omitted. The intensity factor is, in essence, thetranslational speed itself (higher speed implies stronger collisions); the frequencyfactor is the temporal density of collisions — the relation between number densityand frequency is absolutely proportional, while the relation between speed and frequency islisted as an open question (Q14). In equilibrium the intensity is locked to temperature andthe frequency is stable at fixed density, so a single-parameter description is exactly sufficient— this is why the single-parameter description of standard thermodynamics suffices inequilibrium; out of equilibrium (free cooling, expansion, driven systems) the two factorsdecouple and evolve independently, providing the missing variable structure for non-equilibrium thermal phenomena.Starting from two primitive motions and one event type, without the ergodichypothesis and without the ensemble hypothesis, we derive:1. Equipartition steady state for elastic fully rough spheres:2. Hyperbolic-tangent relaxation:3. Two-mechanism cosmic cooling law:We present 17 predictions at three falsifiability levels, a clear discrimination criteria(equilibrium macroscopic thermometry is not a discriminating arena; non-equilibrium two-factor decomposition and Layer-0 quantities are), and a transparency record of excludedcandidate discriminators. Rough hard-sphere kinetic theory and granular gases serve asstructurally isomorphic validation platforms.