The Dynamics of Discrete Fact: A Phase-Transition Theory of Wavefunction Collapse (v2, Expanded/Refined)

This is Version 2 of The Dynamics of Discrete Fact, presenting an expanded and clarified construction of wavefunction collapse as a genuine physical phenomenon: a nonequilibrium phase transition in a macroscopic measurement apparatus. As before, collapse is modeled as a critical instability in an emergent order parameter governed by time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau dynamics. Discrete outcomes arise through spontaneous symmetry breaking in the apparatus–environment system, while Born weights are preserved via probability-conserving basin flow in the associated Fokker–Planck description—without modifying the Schrödinger equation or introducing new constants. Relative to v1, v2 (i) makes the single-run (outcome-conditional) collapse dynamics explicit rather than implicit, (ii) strengthens the Born-rule preservation argument by tying basin structure more directly to apparatus symmetry, and (iii) tightens the experimental discussion by specifying the regimes in which critical signatures are and are not expected. The framework retains concrete signatures—critical slowing near threshold, hysteresis under parameter cycling, metastability, and outcome-correlated transient detector spikes—and positions collapse alongside emergent macroscopic instabilities such as superconductivity and ferromagnetism.