Global Time as a Physical Theory: Distributed Canonical Ordering from Astrophysical Sources

This work develops a physical theory of global time based on canonical order rather than synchronized clocks or spacetime time coordinates. Time is treated not as a primitive parameter or an a priori structure, but as an operationally constructed quantity derived from the reconstruction of causal order using distributed reception of signals from distant sources. The theory introduces a canonical global order reconstructed from admissible reception sequences and defines a global operational time parameter as a monotonic accumulation over reconstructed order increments. All constructions are strictly observer-side: they rely exclusively on locally registered reception data and do not assume access to intrinsic source time, universal simultaneity, or a pre-existing absolute spacetime time coordinate. A central result of the theory is the immutability of reconstructed temporal history. While the set of observational sources and reception nodes may evolve dynamically over time, such extensions affect only future reconstruction. Once established, past temporal order and operational time values are not subject to retroactive revision. This immutability is essential for time to function as a causal and coordinative physical parameter. The framework is fully compatible with Special and General Relativity. It introduces neither a preferred reference frame nor an absolute notion of simultaneity. Metric time remains applicable to local dynamics, while global operational time provides a physically realizable ordering structure for large-scale coordination based solely on causal transmission and reconstruction of order. By separating temporal order from metric representation, the theory identifies the maximal form of time that can be physically constructed and maintained across expanding observational domains. In the asymptotic limit of increasing observational coverage, reconstructed global time may approach a universal ordering structure—not as a given object, but as a limit of physically realizable reconstruction. The work includes formal definitions, reconstruction theorems, robustness analysis under delay, loss, and reordering, and illustrative simulations. It is intended as a foundational contribution to the physics of time, distributed systems, and large-scale coordination, rather than as a proposal for new spacetime dynamics.