Several independent research programs in theoretical physics have converged on elements of a cyclic cosmological picture without being explicitly connected: torsion-induced bounce cosmology (Popławski), higher-dimensional Loop Quantum Cosmology (Zhang), M-theory compactification on G₂ holonomy manifolds (Acharya-Kane-Kumar), covariant black-hole-to-white-hole transitions (Rovelli-Vidotto-Haggard-Christodoulou), and string gas thermodynamics (Brandenberger-Vafa). This paper proposes the Ouroboros Hypothesis as a contingent synthesis framework — a proposed unification architecture for these programs that is contingent on one central unproven technical claim: that Zhang’s eleven-dimensional Loop Quantum Cosmology can be reduced on a G₂ holonomy manifold to yield an effective four-dimensional bounce with seven topologically frozen dimensions. This claim, called the Partially-Compactified Bounce Conjecture, is stated precisely in Section 3.3 and is identified as the primary open problem on which quantitative predictions depend. Section 3.3 decomposes this problem into P1a, the question of whether zero-mode truncation on a G₂ manifold is a controlled approximation at bounce curvatures, and P1b, the operator-level reduction itself. Conditional on that conjecture, the framework proposes a two-layer dimensional architecture: seven compactified dimensions on a G₂ holonomy manifold persist topologically across cycles, encoding physical law, while four large dimensions are generated anew at each bounce. Original contributions that stand independently of the conjecture include a threshold condition specifying which late-cycle collapses could produce successor universes, an explicit argument that four-dimensional spacetime is generated at the bounce rather than pre-existing, and a hierarchical black hole consolidation mechanism distinct from Smolin’s every-black-hole model. The Brandenberger-Vafa String Gas Cosmology framework provides philosophical motivation for dimensional stability; the specific winding-mode argument does not transfer directly to G₂ geometry because G₂ manifolds are simply connected (b₁ = 0), so P5 is a separate research program. A scaling consistency check places the effective four-dimensional bounce density within one to two orders of magnitude of the standard LQC value. A genuine forward prediction — deviations from standard four-dimensional LQC echo timescales accessible to third-generation gravitational wave detectors — is identified in Section 7.2.
James David DeWitte DeWitte (Thu,) studied this question.