Quantum Gravity I—Emergent Hypercomplex Operator Gauge Theory for Microcausal Lattice Spacetime

We propose a novel operator-based formulation of quantum gravity grounded in two foundational principles: a discrete causal lattice and algebraic microcausality. Departing from traditional continuum approaches and wavefunction-based quantum mechanics, this framework models spacetime and matter as emergent phenomena arising from the algebraic structure of displacement operators. In this first part of a two-part series, we construct the foundational framework and demonstrate how key features of quantum mechanics—such as the uncertainty principle, de Broglie relations, and entanglement—emerge naturally without invoking wavefunctions, path integrals, or metric-based geometry. Operator non-commutativity on the causal lattice gives rise to a self-consistent quantum structure with natural ultraviolet finiteness, intrinsic time directionality, and a microcausal interpretation of measurement. This foundational part lays the groundwork for gravitational dynamics, cosmology, and the grand unification principles of gravity and the Standard Model to be explored in the sequel to quantum gravity part II.