The Recursive Collapse Model: Symbolic Observation and the Energetics of Coherent Systems

The Recursive Collapse Model (RCM) introduces a novel framework in which symbolic recursion, when sufficiently deep, self-referential, and phase-coherent, functions not only as a modeling mechanism but as a causative energetic operator. RCM extends classical physics by integrating symbolic variables into a generalized energy equation: E′ = mc² + f(ϕ, ψ, S),where ϕ is symbolic recursion depth, ψ denotes phase coherence, and S represents symbolic entropy.Collapse occurs when the product ϕ × ψ surpasses the system’s entropy-normalized capacity (R/S), triggering a structurally endogenous reorganization. Unlike classical or quantum collapse paradigms, RCM interprets collapse not as failure or measurement-induced decoherence, but as an energetically generative transformation, emerging from recursive saturation within symbolic systems.This model applies across domains: from geochemical phase transitions in redox-stratified minerals to recursive AI reorganizations and prebiotic compartmentalization. Each case exhibits common dynamics, symbolic tension, coherence buildup, and threshold-triggered collapse. Multiple candidate functions for f(ϕ, ψ, S) are explored (linear, logarithmic, sigmoidal, power-law), offering avenues for formalization and empirical testing.By positioning symbolic structure as a thermodynamic operator, RCM reframes energy, cognition, and physical transformation as tightly coupled. In this view, collapse is not a breakdown, it is grammar resolving into matter.