The framework developed in Papers I–V recovers a range of physical structure from a single axiom: the universe is a finite, static, timeless system of n bits. Gravitational collapse converges to a zero-entropy singularity (Paper I). Expansion from that singularity is the geometric reading of entropy increase, with emergent microstructures following filter-independent lognormal distributions (Paper II). The aspect ratio of spacetime is determined by n alone, recovering Bekenstein–Hawking entropy to within the geometric factor 4π (Paper III). Matter contracts observable space relationally, reproducing the three-phase Friedmann expansion profile without a cosmological constant (Paper IV).
One feature of the observed universe is not explained by this framework: the wave-like behaviour of the microcosm. Particles exhibit interference, superposition, and discrete measurement outcomes. The wavefunction is complex-valued. Dynamics are unitary. Why?
This paper proposes a hypothesis and investigates its consequences.
The Wavefunction Compression Principle (WCP). The cosmos waves because we are observing compressed structure. The quantum wavefunction is the universe’s data-compression codec.
The argument is developed in four steps. Section 2 motivates the hypothesis through the MPEG analogy. Section 3 formalises spectral complexity as a continuous, computable measure and shows how it suppresses Boltzmann brains. Section 4 presents numerical results: emergence of inertia, interference, and smooth spacetime from spectral compression. Section 5 states the results and open problems.