SΔϕ-24 — Authority and Innovation as Dual Regimes: Minimal Axioms for Compression, Re-opening, and Update Triggers in Coupled Environments (v1.0)

This paper formalizes authority and innovation as dual regimes within the Sofience–Δϕ (SΔϕ) series. Authority is defined as compression-driven convergence toward low-resistance default routes (Δϕ↓): accumulated pruning and cost reduction produce an attractor that becomes the system’s operational baseline. Innovation is defined as misfit-triggered re-opening (Δϕ↑): when accumulated mismatch (ε) between a system and its environment crosses a threshold, previously pruned alternatives become computable again and re-entry editing is activated. The central claim is that authority–innovation conflict is not a moral disagreement but a phase-transition signal (τ). This document provides minimal definitions (authority,…