Attractor Dynamics Theory

Abstract The emergence of definite outcomes from quantum dynamics remains a central conceptual challenge in the foundations of quantum mechanics. While decoherence theory and open quantum systems provide widely accepted mechanisms for the suppression of interference, the relationship between unitary evolution, measurement outcomes, classical behavior, and irreversibility is often treated in fragmented ways. In this working paper, we adopt a dynamical-systems perspective, referred to here as attractor dynamics, in which measurement outcomes and classical states are understood as consequences of stability and basin structure in open quantum evolution. Using minimal Lindblad models and quantum trajectory descriptions, we illustrate how pointer states arise as attractors under coarse-grained dynamics without introducing postulates beyond standard open-system quantum mechanics. This work does not propose new fundamental dynamics. Rather, it offers a conservative conceptual synthesis intended to clarify how measurement, decoherence, and the arrow of time can be viewed within a unified dynamical framework.