This paper derives both the Born rule and the arrow of time from a single structural requirement: coherent return. By analyzing how admissible outcomes survive or fail under return, probability emerges as a quadratic survival weight, while time appears as the irreversible ordering of accepted outcomes. The results are obtained without assuming spacetime, dynamics, observers, or thermodynamics, and clarify why probabilistic and temporal structure is unavoidable in physical theory.
Flip Boer (2026) studied this question.