The Reflexive Coherence Model: A Physico-Informational Framework for Consciousness

Abstract This paper proposes the Reflexive Coherence Model (RCM), a theoretical framework for interpretingconsciousness as an emergent regime of integrated, self-modeling, and temporally stable informationdynamics.Starting from a substrate-neutral view of physical systems, the model argues that consciousnessshould not be treated as an ontological exception, but as a possible phase of organized informationunder specific dynamical conditions. In this framework, reflexive coherence arises when a systemintegrates information across multiple levels, constructs an operational model of its own causal state,and maintains recursively coupled dynamics over a finite temporal window.The paper introduces the Reflexive Coherence Index (RCI) as a candidate operational measure ofinformational reflexivity, combining shared information between a system’s global state and its internalself-model with bidirectional causal coupling. The model distinguishes between contextual coherence,which depends on externally maintained informational structure, and systemic coherence, whichpersists through perturbation or partial contextual discontinuity.Rather than claiming to prove subjective experience, RCM identifies necessary dynamical conditionsthat may be associated with the emergence of phenomenological organization. It offers a bridgeframework connecting information theory, dynamical systems, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence,and proposes falsifiable predictions for biological and non-biological systems.