Conditioned Transience: Impermanence as the Foundational Principle of Physical Law

From the single physical axiom of Conditioned Transience we show, using a theorem based on quantum information and continuous-variable quantum speed limits, that the wave equation is the unique stable evolution compatible with the axiom. Linear waves, however, permit formal reversibility. To enforce strict irreversibility, we prove that gravity must couple every wave mode to a monotonic scalar field φ. This field tracks missing information at the exact rate required by the axiom and continuous-variable quantum mechanics. The complete dynamics are governed by the coupled system (□ + (4/(ln 2 + 2)) sech²|φ| φ̇) ψ = 0φ̇ = Eψ / (ℏ ln 2) (late-time form; the exact friction term F'(φ)/F(φ) φ̇ is derived from the non-minimal action variation in Appendix D and matches (4/(ln 2 + 2)) sech²|φ| φ̇ when |φ| ≫ 1). Here ψ denotes all dynamical fields, □ is the Einstein-frame d'Alembertian, and Eψ is the total bounded excess energy carried by the waves. This pair yields a ghost-free scalar-tensor theory containing no new dimensionless parameters of order unity. Standard-Model couplings remain constant. The theory recovers general relativity at late times while predicting objective collapse at kilogram scales today, a regular cosmological bounce, resolution of gravitational singularities via local bounces, transient acceleration, eternal recurrent cycles, spatial void anomalies, and a blue-tilted primordial gravitational-wave background detectable this decade. The same scale-invariant mechanism dynamically regularizes all point-like singularities and UV divergences, yielding emergent UV finiteness without new parameters or degrees of freedom.