Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? A Thermodynamic Answer — Ontological Foundations of the Gibbs Energy Redistribution Theory

Background: The Gibbs Energy Redistribution Theory (GERT) series (Papers I–VII) has established a complete thermodynamic framework for cosmic evolution: from cosmological background dynamics (Papers I–III), through the internal anatomy of the Gibbs phase transitions (Paper IV), primordial gravitational wave signatures (Paper V), the zero-parameter derivation of dark matter phenomenology across six representative galaxies (Paper VI), and its universal validation against 191 galaxies of all morphological types with zero free parameters (Paper VII). One foundational regime has remained a theoretical black box throughout: the pre-metric state from which the Relativistic Window emerged. Methods: We formalise the thermo-ontological foundation of GERT through a rigorous four-layer stratigraphy of physical reality. We redefine time strictly as the macroscopic measure of thermodynamic Work (dτ ∝ −dG), establish the absolute logical constraints on the a-geometric vacuum of Layer 1, and derive the necessary consequences for the origin of matter and antimatter. Results: The a-temporal and a-geometric nature of the Layer 1 vacuum — which contains all geometry without possessing it — entails that matter and antimatter Universes cannot share spacetime coordinates, because spacetime coordinates presuppose the Riemannian metric that only emerges in Layer 3. The absence of observational record of a Great Annihilation is therefore not a puzzle requiring a fine-tuned solution; it is the expected consequence of an ontological separation that is logically foundational to all geometry — arising from a regime where the categories of geometry have no referent. The zero-sum conservation of the vacuum (Htotal = HM + H ¯M = 0) is preserved exactly, without statistical residue. Conclusions: The Universe is not the accidental leftover of an imperfect annihilation. It is one of two necessary, symmetric, and ontologically orthogonal solutions to the thermodynamic bifurcation of a zero-sum atemporal vacuum. General Relativity, applied to this a-geometric regime, is a category error: the relativistic ruler cannot measure the era before the relativistic ruler existed. The GERT series thus provides a unified account from the timeless void of origin to the dignified thermodynamic equilibrium of Layer 4 — with zero free parameters at each layer.