Symposium on the Principle of Waiting Time

The symposium was convened to explore the Principle of Waiting Time (τₙ or τ_w) within the broader Radiation-First Ontology (RFO) - a process-based metaphysical model of reality developed in response to the shortcomings of both classical spacetime ontology and quantum indeterminism. Radiation-First Ontology reverses the usual order of explanation: instead of assuming that matter and spacetime are primary, it posits that radiative interactions - null connections between emitters and absorbers - constitute the fundamental acts of existence. Reality is generated through closures of these null connections; each closure event defines a local act of realization. In this view: • F(s) represents the domain of lawful potential connections (possible null relations consistent with physical law). • N is the generative layer - the thin, dynamic zone in which potential null connections are instantiated and closed. • W(s) is the recorded domain of realized events, the fixed and energy-neutral past. Only N possesses ontological existence. F(s) is law without being, and W(s) is record without energy. All energy - whether massive or radiative - is confined to N during the brief act of closure. This is the Energy-Confinement Principle. Time, accordingly, is not a background dimension but the ordered succession of closures within N. Each closure takes a finite waiting time τ_w, the generative interval during which a potential becomes actual.