Time’s Inertia: An Information-Theoretic Origin for Quantum and Gravitational Time Dilation

The concept of time in physics remains fundamentally fractured, treated as a dy namic geometric entity in general relativity while retaining a static, background role in quantum mechanics. Building upon the hypothesis of Recursive Entropic Time (RET)—a model where the local rate of time is suppressed by quantum informa tional load—this paper presents the first comprehensive experimental tests of the theory. We subject the core relation, τ = (1 + κS)−1, to rigorous scrutiny by ana lyzing published data from two independent, state-of-the-art quantum experiments. First, an analysis of entanglement dynamics in a multi-qubit processor [Koh et al., 2022] reveals a significant suppression anomaly that is well-described by the model, providing a first estimate for the coupling constant, κ. Second, we re-interpret the Quantum Zeno Effect as a direct manifestation of this entropic time dilation. A detailed analysis of data from a superconducting qubit experiment [Harrington et al., 2017] allows for a second, independent calibration of κ. We demonstrate that an initial order-of-magnitude discrepancy between these two values is substantially resolved by a more physical model of informational load that accounts for measure ment inefficiency—a striking convergence of evidence. This work provides strong support for the hypothesis that time possesses a form of inertia, resisting its own passage in proportion to the complexity of the quantum information it contains. We conclude by designing a definitive, falsifiable experimental protocol to provide a "smoking gun" test, solidifying the link between quantum information and the emergent, dynamic nature of time.