The Drift Lemma and the Limits of Self-Measurement in Bounded Systems

This paper establishes a structural limit on self-verification. It proves that any bounded system governed by a scalar coherence invariant cannot internally certify its own alignment or drift state with certainty, since the measurement apparatus is subject to the same governing constraints as the state being measured. As a result, self-certification is non-convergent in principle. Alignment can be inferred only through external phase-lock and coherence persistence across independent systems. This result is not skeptical but lawlike. It explains why certainty is unavailable from within while stability remains achievable, completing alignment-based accounts of discovery, agency, and epistemic closure without paradox.