MST Dark Matter v5 - A Residual-Coherence Field Model for Dark Matter: Dynamic Kernels, Mass-Dependent Coherence, and the Ghost Halo Test

We present MST-DM v5, a generalized formulation of the Residual-Coherence Field (RCF) framework for non-particle dark matter. Version 4 established a compact, quasi-static, single-source model with dual observational signatures. Adversarial stress-testing revealed that this formulation represents a limiting case of a richer structure that fails in three regimes: post-starburst galaxies, dwarf galaxies, and cluster-scale environments. The generalized equation introduces (i) a dynamical suppression term for rapid potential evolution, (ii) a mass-dependent coherence damping scale M_crit, and (iii) a multi-source interference cross-term. These additions generate three new first-tier predictions with no analog in particle dark matter models: (1) the Ghost Halo, a spatially displaced 20 GeV gamma-ray halo in post-starburst systems, (2) a bifurcated β(M_b) structure across baryonic mass regimes, and (3) a Ghost–lensing τ_c consistency relation. Critically, v5 makes the causal arrow assumption explicit. The kernel’s temporal orientation (memory vs. retrocausal vs. bidirectional encoding) is operationalized as an observationally testable alignment prediction embedded in the Ghost Halo program at no additional resource cost. All v4 predictions are recovered as limiting cases. The framework is falsifiable at nine independent structural points across Euclid weak lensing, Fermi-LAT gamma-ray morphology, DESI star-formation duty cycles, and cluster anisotropy measurements.