Photon Mode Loss in Extreme Informational Density

We examine the behavior of photons in regimes of extreme informational density, such as those encountered near black-hole horizons, ultra-compact astrophysical objects, and highly compressed early-universe conditions. We propose that photon individuality—normally encoded through separable modes including momentum, polarization, phase, frequency, and temporal coherence—progressively breaks down under extreme informational compression. Rather than being destroyed, photon states undergo a mode-degeneracy transition in which classical and quantum identifiers lose operational meaning. The framework is deliberately neutral, compatible with standard quantum field theory, and yields testable implications for gravitational, optical, and analog systems