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Updated: Oct 28, 2026

New Framework for Understanding Cross-Brain Coherence in Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Hyperscanning Studies
Published on: October 6, 2023
A Coherence-Dissipation Framework for Brain Dynamics and Consciousness
Ahmed Farag Ali1,2, Nader Inan3,4,5, Ruben Laukkonen6,7,8
1Division of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Essex County College, 303 University Ave, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
Abstract:
We develop a theoretical proposal linking vacuum stability and brain dynamics through superconductivity-inspired coherence, symmetry reduction, and the thermodynamic stabilization of low-entropy regimes. We take an unbroken SU(3) structure as a candidate stable residue of the low-temperature vacuum. At the neural level, we formulate a coarse-grained analog in which a two-fluid model with dissipative and coherence-supporting components describes brain dynamics. Specifically, the coherence-supporting component is proposed as a possible basis for the efficient binding and integration required to sustain a stable, unified conscious state. The proposal offers a common geometric language for relating physics and neuroscience with falsifiable signatures in coherence and state-dependent transitions. The main technical contribution is a computational algebraic model of conscious-state dynamics, where neural data are mapped to reconstructed state trajectories. Effective generators are inferred from those trajectories, and the two-fluid split is tested as a Cartan-root decomposition of su(3), with a rank-two commuting sector for coherence-preserving balance and six root directions for state transitions. This structure can be tested on neural data and contrasted with alternative dynamical models.
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