Electromagnetic dominance

Theorem 4.1 (Electromagnetic Dominance). At the chemical-biological scale (s ~ 0.1–10 nm, E ~ 0.01–10 eV), and under the record measure Σ, electromagnetic coupling via the electron is the dominant writer of durable configurable records. Other interactions contribute primarily as substrate (strong), time-regulation and erasure (weak), or concentration and loop-closure (gravity).

Evidence.

The strong force produces nucleons. Lifetimes exceed the age of the universe. But nucleons are not configurable registers at the chemical-biological scale — their quantum numbers are fixed by QCD symmetry, identical for every proton regardless of formation history.

Σ(Strong, s_chem) = 0 by the empty-set convention.

Gravity produces large-scale structure. Galaxies, stars, planets. But these structures store information only through their electromagnetic properties — chemical composition, crystalline structure, molecular arrangement. Gravity itself cannot form bonds at the chemical scale. It cannot distinguish molecular configurations.

Σ(Gravity, s_chem) = 0.

The weak force mediates flavour-changing decay. β-decay, neutrino interactions. Irreversible, yes. But no durable configurable records at the chemical scale. Its primary chemical-scale effect is erasure.

Σ(Weak, s_chem) = 0. Ε(Weak, s_chem) < 0.

Electromagnetic coupling via the electron produces:

Covalent bond networks — persistence indefinite under ambient conditions. Diamond, quartz, and silicate minerals preserve their bond structure for billions of years.

Hydrogen bond networks — individually transient (picoseconds in liquid water) but collectively stable when embedded in fixed geometries. Protein secondary structure. The DNA double helix that holds your genome together.

Van der Waals interactions, molecular configurations, base-pair sequences — every one a configurable register at the chemical-biological scale.

Σ(EM, s_chem) is the maximum persistence among these. Dominant.

No known durable configurable record at the chemical-biological scale is written without electromagnetic coupling.

Including you.

Status: logical consequence of Definition 1, applied to the current empirical inventory of which interactions produce configurable registers. The theorem’s logical structure follows from Axiom R via Definitions 1–3. Its classification of the four forces depends on the current empirical inventory.

Kill switch KS-RM.1. Demonstrate a non-electromagnetic interaction that produces configurable registers (Definition 1) of equal or greater durability at the chemical-biological scale. If such an interaction exists, the electron’s dominance claim fails. LIVE — EMPIRICAL.

Kill switch KS-RM.5. Demonstrate that strong-force-produced objects or gravitationally-bound macrostates encode formation history in a distinguishable way — through quantum decoherence records, nuclear isomer states, or other mechanisms not currently classified as configurable registers. If fixed-symmetry objects carry retrievable formation history, the configurable-register criterion is too restrictive. LIVE — EMPIRICAL.