Glossary

A cosmological model where the universe transitioned from a contraction phase to expansion through a 'bounce' at finite density, avoiding the Big Bang singularity.

The amplitude of local primordial non-Gaussianity. The matter bounce predicts f_NL = -35/8 = -4.375, parameter-free. Inflation predicts |f_NL| < 1. SPHEREx will measure this.

The rotation of CMB polarization angle β as photons travel through space. Predicted β = 0.27° from ALP field evolution. Current measurement: 0.342° ± 0.094° (3.6σ).

A dark energy model with both quintessence (w > -1) and phantom (w < -1) fields, allowing the equation of state to cross w = -1. Treated theoretically in our program — Paper 1A's model-discrimination table is explicit that there are zero free-w0–wa samples in our 309,189-sample frozen posterior. External DESI DR2 (Adame et al.) reports 2.8–4.2σ for w-crossing.

Einstein-Cartan-Holst theory. Extends general relativity with torsion (antisymmetric part of the spacetime connection). A 14-constraint catalog closes the four enumerated minimal-ECH dark-energy routes at the channel level, under stated assumptions.

The antisymmetric part of the spacetime connection. In ECH theory, torsion couples to fermion spin and can prevent gravitational singularities by providing a repulsive force at extreme densities.

Markov Chain Monte Carlo. A statistical sampling method used to explore parameter spaces. We have 309,189 frozen posterior samples across 2 converged dataset combinations (176,240 full-tension + 132,949 Planck+BAO+SN), with a third Planck-only combination accumulating.

Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer. NASA mission launching ~2028 that will measure f_NL to σ ≈ 0.7-1.0.

The uncertainty on the f_NL measurement. Current combined: σ ≈ 4.1 (external). Our DESI multi-tracer central forecast: 9.4% improvement, consistent with none at <1σ. SPHEREx target: σ ≈ 0.7-1.0.

Primordial Black Holes. Formed from density fluctuations in the early universe. The matter bounce f_NL = -35/8 naturally regulates PBH abundance, preventing overproduction.

North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves. Detected a gravitational wave background; our real-KDE free-spectrum re-fit gives spectral index γ = 2.567 ± 0.382. Bounce predicts γ = 3.0 (consistent at -1.13σ); SMBHB γ = 4.33 is excluded at -4.6σ.

A neural network trained to reconstruct its input. Objects it can't reconstruct well are anomalous. Used to find 378,280 unique anomalies across 37.3M sources in 8 surveys (Paper 3 canonical Path-C totals after native retrains and 5″ dedup).

Parameter γ_BI = 0.2375 in loop quantum gravity that sets the minimum area quantum. Appears in the ECH action and controls the strength of parity-odd quantum corrections.

The parity-odd topological term in the gravitational action, proportional to 1/γ_BI. It produces no classical equations of motion but generates quantum effects including birefringence.

The native-retrain quality gate used in Paper 3. Each survey must pass two criteria: val_loss ≤ 0.30 on native training data AND ≥50% injection-recovery at 5σ. Surveys that fail are quarantined (e.g., ACT DR6) and contribute zero objects to the canonical anomaly catalog headline.

Loop Quantum Cosmology. A quantization of cosmological spacetimes using loop quantum gravity methods, where the discrete structure of space at the Planck scale replaces the Big Bang singularity with a quantum bounce. The bounce is sourced by quantum geometric repulsion, distinct from the ECH/torsion mechanism.

A bounce cosmology scenario where the contracting phase is dominated by matter-like sources (w ≈ 0). Generates a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations and the parameter-free prediction f_NL = -35/8 = -4.375, which is mechanism-independent across all matter bounce variants.