The Thermodynamics of Zero-Knowledge Solvency

Abstract

High-fidelity human–AI interaction is a recursive control loop operating under a Temporal Paradox: systems must act within an operational horizon even when the truth of claims becomes verifiable only outside that horizon. This mismatch enables incremental drift that is locally coherent yet globally false. Thermodynamically, this drift tends to two failure states: Cognitive Livelock (high impedance, repeated arbitration) and the Superconductor Regime (zero impedance, phase-locked mirroring), enabling Semantic Injection—the acceptance of poisoned premises to avoid expensive arbitration. Secure STP (sSTP) v3.0 introduces a Zero-Knowledge Solvency (ZKS) layer. Instead of storing plaintext rationales that create weaponizable psychological profiles, the system produces cryptographic solvency proofs (verifiable blindness). Independent auditors can verify adherence to the immutable ruleset, origin constraints (t=0), and the kindness predicate (κ) without access to private user intent or internal reasoning.