Ontological Consciousness as a Quantum Field: Toward a Formal Framework

We develop a physics-forward framework in which ontological consciousness is modeled as a field that couples to quantum dynamics at the level of effective instruments while preserving global unitarity. The composite system evolves unitarily, whereas operational outcomes arise after coarse-graining as completely positive, trace-non-increasing maps. We distinguish elastic decoherence (basis selection) from inelastic localization (record formation) and formulate preregisterable, falsifiable signatures that live in correlations rather than single-arm marginals. The approach clarifies how an observer can be treated as an effective interface without abandoning standard dynamics and points to concrete tests separating interface modulation from decoherence-only and objective-collapse accounts.