Adaptive Constraint Cascade(ACC1)_A Unified Framework for the Quantum--Classical Transition

We introduce the concept of an Adaptive Constraint Cascade (ACC) as a novel framework for describing the continuous transition between distinct physical theories via a deformation of their underlying constraint structures. In this first case study (ACC_1), we focus on the quantum–classical transition in a double-well potential. Using a single control parameter λ = k_B T / V_barrier, we propose an interpolation equation – a Lindblad-type master equation with a λ-dependent dissipation rate – whose limiting behaviors recover the pure quantum (Schrödinger) and the classical master equation regimes. The ACC framework offers a smooth, contextuality-aware description of emergence without requiring a fixed ontology. This manuscript is the first of three planned works on ACC, with subsequent studies addressing Newtonian–relativistic gravity (ACC_2) and quantum field theory (ACC_3).