Topological Channel Orthogonality in Coupled Chaotic Oscillators: Multi-Channel Cryptography and Hardware Authentication

We report two discoveries in coupled chaotic dynamical systems. First, topological channel orthogonality: distinct coupling-parameter sets applied to the same system with the same seed produce byte streams with no statistically detectable cross-stream dependence under 9,682 linear and nonlinear pairwise tests (zero rejections) across three parameter axes (coupling weights, coupling strength, and oscillator frequencies) and four chaotic-system families. Second, deterministic hardware authentication: coupling-parameter sensitivity supports a keyed challenge–response protocol whose 256-bit device key is carried in the twelve map-defining weights of a four-oscillator realization, with zero accepted forgeries across 10⁷ wrong-key attempts against four target devices on each of its integer and double-precision realizations, zero response collisions across 4.25 × 10⁷ engine-level parameter perturbations and the archived 10⁸ wrong-parameter campaign, and bit-exact same-platform reproduction — a deterministic, stored-secret construction requiring no fuzzy extraction: a functional alternative to a PUF wherever a secure element is present, without claiming physical unclonability. These properties support up to ~10¹⁸ addressable parameter-defined channels from a single seed (an identifier count), an XOR-aggregate output indistinguishable from uniform under the tested batteries (entropy 7.999983 bits/byte), and an eSIM/iSIM SIM-swap transfer-authorization profile — proof of original-device possession, not loss/theft recovery. Security is evaluated against standard keystream/authentication adversary batteries, not the chaos-image-encryption metrics critiqued by Preishuber et al.; post-quantum security is Grover-bounded, with the keyed derivation mode as the production profile. These functions form part of a broader thirteen-capability engine; this paper establishes the subset relevant to information forensics and security. Version 2 (3 September 2026): preprint of the manuscript submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security; supersedes the June 2026 deposit. Main text (10 pages) with the Supplementary Material (§S.1–§S.11) appended. Reference implementation and reproduction records: doi:10.5281/zenodo.20496568. Patent pending: PCT/IB2026/052737, PCT/IB2026/053253, PCT/IB2026/053673, PCT/IB2026/058860.