Carried Consequence and the Burden of Explanation

This article develops a bounded philosophical and technical framework for determining when a claimed consequence is actually carried by an adequate explanatory structure. It introduces Ev5 as a threshold-classification and placement discipline, alongside Energy Quantum Theory (EQT) and Generative Ontology and Closure Dynamics (GOCD) as companion research boundaries for energetic thresholding and generative closure.The central contribution is the minimum-carrier principle: a consequence should be assigned to the smallest Carrier that preserves the claimed Track under Pressure, after counterfeits have been excluded and reopening conditions have been named. The article develops this principle through four linked detector-consequence studies: weak-field stochastic event-rate scaling, the insufficiency of one-point 3D density for phase-sensitive joint capture, phase-closure null tests for speculative pair-production claims, and a carrier-sufficiency audit distinguishing pair-density Tracks from conditional detector-instrument Tracks.The article does not claim a universal detector law, a completed theory of quantum measurement, a replacement for quantum mechanics, or validated cosmology. Its contribution is methodological: it offers a disciplined way to separate formal result, numerical support, empirical validation, and speculative interpretation, while showing how explanatory authority depends on what actually carries consequence under pressure.