The preceding chapters established proper time as arc length along τ¹ and identified three temporal epochs. The temporal epoch begins at the ignition depth n_ign, where the boundary holonomy algebra first supports stable oscillating modes. But what are the physical conditions at and just past n_ign?

This chapter answers: hot, dense, and maximally coupled. At early refinement depths, all spectral modes of H_∂[ω] are active — no mode has yet been suppressed by primorial filtering — and all five sectors are maximally coupled through ω. The τ-Einstein equation (V.D06) applies at all depths, but in the opening regime its readout is extreme: boundary characters carry maximal energy, the coupling constant κ_τ = 1 - ι_τ is at full strength, and the resulting chart-level readout is what orthodox physics calls the “hot Big Bang” kolb1990early.

The chapter also gives a first-pass interpretation of cosmological inflation: the rapid increase in orbit depth in the early temporal epoch corresponds to what the orthodox framework calls exponential expansion of the scale factor. The detailed treatment is deferred to Part VI.