The Cartan-Topos Protocol: A Unified Geometric and Categorical Framework for Resilient Multi-Agent Coordination

Abstract

Multi-agent coordination faces a fundamental divide between continuous Euclidean consensus, which fails under non-integrable constraints, and discrete symbolic logic, which collapses under open-world assumptions. This report presents a unified geometric and categorical framework bridging these paradigms. Agent states are modeled on homogeneous manifolds (Lie groups, Grassmannians) with consensus achieved via Riemannian center-of-mass flows. Clifford-algebraic representations (rotors, motors) enable singularity-free SE(3) pose synchronization. Network interactions are formalized as cellular sheaves, where heterogeneous stalks connected by linear restriction maps replace uniform weights; the sheaf Laplacian drives diffusion toward globally consistent sections. The Cartan connection encodes logical holonomy directly into restriction maps. Asynchronous nonlinear sheaf diffusion guarantees linear convergence to Dirichlet energy minimizers under bounded delays. Sheaf-Theoretic Planning (STP) models time as a Grothendieck topos, using intuitionistic logic and abductive repair for resilient temporal reasoning. Applications include discourse sheaves for opinion dynamics and knowledge sheaves for graph embedding. This synthesis establishes geometric consensus as a universal foundation for resilient multi-agent systems across physical, epistemic, and temporal domains.