OK I try to order it, I was on the same track. Maybe you can validate.

What is Synchroinizity assumption?:
ALL distributed BFT-consensus systems are based on synchronicity assumption. All networks are theoretically asynchronous.

The problem: the Ficher-Lynch-Peterson Impossibility Theorem proves-->

BFT-consensus in an asynchronous system cant be reached when only one node can fail. It is a synchronization Problem.

Now what does it mean to be "synchronized"? Computers don´t have a concept of time, they only know order. In a closed distributed consensus system like in a spaceship e.g. the Falcon9 --> tightly coupled nodes have a central time oracle (an atomic clock or what ever). In global distributed systems, having a time oracle means >>who ever controls the service, controls the order of events<<...and even if honest, network delay and relativity lead to clock-drift.

Decentralized Clocks
So, for EVERY decentralized distributed consensus system you need a decentralized clock. In a closed or permitted system you can use network-latency as a clock. This is what we typically call synchronicity assumption. This is what made classical distributed BFT-consensus in global networks possible. But it only works when the number of validators is fixed and known (otherwise you cant calibrate). Research here was done by Lamport et al. (Lamport Clock, Logische Uhr and so on)

Bitcoin has simple majority because it uses a different clock

Bitcoin is an open ergo --> loosely coupled system, where nodes can join at any time. Calibration is not possible, you cant use network-latency as a distributed clock.

What nearly nobody knows: The Hashcash algorithm in Bitcoin is not only an oracle but also a distributed clock. As we know, having more hash-power does not mean that you are faster than other participants you only have a higher probability. Difficulty adjusted it always takes ~10 minutes. The SHA is a so called memoryless function. For every computational-cycle/iteration and for every participant the probability per worker is exactly the same. The entropy is universal. Even when your giant pool tries 1000 Trillion possibilities per second you are not faster...1000000 Trillion is practically zero compared to 2^128 or 2^256. Every human number is zero compared to a number space that big. With every cycle, every miner of your pool starts from zero. This is memoryless. This is how Nakamoto synchronized all the anonymous nodes. The clock here is information theoretical entropy aka unkown states/bits. Most people think he simply "assumed" synchronicity :D

the criterion is binary because work allows for a node-agnostic consensus system aka longest-and-heaviest-chain-rule. This is why there is >1/2 Safety assumption and a 51%-attack vector. So yes, synchronicity assumption are the very fundamental-physical reason for all those numbers. It is not simply "math" it is determined by physics.

now back to advanced dPOS of steem

The blockchain is just a data-structure it only exists in the epistemic domain, ontologically there is no blockchain. What physically is there is a replicated state machine. When you add a block to the "chain" you propagate through the network until it reaches all other nodes. Adding a block needs 3 seconds but really adding to the state machine needs 2N². Lets assume that N is 14 (2/3) those 14 add their block to the chain...since the chain does not exist as a central server, somebody needs to verify that 14 nodes have added their valid block and this SOMEBODY are those 14 Nodes. This is why it is N² and since it is bilateral communication it is 2N². Otherwise you need a central coordinator...