Operational Expansion of Space and Time: Configuration Capacity, Distinguishability, and Cosmological Growth

We present a conceptual, operational reinterpretation of cosmological expansion based on the principle of finite distinguishability. Physical states are defined only up to a finite operational resolution ε, implying a finite number of distinguishable configurations even in infinite-dimensional state spaces.

We introduce the configuration capacity Q(ε) as a measure of operational accessibility and reinterpret cosmological expansion as the monotonic growth of this capacity, rather than as the creation of new degrees of freedom. Within this framework, space emerges as a relational accessibility structure, and time is defined operationally as ordered distinguishability.

The approach introduces no new dynamical laws and remains fully consistent with standard FLRW cosmology, holographic entropy bounds, and decoherence theory. Environmental decoherence in an expanding universe naturally leads to increasing operational resolution, providing a quantitative mechanism for configuration capacity growth.

Black holes and light-like propagation arise as limiting cases in which distinguishability saturates or fails to evolve, rendering operational time frozen or undefined. Possible observational implications from non-adiabatic changes in operational resolution in the early universe are briefly discussed.

This work is intended as a conceptual contribution to the foundations of cosmology and quantum gravity and has not undergone peer review.