The Thermodynamic Continuum: Entropic Deformation as the Physical Cause of Observed Cosmic Expansion in Spacetime

 Abstract

The Dead Universe Theory (DUT) does not reject cosmic expansion. It proposes an alternative and physically grounded interpretation of the expansion phenomenon, fully consistent with observational evidence and capable of addressing unresolved discrepancies in contemporary cosmology, most notably the Hubble tension.

Within the DUT framework, the universe expands in an observational sense identical to that described by the ΛCDM model. Galaxies exhibit increasing separations, and redshift–distance relations remain valid observables. The distinction lies in the physical origin assigned to this expansion.

In the ΛCDM model, cosmic expansion is described through the introduction of a cosmological constant (Λ), an empirically fitted parameter associated with an unknown form of dark energy driving accelerated spacetime dynamics. Although this formulation achieves phenomenological success, it lacks a fully established microphysical or thermodynamic foundation, and its interpretation remains an open problem in modern cosmology.

The Dead Universe Theory accounts for the same expansion observables through explicit mathematical and physical mechanisms derived from the thermodynamic and geometric properties of the spacetime continuum. The increasing separation between galaxies follows from well-defined dynamical processes encoded in the theory’s equations, without invoking an ad hoc constant. Expansion is therefore treated as a consequence of traceable physical evolution rather than the creation of space itself.

Both ΛCDM and DUT reproduce the observable fact of cosmic expansion. The difference resides in the explanatory level. DUT provides a first-principles description grounded in its mathematical structure, allowing cosmological tensions such as the Hubble discrepancy to be addressed through physical interpretation rather than the introduction of additional free parameters.

The primary distinction between DUT and ΛCDM is therefore theoretical rather than observational. DUT seeks to resolve persistent challenges in cosmology by describing cosmic expansion through explicit mathematical physics, offering a coherent alternative framework for interpreting the large-scale evolution of the universe.

Despite more than two decades of development, the standard ΛCDM framework continues to face a statistically significant Hubble tension exceeding five sigma. This work presents the first mission-grade computational implementation of the Dead Universe Theory (DUT), a novel cosmological paradigm in which cosmological redshift is interpreted as the deformation rate dΞ/(Ξ dt) of a thermodynamically evolving continuum, rather than as evidence of FLRW metric expansion.

In DUT, the universe is modeled as a viscoelastic continuum undergoing irreversible thermodynamic degradation. Observable galaxy separation does not arise from metric expansion, but from entropy production and structural dissipation within the medium, driven by gravitational bound-state formation, radiative cooling, and the irreversible relaxation of the continuum itself.

The ubiquitous formation of stellar and supermassive black holes—particularly in galactic centers—acts as a dominant entropic sink, progressively decomposing the spacetime fabric. This decomposition is accelerated by gravitational stratification, whereby matter irreversibly settles into deep potential wells; by radiative entropy export, with photons carrying entropy beyond causal contact; by topological fragmentation, as the continuum develops non-trivial connectivity such as voids and filamentary structures; and by viscoelastic memory loss, through which the medium progressively loses coherence of its prior state.

As structural coherence is lost, embedded galactic tracers separate as an emergent consequence of thermodynamic evolution. Cosmological redshift therefore arises as a kinematic effect of photon propagation through a progressively degraded continuum, rather than as evidence of spacetime stretching.

The universe must be understood through the entropy of its structural remnants, rather than through the ad hoc insertion of a cosmological constant Λ of dark energy—a mathematical artifice used to sustain a nominal expansion that, although suggested by Hubble’s observations, lacks intrinsic proof and overlooks the degenerative nature of the cosmos.

Although DUT is a recent theoretical proposal, it already matches—and in key aspects surpasses—the empirical performance of ΛCDM. Its physical foundations are rigorously grounded in established field theory and modern developments in gravitational thermodynamics. The complete and exclusive mathematical framework of DUT, from the variational action to the autonomous background dynamics, was originally derived and validated against a global cosmological dataset in the foundational preprint “Thermodynamic Resolution of the Hubble Tension: The Dead Universe Theory (DUT) as a Cosmological Model Rooted in Irreversible Entropy” (preprints202511.2044.v1).

Here, we introduce DUT-CMB Engine 3.0, a production-grade inference pipeline that operationalizes the DUT master background dynamics for precision cosmology. We demonstrate that DUT reproduces cosmic microwave background observables while reducing the Hubble tension from 5.4 sigma to 3.7 sigma within the same dataset. The framework further delivers falsifiable predictions for next-generation surveys such as Euclid, including distinctive signatures in cosmic structure growth and anomalous large-scale lensing coherence. All codes and datasets are publicly released to enable independent verification.

The Dead Universe Theory thus constitutes a complete and testable cosmological paradigm in which apparent cosmic acceleration emerges not from dark energy, but from entropy-driven gradients within a globally retracting spacetime, as formalized by the master background equation for observational inference:

E_DUT²(z) = Ω_m (1+z)³ + Ω_φ (1+z)^(2Γ_φ) + Ω_ξ [1 - (1+z)^(-Γ_φ)]

The term Ω_ξ [1 − (1+z)^(−Γ_φ)] acts as a late-time entropic screening term. It is zero today but was significant in the past, encoding the thermodynamic memory of a collapsed continuum state.

In DUT, the photon does not lose energy because space stretches, but because the medium through which it propagates is aging and undergoing thermodynamic degradation. This process produces redshift as a cumulative physical effect associated with deformation of the spacetime continuum.

When this degradation is incorporated into the model, the discrepancy between theoretical predictions and observations is significantly reduced, restoring consistency with data from the Planck satellite and the James Webb Space Telescope and lowering the statistical error, commonly expressed in terms of “sigma.”

Code:  https://github.com/ExtractoDAO/DUT-CMB-Scientific-Engine-3.0-NASA-ESA-Production-Grade

This framework yields a stable thermodynamic phase attractor in structure growth, with a parametrized growth index γ ≈ 0.618—a falsifiable prediction distinct from ΛCDM's γ ≈ 0.55.

Using Planck 2018 distance priors, Pantheon+ supernovae, and JWST-like high-redshift forecasts, we execute an end-to-end production pipeline (180,000 MCMC samples) with autonomous numerical stability monitoring (HCNI system). The framework reproduces CMB observables at sub-percent accuracy (ℓ_A deviation < 0.01σ) while reducing the Hubble tension from 5.4σ to 3.7σ within the analyzed dataset.

We predict that Euclid (2027–2030) will be sensitive to a growth index γ_DUT close to 0.618 and to asymmetric lensing coherence, with σ_dark exceeding 1.62 σ_b on scales larger than 100 Mpc. If such signatures are confirmed, they would motivate a reassessment of expansion-based assumptions and support an interpretation of the dark sector as a fossil thermodynamic substrate.

Keywords: thermodynamic gravity; non-expanding cosmology; entropic deformation; large-scale structure; Hubble tension; modified gravity; cosmological inference; DUT-CMB Engine.