Expansion Freedom Theory v6.4: Mass Expands, Objects Follow — A Force-Free Account of Gravity, Orbits, and Light Deflection

This paper presents the fourth major development of Expansion
Freedom Theory (EFT), a single-axiom cosmological framework
built on the premise that everything seeks to expand as freely
as possible.

The central physical picture: mass expands outward at GM/A_eff(r).
Objects follow their natural paths. Whether the mass catches a
passing object — determined by the sign of E = v²/2 − GM/r —
decides everything: free fall, orbital motion, escape, light
deflection, and black holes are one spectrum, not separate
phenomena.

Building on v6.3 (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20703636), this paper
establishes:

(1) Natural motion principle. A motion is natural if the
passenger in a sealed windowless box feels no force. Free fall
passes this test — Earth expands toward the falling observer at
GM/R² (the observer simply stays; Earth's surface catches up).
Rest on a surface does not — the floor prevents Earth's expansion
from catching the person. An ISS astronaut at 7.9 km/s feels
weightless; a rider on an Earth-sized merry-go-round at the same
speed would not survive. Same speed, same circular path, entirely
different physics: one is a natural path, the other is mechanical
constraint.

(2) One mechanism, all paths. Light deflection (4GM/bc², derived
in v6.1 from two effects: approaching face + flattening) and
planetary orbits are the same mechanism at different speeds. The
inverse-square law GM/r² is not fundamental — it is the geometric
consequence of a spherical mass presenting a spherical face
(A_eff = 4πr²). Change the geometry (disk → A_eff = 4πH_eff·r,
giving flat rotation curves; filament → A_eff = H_f², giving
g = const) and the apparent gravitational law changes. No dark
matter required.

(3) Two equivalent perspectives. The cosmological equation
a_matter = H²r − GM/A_eff(r) has two readings:
(Universe) matter lags space by GM/A_eff.
(Mass) the mass expands outward at GM/A_eff; space expands at
H²r + GM/r² from the mass's frame. Newton's g = GM/r² is the
rate at which the mass expands — not a pulling force.

(4) Singularity impossibility. All forms of expansion freedom
(rotation, heat, radiation, momentum) contribute to L_total,
giving r_min = L_total/c > 0. Even inside a black hole, r = 0
is unreachable. The Hawking-Penrose theorems do not apply:
their premise (mass exerts influence on spacetime) is absent.

The paper also shows: why Newton's first law is the zero-mass
limit of natural motion; why orbital motion is generalised
inertia, not its opposite; and how entropy paradox in an
expanding universe is resolved — structure is the optimal
configuration, not a violation of the second law.