Temporal Density as a Scalar Unifier of Time Dilation in Curved and Expanding Spacetimes
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Time dilation in special and general relativity is traditionally attributed to relative velocity or gravitational potential. This paper proposes that both phenomena arise from a single geometric property of spacetime—its temporal density, denoted Θ(x^μ). Temporal density quantifies the local causal capacity of spacetime: how much change or information flow it can sustain per unit proper time. High curvature or energy density focuses causal structure and reduces Θ (dense, slow time), while large-scale expansion defocuses it and drives Θ → 0 (thin, vanishing time). Θ is defined geometrically from null-congruence expansion and informationally from causal-diamond channel capacity, both derived from Einstein’s equations via the Raychaudhuri–Sachs optical formalism. This framework unifies gravitational, kinematic, and cosmological time dilation, and predicts small, direction-dependent corrections to redshift and frame-dragging laws that may be observable with current precision timing experiments.
Author: Reynolds, Nicholas
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7092357429
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