A Variable Speed of Light Cosmology
by Sudhir Jain - Sept 2026
Concept Note
1. The Problem
Modern cosmology assumes c is constant and time is a fundamental dimension. This requires three ad-hoc additions: inflation to explain flatness, dark energy to explain accelerating expansion, and a separate arrow of time to explain irreversibility. We propose they are one phenomenon.
2. Core Postulate: The Step-Down
At t=0, c=∞. From E=mc2, this implies m=0. The universe is pure, formless energy, timeless.
At the symmetry break, c is clamped to a finite value c0. Instantly, m=E/c 2 becomes non-zero. Energy crystallizes into mass. This is the Big Bang. No singularity, only a phase transition.
We hypothesize c did not settle instantly, but decayed in steps: c(t)=ci →...→3×108 m/s. Each step released energy that became matter and radiation.
3. Definition of Time
Time is not a backdrop. It is the measurement of heat loss.
Mathematically: dt= −k* dE/Tmatter−Tvacuum
Where dE is energy dissipated into the vacuum sink, and k is a coupling constant. When dE is large (hot early universe), dt is large for a given process - time runs fast, history is rapid. As Tmatter → Tvacuum (2.7K → 0K), dE/dt→0, so dt→0 per unit change. Time dilates. Heat Death is thus dE=0, or the end of time.
4. Explanatory Power
Redshift / Hubble Tension: Distant light appears time-dilated because it was emitted when dE/dt was higher. What we call expansion is actually the slowing of time.
Gravity: Near a massive object, energy cannot easily radiate away. Local dE/dt is suppressed, so time runs slow. This reproduces GR's time dilation without warping geometry, but via thermodynamics.
Consciousness & Biological Time: A child with high metabolism dissipates more energy, time feels slow. Aging as reduced dissipation.
5. Testable Prediction
If time = loss rate, then the fine-structure constant α=e2/(ℏc) must have been slightly different in the early universe because c was higher. JWST quasar spectra should show a systematic drift in α at z>7, not random. And atomic clocks at different temperatures should show a tiny, non-GR time drift
correlated with their radiative environment.
6. Conclusion
We replace "time passes, so things decay" with "things decay, so we call it time." The universe is not expanding into nothing. It is cooling into timelessness
The Proposal: Time as Dissipation
Abstract:
We propose a reinterpretation of fundamental constants where the speed of light c undergoes a cosmological step-down from an initial unbounded value at the Big Bang to its present finite value. This single mechanism accounts for the genesis of mass ( m=E/c2), the emergence of time, and its subsequent dilation. Time is defined not as a background dimension but as the
thermodynamic rate of energy loss into the vacuum sink.
Axiom:
Time is not a fundamental dimension, but the observable rate of energy dissipation into the cosmic sink.
We posit the Big Bang as a symmetry-breaking event in which c stepped down from infinity. Prior to this, with c→∞, m→0, the universe was pure, massless energy with no time. The clamping of c forced a conversion of energy into mass - matter as crystallized loss.
Thereafter, the universe functions as a vast energy sink, with all evolution driven by irreversible leakage of heat from matter into vacuum. Time t is defined as dt ∝ −dE/T, where T is the temperature gradient with the sink. As the universe cools, dE/dt→0. Time dilates, slowing asymptotically toward heat death - a state of zero loss, and therefore timelessness.
Core Axiom
1.Time is not fundamental. It is what a clock measures when energy is lost.
dt = −k * dE/Tmatter − Tvacuum
where Tvac ∼ 0K is the vacuum sink temperature.
2 The Step-Down Mechanism
From E = mc2:
If c → ∞, then m = E/c2 → 0
Phase 0: c = ∞, m = 0, timeless pure energy.
Symmetry break: c → c0, then m = E/c2 > 0. Mass crystallizes. This IS the Big Bang. No singularity needed.
c(t) = c∞ · f (t) + c0
where f (t) decays stepwise.
3 Redshift Reinterpreted
Hubble law reinterpreted:
1 + z = ∆tobs / ∆temit
If dE/dt was larger in the past, then dtemit for same process was larger. Light is stretched because time itself was faster, not because space expanded.
4 Gravity as Radiation Shadow
GR: dτ2 = gµνdxµdxν
Jain Hypothesis:
dτlocal = dτ0 · (︃1 − β * ρrad / Tmatter )︃
Near mass M , vacuum is saturated, dissipation suppressed, so dE/dt = dt. Reproduces GR result:
∆tGR = ∆t0√︁1 − 2GM/rc2
5 Formalism
Second Law: dS/dt > 0 ≡ dEloss/dt > 0
Clock: ∆t = 1/λ ln(Ei/Ef)
Cosmological History:
• Phase 0: c = ∞, No time
• Phase 1: c ∼ 10^32 m/s, Inflation-like mass creation
• Phase 2: c → c0, CMB as step radiation
• Phase 3: Present, TCMB = 2.7K cooling
• Phase 4: T → 0, dE → 0, dt → 0 End of Time
6 Testable Predictions
Prediction 1: Fine-structure drift α = e2/(ℏc). If c was larger, α smaller at high z. JWST quasar absorption at z > 7: ∆α/α 10−5.
Prediction 2: Lab test Two optical lattice clocks, one in 4K blackbody, one at 300K. Beyond GR, expect ∆ν/ν ∝ (T 4 − T 4).
Prediction 3: No dark energy needed. Apparent acceleration aapp = c¨/c not Λ.
7 Conclusion
Replace ”time passes, so matter decay” with ”matter decay, so we call it time.” The Universe is not expanding into nothing. It is cooling into timelessness.
”The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once” – Einstein, reinterpreted
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