Tired Light Theory: A Unified Framework for Dark Matter, Stellar Anomalies, and Cosmic Structure via Higgs Field Interaction

Abstract

We propose a unified cosmological framework wherein photons lose energy through interaction with the Higgs field during propagation, eventually condensing into matter. Unlike classical tired light theories, this mechanism produces both redshift and time dilation through wave packet stretching, consistent with supernova observations. Key parameters are derived from particle physics alone: the Higgs coupling alpha_H = alpha^2(v/M_P) ~ 1.1 x 10^-21, the condensation threshold E_c = m_e * alpha^5 ~ 10^-5 eV, and the cosmic microwave background temperature T_CMB = m_e c^2 alpha^4/(2 pi k_B) ~ 2.68 K — a 98% match to the observed 2.725 K using only fundamental constants, with no cosmological inputs. The framework explains dark matter as condensed photon energy, resolves stellar age paradoxes through dark matter reconversion in stellar cores, and naturally dissolves eight major observational puzzles: the Hubble tension (>5 sigma crisis between measurement methods), JWST mature high-redshift galaxies, the cosmological lithium problem, the core-cusp discrepancy, white dwarf cooling anomalies in globular clusters, the Tolman surface brightness test (raw data do not reach the expansion prediction of n = 4 without model-dependent evolutionary corrections), the Methuselah star age paradox, and the ARCADE-2 radio excess. Condensed photon dark matter is shown to be mathematically equivalent to axion-like particles, unifying our framework with mainstream axion-photon conversion research. The coupling is shown to connect to induced gravity: if the Higgs vacuum generates Newton's constant via G_N = 1/(8 pi xi v^2), then alpha_H = alpha^2/sqrt(8 pi xi) — a scale-free expression containing no mass scales, linking photon energy loss directly to the Higgs-gravity coupling xi ~ 10^32. Self-consistency analysis requires a universe age of ~700 billion years — 51 times the standard model estimate. Eight testable predictions are presented, including a novel magnetic white dwarf correlation requiring dedicated telescope observations.

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