UADEL: A Theoretical Framework for a Latent-Emergent Autopoietic Universe

We present the Latent-Emergent Autopoietic Universe (UADEL) framework, in which spacetime, time, and gravity are not regarded as fundamental entities, but as emergent properties arising from an irreversible causal process. The model postulates a primordial pre-temporal state characterized by latent energy and the absence of geometry, whose global structural transition—referred to as the first universal pulse—introduces an irreversible internal orientation that enables causal growth and the emergence of time. Within this framework, time arises as an effective quantity associated with the cumulative counting of causal relations, while geometry and gravity appear as macroscopic equilibrium descriptions of the emergent causal network, recovering Einstein’s equations as equations of state in the local statistical regime. Quantum fields are interpreted as effective excitations of emergent spacetime, and black holes are described as causal regulators associated with structural regime changes. UADEL further introduces a primordial dark quantum field whose collective excitations give rise to dark matter as a structural memory of the emergent process. The universe is described as a closed autopoietic system sustained by a cycle that includes causal growth, local regulation, and an ultra-weak, non-radiative structural residual relaxation mechanism responsible for the gradual structural aging of gravitational systems. As a consequence, the framework leads to falsifiable observational predictions, in particular an ultra-weak dependence of the effective dynamics of gravitational systems on their structural age, distinct from the standard cosmological age. The proposed framework does not constitute a complete fundamental theory, but rather a coherent and testable effective description that offers a unified perspective on the emergence, persistence, and aging of spacetime.