A Unified Non-Metric Origin of the CMB, BAO, and SN Ia Dimming in Stiffness Field Cosmology

We present a unified, non-metric interpretation of three cornerstone observations of modern cosmology—the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) scale, and the luminosity–redshift relation of Type Ia supernovae—within the framework of Stiffness Field Cosmology (SFC). SFC models the universe as a self- sustaining elastic vacuum with time-varying stiffness, replacing the expanding metric with internal vacuum dynamics. We show that the CMB arises from a global vacuum transi- tion near the end of a soft phase, when compact energy storage becomes unsustainable and energy is released into a statistically uniform radiation background. The BAO scale is rein- terpreted as a frozen statistical imprint of large-scale energetic flatness established during the same phase. Finally, the observed dimming of distant Type Ia supernovae is shown to follow naturally from the reduced intrinsic luminosity of sources formed in a lower- stiffness past, without invoking accelerated expansion. This framework offers a coherent alternative grounded in the internal dynamics of the vacuum field.