Cosmochrony: A Pre-geometric Framework for Emergent Spacetime, Dynamics, and Matter

We propose Cosmochrony, a foundational physical framework in which time, inertia, and spacetime geometry emerge from the irreversible relaxation of a single fundamental entity $\chi$. Unlike conventional field theories defined on a pre-existing spacetime, Cosmochrony treats relaxation as the primary physical process from which temporal ordering, effective metrics, and dynamical laws are derived \emph{ab initio}.Localized, long-lived excitations of the $\chi$ substrate appear as topologically and spectrally stable solitonic configurations. Fermionic properties arise from topological obstructions in the configuration space of $\chi$, while inertial mass is not postulated but emerges as resistance to global relaxation, quantified by the stability spectrum of the configuration. By resolving the circularity between configuration and distance through spectral graph methods, the effective metric becomes an emergent property. This interpretation naturally recovers $E = mc^2$ as a kinematic identity, while spin, statistics, and fermionic $4\pi$ periodicity follow from the nontrivial topology of projected configurations.The Standard Model phenomenology emerges as a projection $\Pi$ of the substrate's dynamics. Gauge mediators are reinterpreted as specific projection modes: the photon as scalar transmittance, and the $W/Z$ bosons as shear modes of the projection fiber, accounting for their mass without a fundamental Higgs field. Mass generation arises from the \emph{spectral overlap} between localized configurations and the global relaxation background. Strong interactions and confinement follow from the topological stability of knotted configurations ($Q=3$), where color charge reflects internal degrees of geometric coherence.Within the same projection-based ontology, the framework provides a unified interpretation of the dark sector. Dark Matter corresponds to non-projected spectral density contributing to inertia and gravitation without admitting a stable effective-field representation, while Dark Energy manifests as the global, irreversible relaxation flux of $\chi$.Cosmochrony does not aim to replace the Standard Model or General Relativity at accessible energies, but to supply a deeper explanatory layer in which their structures emerge from a common physical origin. The framework delineates explicit numerical programs for validation via lattice-based simulations and clarifies the regimes in which effective field theories and spacetime descriptions remain valid.