Foundations of Thermal Spacetime Dynamics: Laws of Emergent Time and Causal Fields

This preprint presents the foundational dynamical formulation of the Thermal Spacetime Unification (TSU) framework, in which time is treated as an emergent physical quantity governed by thermal gradients rather than a fundamental background coordinate. The work introduces three laws of temporal motion, defines the concept of effective temporal inertia, and derives a causal field equation for thermal–temporal propagation consistent with relativistic locality. Without parameter fitting, the framework provides a coherent explanation for observed residuals in high-energy astrophysical systems (e.g., the S2 star) and yields testable predictive refinements within current observational bounds (e.g., Mercury perihelion). This paper serves as a foundational reference for subsequent developments and applications of TSU.