Latency–Vacuum Cosmology A testable effective theory unifying processing-latency gravity with horizon-Landauer running vacuum

We propose a minimal, falsifiable effective framework in which gravitational time dilation arises from a local “processing latency” scalar field sourced by a normalized informational load , while cosmological acceleration emerges from an horizon-coarse-graining sector that reduces to a running vacuum model (RVM) . The local sector is encoded by an exponential metric ansatz, whose weak-field expansion yields the standard post-Newtonian structure with at the displayed order when is identified with the dimensionless Newton potential . We then provide a covariant EFT scaffold in which is a dynamical scalar with stability and screening conditions, and we introduce a distinct horizon-effective contribution whose FRW reduction reproduces RVM scaling without double counting the matter stress tensor. The framework yields a unified test program spanning (i) solar-system time delay and redshift tests, (ii) strong-field constraints from gravitational waves and ringdown, and (iii) cosmological background and perturbation signatures in BAO/SN/CMB/LSS via a single parameter . We emphasize operational definitions for , a clear separation of energy bookkeeping between , , and , and an explicit pathway to data-driven falsification.