The Baseline Evolution Field: A Machian Foundation for Time, Gravity, and Electromagnetic Propagation

Abstract

Modern physics successfully describes gravitation through General Relativity and electromagnetism through Maxwell’s equations, yet neither theory identifies a common physical entity responsible for the universal causal structure of spacetime. This paper proposes a new conceptual framework based on a fundamental Baseline Evolution Field (BEF). In this framework, the BEF constitutes the physical fabric of the universe and establishes causal ordering through its continuous evolution. Time is interpreted as the local rate of evolution rather than an independent dimension, while gravitational time dilation arises from reductions in local evolution induced by mass-energy. Light and gravitational waves are hypothesized to propagate through, or emerge as excitations of, the same underlying field. Inspired by Mach’s principle, the local evolution state is proposed to depend on the globally connected Baseline Evolution Field established during the cosmological Big Bounce. This first part develops the physical motivation, postulates, and conceptual structure of the theory. Mathematical field equations and the emergence of classical field theories are developed in subsequent sections.