Cosmological Voids vs Temporal Shear: An Empirical Falsification of Kinematic Hubble Tension Solutions

Abstract

The Hubble tension admits fundamentally different interpretations. In an expanding-space interpretation, it may arise from local kinematics such as a Gpc-scale underdensity. In the Temporal Equivalence Principle (TEP) framework, the premise is different: the spatial universe is static, non-expanding and eternal, cosmological redshift is accumulated temporal shear, and the locally inferred H0 is an operational redshift–distance calibration rather than a physical expansion rate. Under this framework, the local tension is resolved by environment-dependent clock biases affecting specific rungs of the distance ladder. These frameworks make opposing predictions for the redshift profile of the inferred H0 and for the consistency of distance indicators within a single galaxy. This paper tests both. Website: https://mlsmawfield.com/tep/void/Repository: https://github.com/matthewsmawfield/TEP-VOID DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22150140 Keywords: Hubble tension – Temporal Equivalence Principle – isochrony violation – Cepheid variables – TRGB – KBC void – MOND – bulk flow – CosmicFlows-4 – JWST – Pantheon+ – scalar-tensor theory – distance ladder – cosmology Open Science Statement: This work is a preprint and is open to community review, ideas, and collaboration. All materials required for full reproducibility—including data downloads, analysis scripts, code, and manuscripts—are open-source. Feedback and contributions to further test these results are welcome.