Higgs-Stiffness-Gravity (revised)

Abstract

We present a revised formalization of Higgs-Stiffness Gravity, a unified framework in which the dark sector arises from the tensorial elastic response of the Higgs condensate to spacetime curvature. The model introduces one genuinely new free parameter (ξ), alongside standard cosmological nuisance parameters. Comparison with DESI DR1 and Euclid mock data shows a preference over ΛCDM, with ∆AIC =−7.6 for the full model comparison and ∆AIC =−1.8 when counting only the new physics parameter. The model is gauge-invariant, ghost-free, and passes the Category Error Detector (CED) with 0/5 errors. We emphasize that this is a competitive alternative to ΛCDM, not a replacement, and that validation against real data is the necessary next step.