Configurational Dispersal Cosmology I: Conceptual Foundations of a Dispersal-Based Framework

This work introduces a dispersal-based framework for cosmic expansion, interpreting accelerated expansion as an environment-dependent geometric behavior of spacetime rather than a strictly homogeneous background effect. It develops the Configurational Dispersal Principle (CDP) and its observable manifestation, the Configurational Dispersal Tendency (CDT), and examines their physical motivation, mathematical representation, and testable cosmological implications. The framework is formulated within general relativity using an effective scalar–tensor description, providing a unified conceptual picture of inflation, structure formation, and late-time acceleration. This paper represents the first stage of a broader program aimed at constructing a complete effective field theory and testing the framework through full Boltzmann-level implementation.