Holographic Residual Dark Matter I: A Non-Particle Origin for Cold-Dark-Matter Phenomenology

This technical preprint presents Paper I of the Holographic Residual Dark Matter framework. The work does not deny the phenomenological evidence conventionally modeled as cold dark matter. Instead, it asks whether the non-luminous gravitational sector usually interpreted as particle cold dark matter may have a non-particle origin as a holographic residual gravitational response. The residual component X is defined as an effective sector left by an inflationary holographic projection-locking transition. After the projection source shuts off, the model gives rho_X proportional to a^-3. Under a dust-like effective stress-energy condition, X has w_X approximately 0 and c_s,X^2 approximately 0, and its linear perturbation equations reproduce the standard cold-dark-matter phenomenology. The note also estimates the present effective density rho_X,0 and the small residual fraction required near projection lock-in or reheating. This is Paper I of a planned series. Galaxy-scale phenomenology, extended flat circular velocities, and merging-cluster lensing/gas offsets are reserved for subsequent notes.