Fractal Layered Cosmology: A Conceptual Model of Nested Universes and Emergent Physical Laws

Fractal Layered Cosmology (FLC) is a conceptual framework proposing that the observable universe is one structural layer within an infinite hierarchy of nested physical systems. Instead of treating the universe as a self-contained entity, FLC interprets physical laws as emergent properties that arise from the stable configuration of energy at each layer of the hierarchy. Classical and quantum behaviours are understood as manifestations of different structural layers rather than incompatible theoretical regimes. The model offers alternative interpretations of dark matter and dark energy by describing them as inward and outward influences originating from a parent-layer atomic-like structure. In this view, the universe behaves analogously to an electron cloud orbiting a nucleus at a higher scale, with dark matter corresponding to the inward nuclear influence and dark energy corresponding to the outward parent-layer field that defines the universe’s effective interaction parameter. FLC also presents a cyclic picture of cosmology in which collapse, absorption, and re-emergence correspond to energy-state transitions in the surrounding structure. This work is intended as a conceptual exploration rather than an empirical theory. Its purpose is to provide an intuitive framework for thinking about scale, structure, and the layered organisation of physical reality.