Expansion Freedom Theory: Mass Expands, Objects Follow — A Force-Free Account of Gravity, Orbits, and Light Deflection

This paper presents the fourth major development of ExpansionFreedom Theory (EFT), a single-axiom cosmological frameworkbuilt on the premise that everything seeks to expand as freelyas possible. The central physical picture: mass expands outward at GM/Aₑff (r). Objects follow their natural paths. Whether the mass catches apassing object — determined by the sign of E = v²/2 − GM/r —decides everything: free fall, orbital motion, escape, lightdeflection, and black holes are one spectrum, not separatephenomena. Building on v6. 3 (DOI: 10. 5281/zenodo. 20703636), this paperestablishes: (1) Natural motion principle. A motion is natural if thepassenger in a sealed windowless box feels no force. Free fallpasses this test — Earth expands toward the falling observer atGM/R² (the observer simply stays; Earth's surface catches up). Rest on a surface does not — the floor prevents Earth's expansionfrom catching the person. An ISS astronaut at 7. 9 km/s feelsweightless; a rider on an Earth-sized merry-go-round at the samespeed would not survive. Same speed, same circular path, entirelydifferent physics: one is a natural path, the other is mechanicalconstraint. (2) One mechanism, all paths. Light deflection (4GM/bc², derivedin v6. 1 from two effects: approaching face + flattening) andplanetary orbits are the same mechanism at different speeds. Theinverse-square law GM/r² is not fundamental — it is the geometricconsequence of a spherical mass presenting a spherical face (Aₑff = 4πr²). Change the geometry (disk → Aₑff = 4πHₑff·r, giving flat rotation curves; filament → Aₑff = Hf², givingg = const) and the apparent gravitational law changes. No darkmatter required. (3) Two equivalent perspectives. The cosmological equationaₘatter = H²r − GM/Aₑff (r) has two readings: (Universe) matter lags space by GM/Aₑff. (Mass) the mass expands outward at GM/Aₑff; space expands atH²r + GM/r² from the mass's frame. Newton's g = GM/r² is therate at which the mass expands — not a pulling force. (4) Singularity impossibility. All forms of expansion freedom (rotation, heat, radiation, momentum) contribute to Lₜotal, giving rₘin = Lₜotal/c > 0. Even inside a black hole, r = 0is unreachable. The Hawking-Penrose theorems do not apply: their premise (mass exerts influence on spacetime) is absent. The paper also shows: why Newton's first law is the zero-masslimit of natural motion; why orbital motion is generalisedinertia, not its opposite; and how entropy paradox in anexpanding universe is resolved — structure is the optimalconfiguration, not a violation of the second law.