The Universe as a Closed Topological System: Gravity and Expansion as Consequences of Global Closure.

This work develops a unified conceptual and phenomenological framework in which gravity and cosmological expansion are interpreted as consequences of global topological closure. Assuming a compact, boundaryless spacetime (∂ℳ = Ø) together with a global curvature constraint ℬ₀ = const., gravity is interpreted as the internal manifestation of global geometric structure, while cosmological expansion is reinterpreted as internal geometric relaxation rather than literal spatial growth. The framework preserves the Einstein field equations at the local level and introduces a global interpretive layer that constrains their ontological meaning. A minimal phenomenological extension is proposed via a single parameter β, leading to small but potentially observable deviations from ΛCDM cosmology. The proposal does not introduce new entities, but instead derives gravity and expansion from a single geometric condition, offering a unified perspective consistent with current observations. This work is theoretical and phenomenological; full derivations and quantitative data fitting are left for future research.