Space as Protomatter: A Unified Model Resolving the Hubble Tension, Dark Energy, and Foundational Physics Paradoxes

A radical reconceptualization of space-time as a material substance (“protomatter”) with variable density rather than an empty container for matter. In this model, the speed of light becomes a function of local protomatter density c(ρ), naturally explaining gravitational lensing through refraction rather than space-time curvature.