Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v22.0 - alpha the "heart" of the theory

Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v22.0 - alpha the "heart" of the theory This preprint presents Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v22.0, a minimal, nonsingular cosmological framework within standard General Relativity and a single complex scalar field Phi in a radiatively tilted double-well potential, augmented by a radiatively generated ekpyrotic term delta exp(-c Re(Phi)). Supplemented by the leading Planck-suppressed interaction between two CPT-related sectors sharing the same spacetime metric, this two-sector structure replaces global time direction with a CPT-symmetric description. Thermodynamic arrows, entropy production, and matter-antimatter asymmetries emerge as sector-dependent phenomena, while the total system remains globally entropy-conserving. The scalar potential and bounded effective Friedmann correction generate a smooth, ghost-free bounce with finite curvature invariants and transient NEC violation localized near the bounce. During the ekpyrotic phase, curvature perturbations yield a nearly scale-invariant spectrum (n_s approx 0.96, A_s approx 10^{-9}) without inflation or additional fields. Planck-suppressed cross-sector interaction damps isocurvature modes as a^{-alpha}, driving adiabaticity. A key advancement in v22.0 makes alpha the "heart" of the theory, with cross-epoch correlations that enhance predictive power and falsifiability. This single infrared relaxation parameter alpha governs correlated deviations across epochs, controlling Delta N_eff approx 0.1-0.3, percent-level corrections to f sigma_8(z), isocurvature damping, and exponential sensitivity in dark-matter-to-baryon ratio and baryon asymmetry. These arise from distinct processes yet share a common dynamical origin, yielding non-trivial consistency relations testable with Euclid, DESI, and CMB-S4. RDCC offers a minimal, observationally testable alternative to Lambda CDM, unifying nonsingular cyclic evolution, near-adiabatic primordial perturbations, dark matter abundance, baryon asymmetry, and mild late-time deviations. The theory's viability hinges on the empirical consistency of its correlated multi-observable predictions. Version updates: Refined Cuscuton operator for bounce mechanism, expanded mirror-sector phenomenology, and new appendices on limitations and dualistic extensions. This version builds on: Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v1.0: A Minimal Eternal Framework and Its Dynamical Realization: https://zenodo.org/records/18281686 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v2.0: A Minimal Eternal Framework with Dynamical Realization and Extensions: https://zenodo.org/records/18304744 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v5.0: Bounce-Matching Formalism, Mirror-Sector Dynamics, and Refined Gravitational Waves: https://zenodo.org/records/18307836 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v6.0: Black Hole Bounces as Local CPT-Fixpoints, Full Perturbation Transfer Matrix and Mirror-Sector Microphysics: https://zenodo.org/records/18312656 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v7.0: Quantum-Corrected Black Hole Bounces, Full Perturbation Transfer Matrix with Phase-Shift, and Mirror Microphysics https://zenodo.org/records/18327084 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v8.0: Parameter Space Exploration, Data Confrontation, and Predictive Structure Formation https://zenodo.org/records/18334398 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v9.0: Predictive Cosmology, Nonlinear Structure Formation, and Astrophysical Signatures https://zenodo.org/records/18336237 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v10.0: Unified Cosmology, Full Simulations, and Observational Pipelines https://zenodo.org/records/18336865 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v11.0: Entropy Dynamics, Mirror Thermodynamics, EFT Consistency, and Naturalness https://zenodo.org/records/18341147 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v12.0: Precision Predictions, Multi-Probe Confrontation, and Quantum-Geometric Completion https://zenodo.org/records/18346555 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v13.0: Quantum Completion, Global Consistency, and Predictive Cosmology https://zenodo.org/records/18348450 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v14.0: Unified Quantum Gravity, Full-Cycle Simulation, and Multi-Messenger Precision Cosmology https://zenodo.org/records/18351916 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v15.0: Mirror-Sector Cosmology, Hidden-Universe Gravitational Waves, and Two-Sector Evolution https://zenodo.org/records/18358095 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v16.0: Precision Two-Sector Dynamics, Mirror Thermodynamics Refinements, and Enhanced GW Forecasts https://zenodo.org/records/18388123 Relaxation-Driven Cyclic Cosmology (RDCC) v17.0 - Minimal Effective Two-Sector Version https://zenodo.org/records/18761806 While the core of RDCC remains a structural, timeless framework with fixpoint character, this document explores a dynamical realization of the bounce mechanism to enable concrete, falsifiable predictions. Related documents and the full RDCC ecosystem are available via Zenodo:https://zenodo.org/records/18204087 Michael [email protected]