A novel mechanism for the distance-redshift relation
We consider a novel mechanism to account for the observed distance-redshift relation. This is done by presenting a toy model for the large-scale matter distribution in a static Universe. Our model mainly concerns particles with masses far below those in the Standard Model of Particle Physics. The model is founded on three main assumptions: (1) a mass spectrum dN$_{\rm i}$/dm$_{\rm i}$ $=$ $β$m$_{\rm i}^{-α}$ (where $α$ and $β$ are both positive constants) for low-mass particles with m$_{\rm i}$ $\ll$ 10$^{-22}$ eV $\ll$ M$_{\rm P}$, where M$_{\rm P}$ is the Planck mass; (2) a particle mass-wavelength relation of the form $λ_{\rm i} =$ $\hbar$/$δ_{\rm i}$m$_{\rm i}$c, where $δ_{\rm i} =$ $η$m$_{\rm i}^γ$ and $η$ and $γ$ are both constants; and (3) For such low-mass particles, locality can only be defined on large spatial scales, comparable to or exceeding the particle wavelengths. We use our model to derive the cosmological redshift characteristic of the Standard Model of Cosmology, which becomes a gravitational redshift in our model. We compare the results of our model to empirical data and show that, in order to reproduce the sub-linear form of the observed distance-redshift relation, our model requires $α$ + $γ$ $<$ 0. We further place our toy model in the context of the Friedmann Universe via a superposition of Einstein Universes, each with its own scale factor a$_{\rm i}$. Given the overwhelming evidence supporting an expanding Universe, we then address possible modifications to our base model that would be required to account for the available empirical constraints, including the addition of some initial expansion. Finally, we consider potentially observable distinctions between the cosmological redshift and our proposed mechanism to account for the observed distance-redshift relation.