Step 1: The Fundamental Question
Why does mass always attract? Einstein showed us how gravity works through spacetime curvature, but why is it universally attractive rather than sometimes repulsive?
Step 2: The Flux Law Foundation
Understanding how energy flux writes temporal geometry through ∂_t Φ = -4πG r T_tr, the key equation that connects energy flow to time curvature.
Step 3: Energy Conservation in Curved Time
How energy flux obeys T_tr(r) ∝ 1/(r² N(r)) along radial paths, setting up the crucial asymmetry between infall and outflow.
Step 4: The Redshift Ratchet Mechanism
Why the N⁻¹ factor creates a fundamental bias: blueshift amplifies infall's ability to etch temporal wells, while redshift weakens outflow's ability to reverse them.
Step 5: Infalling Energy Gets Amplified
Detailed analysis of how infalling energy experiences progressive blueshifting, creating runaway deepening of temporal wells through positive feedback.
Step 6: Outflowing Energy Gets Suppressed
Why outflowing energy faces progressive redshifting that suppresses its ability to flatten existing curvature, preventing gravitational repulsion.
Step 7: Worked Example - Solar Mass Shell
Calculating the temporal change ΔΦ = -0.10 when a solar mass shell passes through 5 Schwarzschild radii, demonstrating the 9.5% clock slowdown effect.
Step 8: Why No Anti-Gravity Exists
How three constraints (asymptotic flatness, positive energy, constraint structure) uniquely select converging solutions and rule out static repulsive configurations.
Step 9: Observable Predictions
Testable signatures including delay drift in strong lensing, temporal memory effects, and asymmetric variability responses in gravitational systems.
Step 10: The Physical Picture
Understanding gravity as the fossil record of ancient energy flows, preserved as frozen temporal patterns that guide geodesics toward convergence.
Step 11: Connection to Standard GR
How the redshift ratchet mechanism maps to the Raychaudhuri equation's focusing theorem, showing this is Einstein's theory in different variables.
Step 12: Implications and Future Directions
How understanding gravity's attractive nature through temporal scars opens new avenues for experimental tests and theoretical development.