Okay, I know it sounds weird, but hear me out:
We know space is expanding, sure. That's been established science for a while now. All three spatial dimensions at the same (increasing) rate.
So ... why should we assume that the 4th dimension -- time -- is static and unchanging like we used to think space was? Could time also be expanding or contracting? (Expanding seems more likely, as it would match what the other dimensions are doing.) After all, spacetime is all one thing, really. Space and time are inextricably linked. When you think of it that way, it seems nearly impossible that space would be expanding while time is not. Spacetime is expanding, so wouldn't that include time as well?
My question here is: what would it look like, subjectively, from our perspective inside it, if time was expanding just like space? Would we be able to measure it at all? Would there be any difference? Could the acceleration of space expansion ('dark energy') actually be explained by time expansion instead?
For a moment, imagine a universe where time definitely is expanding. Even if you don't think time could really be expanding, let's think about that hypothetical universe where it definitely is. What would that universe be like? How would it be different -- if at all -- from our universe?
Does it even matter? If time is expanding, but we still experience it passing at a constant rate, why would we even care whether it's expanding or not? An observer somehow watching it happen from 'outside of time' might, say, see things happening slower and slower ... but for beings living inside of spacetime, with their subjective perceptions also dependent upon the flow of time, would it actually change anything at all?
It is not established that space is expanding. It's a current model to help explain what we otherwise cannot explain.
We don't have anything suggesting, for example, that this model is not in fact depicting a shrinking universe within a static spacetime, which would have the same physical measurable effects. It would simply be a matter of perspective. Shrinking objects would appear to be accelerating away from one another, and we wouldnt even need to answer the 'expanding into what' question.
So, just wanted to keep that ground you're building this on unsteady. ๐
Um ... not really.
Say, there are two stars 10 light years apart, and each of them has a diameter of .00000014 light years. If all that's happening is that they're shrinking, the distance between them will increase, yes. But even if each of them shrinks to a diameter of essentially zero, the distance between them has only increased to 10.00000014 light years.
If you were measuring the distance based on the star's diameter as your unit of measure, then yes, as your units changed, they could appear to be much farther apart. But as long as your measurement scale remains consistent, 'everything is shrinking within a static spacetime' doesn't really hold up. (Maybe it would work if the speed of light is also shrinking, slowing down over time?)