Quantitative Predictions for the z > 15 Frontier within the Optico-Hydrodynamic Vacuum (OHV) Framework

The Optico-Hydrodynamic Vacuum (OHV) framework proposes that cosmological redshift arises from continuous energy dissipation of photons in a static viscous vacuum substrate, parameterized by a single dimensionless viscosity coefficient eta ~ 0. 004182 derived from Pantheon+ Type Ia supernova data. This memorandum presents a testable prediction for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): the surface brightness of distant galaxies should scale as SB ~ (1+z) ^-1, rather than SB ~ (1+z) ^-4 as predicted by Tolman dimming in standard Lambda-CDM cosmology. The prediction follows rigorously from the definition of surface brightness SB = F/Omega combined with the OHV photon dissipation law E (D) = Eₑmit * exp (-D/RH). At z = 15, the predicted ratio of OHV to LCDM surface brightness is (1+z) ³ ~ 4096 for galaxies of identical intrinsic luminosity. The document proposes a specific observational program using publicly available JWST data (JADES, CEERS, COSMOS-Web) to measure the exponent alpha in SB ~ (1+z) ^-alpha via controlled galaxy sample selection. The prediction is falsifiable: if JWST data yield alpha ~ 4, the OHV surface-brightness law is refuted; if alpha ~ 1, it receives strong empirical support. This prediction was formulated prior to definitive JWST surface-brightness measurements at z > 10.