What Is Energy, Really? Reframing Energy as Modal Strain in Coherence Geometry

This foundational paper reframes the nature of energy from a coherence-based field perspective. Drawing on the Unified Vibrational Field Theory (UVFT), it defines energy not as a substance, but as accumulated modal strain along survival-permitting paths in a subquantum coherence field. The classical expression E = mc^2 is reinterpreted as an integral of curvature, torsion, and tension in modal geometry. This approach eliminates the need for ontologically primitive quantities, and instead roots energy in structural dynamics of field resonance and dropout. The implications for gravitational coupling, quantum foundations, and physical constants are profound.