The Thermodynamics of Existence: Time-Translation Symmetry, Quantum Vacuum, and the Origin of Energy

This paper presents a comprehensive thermodynamic and cosmological synthesis tracing the genealogy of physical energy from terrestrial open-system metabolic dissipation and stellar gravitational collapse to primordial cosmic inflation and quantum vacuum states. Evaluating Emmy Noether’s time-translation symmetry and the Zero-Energy Universe Hypothesis, the monograph demonstrates how positive matter-energy is precisely balanced by negative gravitational potential energy, resulting in a net universal energy sum of zero (Σ Eₜₒₜₐₗ ≈ 0).