Chemical Bonds, Phase Transitions, and Condensed Matter: An Energy-Efficiency Unification

Chemical bonds, phase transitions, and condensed matter phenomena are traditionally treated in separate frameworks—quantum chemistry for bonds, thermodynamics for phase transitions, and solid-state physics for superconductivity and superfluidity. This fragmentation obscures a common physical ontology. This paper develops a unified interpretation within Energy-Efficiency Theory (EET). Starting from the three axioms, we propose that all these phenomena are different manifestations of constrained-state energy organization: chemical bonds are cooperative constraints of atomic constrained-state energy; phase transitions are critical escape events where constraints reorganize; and macroscopic quantum states (superconductivity, superfluidity) are inertial inheritance where constraints persist without continuous energy input. The framework provides a first-principles explanation of bond energies, critical temperatures, and the energy scales of collective phenomena. It is fully compatible with quantum mechanics and thermodynamics while offering a deeper energy-ontological foundation. Testable predictions include a scaling relation between bond energy and electron density overlap, a universal critical escape condition for phase transitions, and a connection between macroscopic quantum coherence and inertial inheritance, with EET-specific predictions regarding hierarchical stability and reaction rates.