Mass-Energy-Consciousness Equivalence: Informational Quantization and the Emergence of Phenomenological Mass via Coupling to the q-Field
Preprints.org June 26, 2026 Luís Eduardo Magro de Queiroz preprint
A biophysical theory of consciousness is proposed, grounded in a formal equivalence between mass, energy, and informational organization derived from coupling energy between the brain and a nonlocal phenomenological field, the q-field. Consciousness is conceived as functional matter whose phenomenological mass arises from the difference between total metabolic energy and the entropic cost of organizing the brain's electromagnetic field. Using Landauer's limit, the model introduces discrete thresholds for consciousness emergence and defines phenomenological granularity. This excess energy is reinterpreted as real informational mass, dissolving the Hard Problem into a physico-operational relationship. The model is supported by retrodictive bioenergetic evidence including the Landauer gap, dissociation between basal and content-specific costs, CBF-CMRO2 mismatch, and lactate mobilization as metabolic signatures of coupling energy.