Paton Assist — Viability-Gated Discrete Energy Inequality An Enstrophy-Triggered Stepwise Stability Mechanism for Turbulent Flow Discretisation

Paton Assist — Viability-Gated Discrete Energy Inequality presents a minimal, non-intrusive stability mechanism for turbulent flow discretisations based on a discrete energy inequality enforced by a viability gate. The work introduces an enstrophy-triggered sufficient condition that activates dissipation only when required to preserve stepwise and global energy bounds, without modifying governing equations, numerical schemes, or physical assumptions. The mechanism operates as a stability overlay, not a replacement theory, and is compatible with existing LES, RANS, and hybrid discretisation frameworks. Prior to the introduction of the Paton Assist mechanism, the underlying concept existed as a qualitative stability framing with an estimated theoretical completeness of approximately 35–40%, lacking a constructive enforcement mechanism. The introduction of a discrete energy inequality, a minimal viability gate, and an enstrophy-sufficient activation criterion raises the present work to an estimated 65–70% theoretical completeness. These percentages indicate theoretical maturity only and do not represent empirical validation or performance benchmarking. This release is exploratory / pre-normalisation and is intended to provide a reviewer-recognisable mathematical object with explicit bounds, guarantees, and clearly defined scope.