The Mechanical Origin of Nuclear Binding Energy: Surface Area Minimization in Shared 2D Manifolds

This paper provides a mechanical explanation for nuclear binding energy and the mass defect. Within the Universal Sheet Tension (UST) Model, nucleons are defined as 3D inclusions bounded by 2D manifolds. We demonstrate that binding energy is the result of surface area minimization when these inclusions merge, reducing the total potential energy stored in the sheet tension (τ). This geometric approach explains the stability curve of elements and redefines radioactive decay as a volumetric pressure failure of the shared manifold, eliminating the need for abstract exchange particles.