A PHYSICAL TEST OF ENERGY STORAGE VERSUS LIFETIME EXTENSION IN COLLECTIVE TRIPLET-BASED EXCITATION SYSTEMS

This paper applies a strict logical-necessity test to distinguish true physical energy storage from mere lifetime extension in systems that rely on long-lived collective triplet excitations. Using only physically enforcing criteria—force, energy exchange, momentum transfer, and back-reaction—it examines whether triplet populations, by their existence alone, can perform work on an external system. By isolating enforcement from retention, the analysis shows that suppressing decay channels or prolonging excitation lifetimes alters dissipation pathways but does not constitute an intrinsic energy-storage mechanism unless an active interaction channel that enforces work is present.