Power Generation as Second-Variation Admissible Trajectory Geometry

This work reformulates power generation as the evolution of operational trajectories within an admissible state space defined by physical, safety, and degradation constraints. Rather than focusing on optimal static operating points, it shows that effective efficiency is governed by which trajectories can be executed stably over time. Admissibility alone is insufficient: only trajectories that satisfy second-variation stability remain robust under sustained perturbations. The gap between theoretical and practical efficiency is therefore attributed to the geometric restriction of stably admissible trajectories, not to fundamental physical limits. By analyzing the symmetric and antisymmetric components of second variations, the framework clarifies how stability organizes feasible operation. Performance enhancement is recast as an enlargement of the stably admissible trajectory set without relaxing constraints or altering hardware. The theory is technology-agnostic and applies uniformly across energy conversion systems. It provides a structural explanation for persistent efficiency shortfalls and identifies where principled operational improvements may arise.