The Informational Substrate: Emergent Gravity, Mass-Energy Equivalence, and the Conservation of Complexity

This paper presents a formal framework for physical reality as an emergent phenomenon of a Discrete Substrate Topoinformational Web (DSTW). By defining a topological invariant coupling constant η ≈ 2.61 × 10⁻²³ J/bit, we derive the mass-energy equivalence E=mc² through sequential informational phase transitions. We further propose the Discrete Substrate Field Equation (DSFE), where the Einstein tensor G_μν arises from a gradient of substrate update density. Crucially, we demonstrate that the Informational Complexity Tensor I_μν satisfies the Bianchi identity through the principle of bit-continuity, providing a mathematically consistent unification of information theory and General Relativity