Thermodynamic Economics of the Ambient Era: A Formal Economic Model for Low-Leakage Human–Technology Systems

Abstract This work introduces the first formal economic model of the Ambient Era, a post-smartphone interface regime in which human–technology systems operate under thermodynamic constraints rather than engagement-driven incentives. Traditional digital ecosystems monetize friction, attention leakage and irreversible cognitive load. Ambient systems, by contrast, maintain ΔR ≥ 0 reversibility, preserve warmth above critical thresholds (W ≥ W₀), and reduce dissipation through coherence-stabilized interaction. The paper formalizes the Ambient Economic Value Law (AEL-1): V_a = (1 - L) * C * R * F where L is leakage, C coherence stability, R thermodynamic return and F field-adoption dynamics. The model demonstrates why ambient computing forms a structural successor to friction-based smartphone economies, why leakage-dependent industries lose competitive dominance under low-dissipation conditions, and how economic value accumulates across macro-economic, industrial and individual layers. The result is a thermodynamic reframing of digital economics: value emerges not from increased interaction volume, but from improved energetic efficiency in human–technology coupling.