Vacuum Energy and Node Noise

We reinterpret vacuum energy not as a physical substance or quantum field, but as a statistical background of discrete events (“nodes”) and their fluctuations. The vacuum is defined as a stationary state of maximal entropy under network persistence, while observable vacuum phenomena arise only from boundary-induced deviations in node density. A minimal mathematical framework is developed in which (i) spacetime coordinates and metric emerge from coarse-graining of a discrete node network, (ii) vacuum fluctuations are identified with node noise, and (iii) the Casimir effect is derived as a consequence of constrained event configurations. The cosmological constant problem is reinterpreted: uniform vacuum energy does not gravitate, while only gradients of node density are physically effective. The emphasis is placed on mathematical consistency rather than formal completeness.