B.1 Energy Barriers in Reverse Transitions

Because reverse transformations move toward lower topological complexity, they require different activation energies than forward transformations.

Hence, the energy landscape is asymmetric. As a result, we formalize this as:

E(Forward) = ∫∂M dσ (boundary formation energy)

E(Reverse) = -∫∂M dσ + E(coherence) (dissolution plus stabilization cost)

Therefore, reverse transformations are not simple energy returns.

Because the system must maintain cognitive coherence during boundary dissolution, an additional stabilization term appears. As a consequence, some reverse transformations become energetically forbidden in certain contexts.