Vacuum Energy from Geometric Frustration: A Two-Step Resolution of the Cosmological Constant Problem in Granular Entropic Physics

We propose a two-step mechanism for the cosmological constant within Granular Entropic Physics (GEP). First, geometric frustration on the tetrahedral simplex (K4) produces a nonzero, irreducible ground-state energy: the frustrated minimum Eₘin = -2J lies 4J above the hypothetical unfrustrated minimum Eᵢdeal = -6J. This frustration gap is combinatorially enforced and cannot be removed by any phase rearrangement. We identify this with a Planck-scale vacuum energy density rhofrust ~ O (1) rhoPl. Second, holographic suppression reduces this energy by a factor Nₕolo ~ RH²/lPl² ~ 10¹22, yielding Lambda ~ 10^-122 in Planck units, consistent with observations. The mechanism separates the cosmological constant problem into two independently addressable questions: why is vacuum energy nonzero (frustration) and why is it small (holography). Each step is classified by epistemic status. The central open problem -- a rigorous coarse-graining derivation from Planck-scale frustration to macroscopic vacuum stress-energy -- is explicitly identified.