Dark Energy as Vacuum Pre-Stress: A Minimal and Model-Agnostic Interpretation of the Cosmological Constant

This work presents a minimal and model-agnostic interpretation of the cosmological constant Λ by treating it as the ratio of an isotropic vacuum pre-stress σ₀ to a phenomenological curvature-response coefficient Eₛ. Without modifying General Relativity or introducing new fields, we start from the most general covariant decomposition of the vacuum stress tensor and show that the identification Λ = σ₀ / Eₛ arises naturally as a structural consequence of covariance. The framework is entirely kinematic, theory-neutral, and compatible with all current gravitational observations. Only the ratio σ₀/Eₛ is determined by cosmological data (Λ ≈ 1.1 × 10⁻⁵² m⁻²), while both quantities individually remain unconstrained, allowing broad compatibility with microscopic or effective theories. This approach preserves the exact form of Einstein’s equations while providing a simple and mechanically intuitive interpretation of dark energy as intrinsic vacuum pre-stress.