Origin of the nucleon gravitational form factor <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>B</mml:mi> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mo str

Recent lattice QCD simulations and phenomenological models indicate that the nucleon’s gravitational form factor <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:msub> <a:mi>B</a:mi> <a:mi>N</a:mi> </a:msub> <a:mo stretchy="false">(</a:mo> <a:mi>t</a:mi> <a:mo stretchy="false">)</a:mo> </a:math> remains remarkably small at finite momentum transfer <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <e:mi>t</e:mi> </e:math> . While <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <g:msub> <g:mi>B</g:mi> <g:mi>N</g:mi> </g:msub> <g:mo stretchy="false">(</g:mo> <g:mn>0</g:mn> <g:mo stretchy="false">)</g:mo> <g:mo>=</g:mo> <g:mn>0</g:mn> </g:math> is a known consequence of the equivalence principle, the physical origin of its suppression at finite <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <k:mi>t</k:mi> </k:math> has not been fully elucidated. In this work, we demonstrate that the smallness of <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <m:msub> <m:mi>B</m:mi> <m:mi>N</m:mi> </m:msub> <m:mo stretchy="false">(</m:mo> <m:mi>t</m:mi> <m:mo stretchy="false">)</m:mo> </m:math> arises from a fundamental cancellation within the nucleon’s wave functions. Using light-front holographic QCD, we show that <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <q:msub> <q:mi>B</q:mi> <q:mi>N</q:mi> </q:msub> <q:mo stretchy="false">(</q:mo> <q:mi>t</q:mi> <q:mo stretchy="false">)</q:mo> </q:math> is governed by an antisymmetric factor in the longitudinal dynamics that leads to an exact vanishing in the symmetric limit and significant suppression for realistic nucleon structures. Our results suggest that the smallness of <u:math xmlns:u="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <u:msub> <u:mi>B</u:mi> <u:mi>N</u:mi> </u:msub> <u:mo stretchy="false">(</u:mo> <u:mi>t</u:mi> <u:mo stretchy="false">)</u:mo> </u:math> is a signature of the nucleon’s dominant S-wave character, providing a formal justification for its frequent omission in practical applications like near-threshold <y:math xmlns:y="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <y:mi>J</y:mi> <y:mo>/</y:mo> <y:mi>ψ</y:mi> </y:math> production.