A57-4 Hypothesis of Nanoscale Arch Self-Locking of Water Molecules | 水分子纳米拱自锁理论(原创推演版)

This work originates from introspective observation of ancient water conservancy projects and a fundamental inquiry into the nature of fluid pressure. The conventional intuition holds that a hydraulic head difference inevitably drives fluid flow. However, pressure arises from extrusion transmission rather than elevation itself. Without confining boundaries to sustain extrusion, gravitational potential dissipates and cannot build up pressure matching the elevation difference. From this, a counterintuitive conjecture emerges: sufficiently strong extrusion may amplify structural constraints and induce jamming. A macroscopic thought experiment using equal-diameter spherical particles (soybean arch) is constructed, and its isomorphic logic is transferred to the nanoscale. Under rigid nanochannels near the critical diameter of 0.56 nm, water molecules may form a hexagonal six-around-one arch configuration. This geometric arch can generate lateral supporting force against the channel wall and achieve self-locking. Even with persistent pressure difference across the channel, the fluid may remain stationary. The stability of the arch is governed by the competition between locking force and thermal perturbation. This hypothesis reveals a hidden boundary condition of Poiseuille’s law and the continuous medium assumption. It is a qualitative thought deduction without experimental verification or rigorous numerical calculation. Its core value lies in posing a fundamental challenge to the default premise that “pressure difference guarantees flow”. Keywords: nanoscale arch; self-locking; water molecule; Poiseuille’s law; confined fluid; pressure extrusion; thought hypothesis