At the core of the star (Δh = 0), the emitted photon carries only kinetic energy:

Eₜₒₜₐₗ = 2hf

At this point, no gravitational potential energy is associated with the photon. Instead, its energy consists entirely of inherent and interactional kinetic components. This arises because the photon, while often considered massless, is not truly so in the ECM framework. Its dynamic negative apparent mass (−Mᵃᵖᵖ) possesses inherent kinetic energy, and this also draws interactional kinetic energy from the surrounding gravitational potential field—establishing the photon as an active energy carrier rather than a passive by-product.