>It seems that the energy is being stored somewhere, and that matter itself allows us to tap into that, but is not the place where it is stored. Is there anything I can read to better understand what we know about this?
Here are some quick recommendations for views on potential and gravitational energy:
This [1] is a short video from a presentation given by Alan Guth — an early proponent of inflationary cosmology
— in which he outlines a thought experiment designed to illustrate how gravitational fields are associated with negative energy. This thought experiment is a standard feature of Guth's introductory talks on inflation; recordings of his academically-oriented talks with more rigorous treatments of the subject are available on YouTube.
The logic of the thought experiment that Guth describes in the presentation is not controversial among physicists, but there are different perspectives on how to describe it. Guth's former MIT colleague, Sean Carroll, prefers to avoid descriptions involving negative energy and says instead that energy is not conserved in General Relativity. He explains his perspective here [2].
The cosmologists Luke Barnes and Geraint Lewis discuss different perspectives on fields and energy conservation in this video [3].
In this video [4], the theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder briefly discusses the physical reality of potentials in the context of the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
If you have several hours, Sean Carroll has a video series about the Biggest Ideas in the Universe [5]. I haven't been through the playlist yet myself, but I imagine he might go into some detail on the questions you raise, particularly in his discussion of Conservation (1), Force, Energy and Action (3), Spacetime (6) and Fields (9). The Q&A videos following each instalment might also be useful, because his audience frequently asks questions like yours.
Here are some quick recommendations for views on potential and gravitational energy:
This [1] is a short video from a presentation given by Alan Guth — an early proponent of inflationary cosmology — in which he outlines a thought experiment designed to illustrate how gravitational fields are associated with negative energy. This thought experiment is a standard feature of Guth's introductory talks on inflation; recordings of his academically-oriented talks with more rigorous treatments of the subject are available on YouTube.
The logic of the thought experiment that Guth describes in the presentation is not controversial among physicists, but there are different perspectives on how to describe it. Guth's former MIT colleague, Sean Carroll, prefers to avoid descriptions involving negative energy and says instead that energy is not conserved in General Relativity. He explains his perspective here [2].
The cosmologists Luke Barnes and Geraint Lewis discuss different perspectives on fields and energy conservation in this video [3].
In this video [4], the theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder briefly discusses the physical reality of potentials in the context of the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
If you have several hours, Sean Carroll has a video series about the Biggest Ideas in the Universe [5]. I haven't been through the playlist yet myself, but I imagine he might go into some detail on the questions you raise, particularly in his discussion of Conservation (1), Force, Energy and Action (3), Spacetime (6) and Fields (9). The Q&A videos following each instalment might also be useful, because his audience frequently asks questions like yours.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15IGPyRHOaY
[2] http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2010/02/22/energy-i...
[3] https://youtu.be/bcE5RQ7A7Ys?t=423
[4] https://youtu.be/0GCHzbmMZf0?t=144
[5] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrxfgDEc2NxZJcWcrxH3j...