The Proton as an Icosahedral Three-Phase Motor

The proton is a three-phase standing wave occupying one icosahedral period of the spacetime lattice. The period length 24 = (D+1)! = d2 − 1 partitions exactly into 18 + 1 + 5: three quark domains of D! = 6 positions each, a boundary at position 19, and a confinement gap of d = 5. Each colour domain contains a bridge at its (D+1)th position, yielding bridges at positions 5, 11, and 17 — the lower members of the three twin prime pairs (5,7), (11,13), (17,19) below the icosahedral boundary. The confinement boundary 19 = 11 + 8 decomposes into bridge (V − 1 = 11) plus phase spacing (24/3 = 8). Electric charge is quantised by the charge quantum 36 = DV = (D!)2: the up quark at position 72 = 3 × 24 is closed (wraps to origin), while the down quark at 36 mod 24 = 12 = V is open (sits at the vertex position). Up and down are anti-phase, separated by half a period. The proton’s uud configuration (two closed, one open) is the unique maximally stable combination; the neutron’s udd (one closed, two open) explains its instability. The model predicts: proton charge radius = 16/19 fm = 0.842 fm, αs = 1/(3π − 1) = 0.1187, and preferred scattering angles at icosahedral orientations. The open/closed asymmetry between up and down quarks is consistent with flavour-decomposed form factor measurements at Jefferson Lab.