Geometric Derivation of Nucleon Masses via Axiomatic Physical Homeostasis

We present a first-principles derivation of the proton and neutron masses based on theAxiomatic Physical Homeostasis (APH) framework. By treating the nucleon as a topologi-cal defect—specifically a Borromean knot of color flux tubes—stabilized by the “GeometricStiffness” of the QCD vacuum (βQCD ≈ 1.91), we recover the mass spectrum of the baryonoctet. We demonstrate that the proton mass arises from the fundamental vibrational mode ofa Y-junction flux configuration under super-linear confinement, while the neutron-proton massdifference is a consequence of the geometric pressure exerted by the non-associative bulk onthe isospin asymmetry.