Nuclear Binding Energies in the Cohesion Unified Field Theory

Nuclear binding in the Cohesion Unified Field Theory arises from two interacting
geometric mechanisms: (1) n = 2 collapse pressure, the short-range bipolar recursion
that drives nucleons together, and (2) torsion density compression, the curvature-driven
resistance that stabilises nucleons within composite recursion. The n = 6 closure
geometry provides rotational coherence that prevents nucleon collapse, while the n = 2
mode provides the binding force. Binding energy emerges from the balance between
these modes, modulated by torsion density packing and slip gap alignment. This
unified hybrid model provides geometric accounts of the short-range nature of nuclear
forces, binding energy saturation, the peak at iron, magic numbers, shell structure,
alpha clustering, neutron and proton drip lines, and the instability of heavy nuclei.
The torsion interval quantities TN and TA used in the binding energy formula are
geometric predictions of the framework; their quantitative values are empirical anchors
pending first-principles derivation from the nucleon torsion structure, consistent with
the standards established in the mass spectrum and neutrino papers of this series [7, 8].
Quantum chromodynamics provides the successful quantitative description of nuclear
forces within its domain; this paper provides the geometric substrate from which those
forces emerge in the Cohesion UFT.