Membrane-Governance in Quasi-Elastic Proton Knockout: A Cross-Nuclear Test of Parameter-Sensitivity Hierarchy in Polarization Observables

Purpose and ScopeThis document pre-registers an empirical test of a specific prediction about the relative sensitivity of polarization observables to different classes of theoretical input in quasi-elastic proton knockout reactions. The prediction is that optical-potential parameters govern polarization-observable predictions more strongly than non-optical-potential parameters (bound-state wavefunction choice, nuclear current operator prescription, electromagnetic form factor parametrization) across eligible datasets.The test is pre-registered to establish methodological discipline and priority. Analysis will proceed only after this document is time-stamped at a public registry 2. Generating FrameworkThe prediction is derived from the Law of Recursion (Gaconnet, 2026a), which claims that in active exchange processes, boundary/interface structures govern exchange outcomes more strongly than bulk or interior structures. Applied to nuclear knockout, the Law identifies the optical potential as the membrane node of the seven-node topology. Membrane governance, as a feature of the framework, predicts that parameters describing the optical potential should dominate the sensitivity of observables that measure the exchange outcome. This pre-registration tests the empirical prediction. It does not test the Law of Recursion as a first principle, nor does it establish structural unification across domains. Those claims require separate work. The present test is successful or unsuccessful on its own terms.