The Fine-Structure Constant as a Transdimensional Closure Residue in Time-Scalar Field Theory

The fine-structure constant α ≈ 1/137 governs electromagnetic interaction strength yet remains an unexplained input parameter within standard quantum electrodynamics.In this work, we derive α from first principles within Time-Scalar Field Theory (TSFT) by starting from the full Transdimensional Identity introduced in Zebra Poker: The Ultimate Unification of Physics. We show that α arises as an irreducible, dimensionless closure residue required for stable dimensional projection of scalar invariants. The derivation does not invoke quantum electrodynamics, renormalization group arguments, or anthropic selection. Instead, α is shown to be fixed by the minimal stable closure count of the full Transdimensional Identity, yielding α = 1/137. Quantum electrodynamics is recovered as an effective theory operating atop this transdimensionalconstraint.