Non-Coulomb Corrections and Shell Structure in the Scalar Temporal Field Ontology

We investigate deviations from the leading-order Coulombic potential in the Scalar Temporal Field Ontology (STFO) and analyze their implications for atomic shell structure. Expanding the effective potential beyond the 1/r approximation, we examine how subleading terms modify the bound-state spectrum and lift degeneracies present in hydrogen-like systems. We show that these corrections introduce angular-momentum-dependent energy shifts, providing a structural mechanism for shell differentiation within the STFO framework. While approximate, this work establishes the necessary conditions for the emergence of structured atomic spectra beyond the hydrogenic limit.