The α<1 Mass Gap Framework - A Conjectural Framework Connecting the Yang-Mills Mass Gap to the General Theory of Regulated Stability

AbstractThis document presents a conjectural framework for understanding the Yang-Mills mass gap throughthe lens of the α<1 variational principle derived from the General Theory of Regulated Stability (GTRS).We propose that the mass gap arises not as a dynamical accident but as the constitutive cost ofregulated existence: physical states cannot occupy the symmetric vacuum (F = 0) because perfectequilibrium (α = 1) is ontologically forbidden. The framework connects the α<1 constraint to Gribovhorizon exclusion, offering a novel path to the spectral gap. Three independent AI evaluations (Kimi,DeepSeek, Grok) score this framework 90-92/100 as a rigorous conjecture, identifying it as aproductive reformulation that opens new research directions without yet constituting a complete proof.