χ-Spectral Decomposition of Proton Mass: Postulated Operator Invariants, Cosmological Freezing, and Falsifiable Predictions

The proton mass (m_p ≈ 938 MeV) is measured precisely, yet its decomposition into physical components remains conceptually incomplete. While the Higgs mechanism accounts for ~1% (bare quark masses, ~9.4 MeV), ~99% arises from QCD dynamics. Lattice QCD computes m_p from first principles but lacks an analytic closed-form decomposition into spectral components, temporal structure, and cosmological history. This work proposes an operator-spectral framework — χ-Spectral Theory — decomposing proton mass into three postulated components: χ-depth d_χ(p) = 0.99 (non-Higgs fraction), χ-time τ_χ(p) = 1.06 * 10⁻²⁴ s (spectral lifetime where m ~ ℏ / τ_χ), and χ-geometric compression γ_χ = 0.3830. The formula m_p = m_Higgs(p) + γ_χ * α_χ * d_χ(p) (with α_χ = 2450 MeV) reproduces m_p = 938.272 MeV. These parameters are postulated to have frozen at the QCD phase transition (t_QCD ≈ 10⁻⁶ s), explaining cosmic mass invariance. The framework provides: A closed-form mass decomposition, A mass–time relation, A cosmological freezing mechanism, and Testable predictions including sub-femtometer confinement deviations, proton-radius corrections, neutron-star mass shifts, and a ~10⁻³ eV neutrino mass floor.