Part V: Why Electrons Form Shells — A Geometric Explanation

This paper explains why electrons arrange themselves in discrete shells around the nucleus, using the MID/QC framework to replace the traditional orbital and probability‑cloud interpretations with a geometric, coherence‑based model. Electron shells emerge as stable standing‑wave surfaces shaped by the proton’s coherence well, with shell capacities determined by the number of phase‑compatible modes the substrate can support at each radius. This geometric interpretation unifies atomic structure, shell capacities, and charge balance under a single, intuitive framework.