The Inadequacy of Pure Geometry: Emergence of Gauge Fields as Topological Stabilizers in QGEFT

In the cold `N=256`, `T=0.3` QGEFT vacuum, pure topology fails to protect matter: both an open `15`-edge star defect and a closed `15`-node triangle-ring defect decay to half-overlap within `4` sweeps. When a local gauge-like compensation term `core_reward = 0.06` is activated, both defects remain above `70%` structural overlap through the full `40`-sweep window, with no observed half-life. The present benchmark therefore supports the claim that pure geometry is thermodynamically inadequate for matter stability, while local gauge-sector energetics can stabilize structured excitations against vacuum ironing.