NT18: Three Critical Questions for the COCM–ΛCDM Comparison

This brief note fixes, before the arrival of DESI DR3, three questions that are structurally critical for comparing ΛCDM and the COCM framework. The questions concern the displacement of the ω_z minimum by ELG2, the recovery of ω_z ≈ 11.0 under leave-one-out testing, and the near-independence of n_crit on e. ΛCDM does not supply a natural structural answer to any of these three questions; COCM offers a working-hypothesis-level account in terms of resonance, landscape deformation, and stability under high-tension perturbations. All claims are explicitly provisional and stated prior to DR3. Section 6 contains an Argumentative Progression Log that records the principal conceptual transitions across the NT16–NT18 sequence.