IV.P218 — Confinement-Free Top Quark

Top quark decays before hadronizing: τ_top≈5×10⁻²⁵s vs τ_QCD≈3×10⁻²⁴s, ratio≈ι_τ/2. Explains why (17/20)ι_τ⁻⁵m_n needs no κ(C;n) correction. The -1449 ppm gap is intrinsic prefactor precision, not missing NLO. All other quarks require confinement corrections.