V.T48 — Defect Cost Jump at Phase Boundary

At the phase boundary M = M_n*, the defect cost of the torus-topology configuration is strictly less than that of the ball-topology configuration: D_n[x_M^(torus)] < D_n[x_M^(ball)]. The torus has lower defect because it has b_1 = 2 independent cycles vs b_1 = 0 for the ball.