Hi Paul,
In answer to your question, firstly the proton is far more massive than an electron and therefore is a far greater disturbance of the medium of space. Greater mass gives greater inertia which is the energy required to change trajectory through quaternion space. So it is less inclined to move than an electron. The centre of the proton is the exit point for the 4th dimensional axis leading into afore space around which the proton has angular momentum in 3D space and along which the proton has spin. (It can be hypothesised that the proportionality of spin and angular momentum are because it is the oscillation along the 4th dimension or spin that gives rise to the rotation in 3D space observed as angular momentum.) This is the most energetically stable position for the proton to occupy, so why should it flit around like an electron.
The electron is too small to be effected by gravity but it is caught in the disturbance caused by the spin and angular momentum of the proton or the nucleus of a larger atom. Think small leaf caught in the eddies of a stream. Within that disturbance there are regions of greater stability. It can be hypothesised that the spin of the proton gives an oscillation causing waves or bands of disturbance around the proton. The greatest stability of position for the electron being in the trough between two peaks of disturbance. But electrons also repel each other because of the particular disturbances they cause and so do not all crowd together in the same trough as that would not be stable.
Quaternion mathematics gives fractals which show repeated patterns at different scales. The quaternion arrangement of the universe also gives repeated patterns at different scales. The galaxy accretion disc surrounding dense region of luminous matter and black hole, planes of solar system including asteroid belts and dust surrounding a star and the electron "cloud" surrounding the nucleus. The pattern is the same the scale is different.
There is no such thing as a 2 dimensional object in 3D space so the 2D electron plane must be 3D but immensely thin in one of the 3 dimensions. Also it is actually 4D. The 4 dimensional spread of the so called 2D plane giving a range of universal potential energies. The highest potential energy being furthest from the centre and the lowest closest to the nucleus. The proton also must be a 4D object having thickness or spread along the 4th dimension as do all 3 dimensional objects. With respect Paul, I do not think there is any such thing as a point like "object" or thing that is not 3 dimensional within 3 dimensional space. It is a mathematical abstraction.
The electron is not a 2D continuous entity but a highly elusive and manoeuvrable 3D entity (actually 4D like all "3D" objects- think Schwartzchild sphere but spatial and energetic difference between exterior and interior rather than time), with 4 degrees of freedom within quaternion energy-space.It is the combination of spin (4th dimensional change )and change in 3D spatial position that gives the apparent wave like nature. Though it is not actually a wave but an entity with wave like change of position. I do not regard a pendulum as a wave although its movement can be described as a wave.
If one regards a particular location of space the pendulum occupies that position then vanishes then occupies it again and then vanishes. If one knows nothing about pendulums it might seem that this is quite mysterious. Likewise the electron can appear in 3D space at one position and then appear at another position seemingly without travelling between them. This is due to the additional, generally unrecognised, degree of freedom. That is a 4th spatio-energetic dimension at 90 degrees to the plane of 3D space, not time.
I do not think an electron is a photon but that the photon is the disturbance caused to the medium when an electron looses potential energy dropping to an energy level closer to the nucleus. It is the disturbance that accompanies the change in position of the electron rather than being the electron itself. This is the explanation in the example you gave also,in my opinion. It is the manifestation and evidence of the rule of conservation of energy, and the conservation of spatial change. The electron can not move without causing the movement of something else (medium) and the energy change that corresponds to that change in quaternion position of the electron also necessarily corresponds to the energy of the movement transferred to the medium.