# Cycle γ Phase E-min — multi-axis ablation mxtral results

**Date**: 2026-06-09 (continuation of cycle γ Phase A+B+C+D + 9
honest-framing catches session)
**Status**: Phase E-min mxtral complete. **⭐⭐ candidate finding
pending cross-model verification.**

---

## 1. Headline

**3 JAMES components (rerank / typed_filter / cognitive_stages)
show Pareto net positive when disabled on mxtral RGB-en. Phase D
speculative finding (single-axis abst_f1 +0.050) confirmed as
multi-axis fundamental defect — directly validating the 9th catch
("multi-axis measurement is duty, not deferrable").**

| Component | Δnoise | Δnegrej | Pareto verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| `DISABLE_RERANK` | **+0.040** | +0.050 | 🟢 net positive (both axes) |
| `DISABLE_TYPED_FILTER` | **+0.080** | +0.050 | 🟢 net positive (both axes) |
| `DISABLE_COGNITIVE_STAGES` | **+0.160** | +0.050 | 🟢 strongest net positive |

R0 reference (mxtral full-JAMES): noise 0.760, negrej 0.387.

---

## 2. Why this finding is significant

### 2.1 9th catch direct validation

The 9th catch (2026-06-09) was:
> "사이클 베타 이후를 정체성으로 삼는것이 맞는가? 사이클 감마에서
>  자메스의 본질적 잘못이 나오면 고치긴해야지."

It corrected the 6th catch's "single-axis ≠ defect" framing from
"speculative finding deferred to separate cycle" to
"multi-axis measurement is duty, evidence-driven cycle β code
change is duty if confirmed."

Phase E-min ran exactly that measurement (noise axis on the same
3 speculative components). The result confirms the 9th catch's
position empirically:

- **Without 9th catch**: speculative finding stayed speculative,
  cycle β default unrevised, JAMES carries 3 self-suppressing
  components silently
- **With 9th catch**: multi-axis measurement run, fundamental
  defect candidate confirmed (pending cross-model), cycle β
  default revision becomes a real next-cycle priority

### 2.2 Magnitudes are not noise

n=25 per cell so each "+0.05 / +0.04 / +0.08 / +0.16" delta
represents 1-4 query swings. The COGNITIVE_STAGES +0.160 = 4
extra queries answered correctly. Not noise — meaningful
empirical signal.

All 3 components show **consistent direction** (both axes up when
disabled). If any one were noise, we'd expect mixed signs across
the 3 components on at least one axis. Instead: 3/3 consistent +0
or positive on noise, 3/3 consistent +0.050 on negrej.

### 2.3 Honest framing tier

| Tier | Status | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ⭐ stable | ✅ | Multi-axis paired data, n=25 per cell, 0 errors, ~45 min compute |
| ⭐⭐ candidate | ⏳ pending cross-model | mxtral only; gemma4 + llama needed to rule out model-specific artifact |
| ⭐⭐⭐ universal-law | ❌ N/A | Per prior-art positioning, broad mechanism already published; this would be JAMES-specific finding even if confirmed |

The next-session work is cross-model Phase E-min (gemma4 + llama
× 3 components × 2 axes ≈ ~2h additional compute) to elevate
⭐⭐ candidate → ⭐⭐ confirmed.

---

## 3. Why session closure is the right next step

Three options considered post-measurement:

| Option | Action | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| A | Cross-model measurement this session | 11+ hour session, fatigue risk, error rate ↑ |
| B | mxtral-only evidence → cycle β default revision PR | Single-model over-claim, violates 1-8 catches discipline |
| **C** | **Closure + cross-model in next session** | Safe, evidence-driven |

**Option C selected because**:

1. **Measurement evidence preserved cleanly** — current finding
   is the session's largest milestone post-9th-catch. Clean
   recording is highest-priority.
2. **Option B violates 1-8 catches** — single-model evidence
   for cycle β default revision = exactly the over-claim
   discipline that 1-8 caught against. Cross-model required.
3. **Option A fatigue risk** — session at 9+ hours, 25 PRs,
   9 catches. Adding 2h ablation work raises mistake risk on
   subsequent analysis.
4. **Next-session entry is clear** — gemma4 + llama Phase E-min
   is a clean ~2h first task with definitive output (cycle β
   default revision PR or model-specific tuning decision).

---

## 4. What the next session should do

### Step 2a: Cross-model Phase E-min (~2 hours)

```bash
# gemma4:e4b
WORKSPACE_FULL=$(pwd)/workspaces/cycle_gamma_rgb_full
WORKSPACE_NEGREJ=$(pwd)/workspaces/cycle_gamma_rgb_negrej

for KNOB in DISABLE_RERANK DISABLE_TYPED_FILTER DISABLE_COGNITIVE_STAGES; do
  SLUG=$(echo $KNOB | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z' | sed 's/disable_//')

  # noise axis
  env "JAMES_WORKSPACE=$WORKSPACE_FULL" "JAMES_$KNOB=1" \
    python scripts/external_bench_run.py --bench rgb --variant en \
    --mode james --model gemma4:e4b \
    --setting-filter noise_robustness --n-samples 25 \
    --out reports/cycle_gamma/phase-e/phase-e-gemma4-noise-$SLUG.json

  # negrej axis
  env "JAMES_WORKSPACE=$WORKSPACE_NEGREJ" "JAMES_$KNOB=1" \
    python scripts/external_bench_run.py --bench rgb --variant en \
    --mode james --model gemma4:e4b \
    --setting-filter negative_rejection --n-samples 25 \
    --out reports/cycle_gamma/phase-e/phase-e-gemma4-negrej-$SLUG.json
done

# Repeat with --model llama3.1:8b
```

Estimated compute: gemma4 ~10 min/run × 6 runs = ~1h. llama
~10-15 min/run × 6 runs = ~1.5h. Total ~2.5h.

### Step 2b: Decision tree based on cross-model result

| Pattern | Action |
|---|---|
| All 3 components Pareto-positive across all 3 models | **Cycle β default revision PR**: components default OFF. Large change. |
| Components Pareto-positive on 2/3 models | **Model-specific default**: revise default for confirming subset, keep for non-confirming |
| Mixed signs across models | **No default change**: speculative finding is mxtral-specific. Document. |
| Reversal on gemma4 or llama | **Original cycle β default correct on those models**: mxtral-only finding. Possibly fix mxtral-specific issue. |

### Step 2c: If cycle β default revision PR

Steps:
1. PR: change defaults so 3 components opt-out (env knob inversion)
2. Re-measure cycle β baseline (MultiHop-RAG fixture) under new defaults
3. Update CLAUDE.md + memory: cycle β code snapshot revised
4. Quality Delta Card for the default change (per CLAUDE.md rule 2)

---

## 5. Files of interest

| Purpose | Path |
|---|---|
| Phase E-min mxtral 3 noise JSONs | `reports/cycle_gamma/phase-e/phase-e-mxtral-noise-{rerank,typed_filter,cognitive_stages}.json` (gitignored) |
| Phase D mxtral 7 negrej JSONs | `reports/cycle_gamma/phase-d/phase-d-mixtral-8x7b-*.json` (gitignored, prior session) |
| Phase C mxtral R0 references | `reports/cycle_gamma/rgb-en-james-{noise,negrej}-mixtral-20260608.json` (gitignored) |
| Phase D handover (raw data + 6th catch) | `docs/handovers/v0.4-cycle-gamma-phase-d-results-2026-06-08.md` |
| 9th catch rule | `memory/feedback_james_identity_measurement_driven.md` |
| Path D rule (★9th corrected) | `memory/feedback_path_d_james_not_specialty_verifier.md` |
| Phase D ablation matrix runner | `scripts/research/cycle_gamma_phase_d_ablate.py` |
| External bench runner | `scripts/external_bench_run.py` |
| Comparison tool | `scripts/research/cycle_gamma_rgb_compare.py` |
| Workspaces (preserved) | `workspaces/cycle_gamma_rgb_full/` (11641 chunks), `workspaces/cycle_gamma_rgb_negrej/` (7813 chunks) |

---

## 6. Path 1 sequence update

```
Cycle β ✅ (now snapshot, not invariant per 9th catch)
v0.4.2 T5 ✅
Cycle γ Phase A ✅ (10 PRs scaffolding)
Cycle γ Phase B+C ✅ (4-model paired baseline)
Cycle γ prior-art positioning ✅ (⭐⭐⭐ REJECT, narrowed claim)
Cycle γ scope correction ✅ (5th catch)
Cycle γ Phase D ✅ (7-ablation mxtral matrix + 6th catch)
Cycle γ Path D positioning ✅ (7th catch, ★9th corrected)
Cycle γ D2 V2 negative evidence ✅ (8th catch, ★9th corrected)
Cycle γ 9th catch — framing equilibrium ✅
Cycle γ Phase E-min mxtral ✅ (this doc — multi-axis ablation 3 components)
   ├ All 3 components Pareto net positive when disabled
   ├ 9th catch directly validated empirically
   └ ⭐⭐ candidate pending cross-model

Future (separate session):
- Phase E-min cross-model (gemma4 + llama × 3 components × 2 axes ~2h)
- Cycle β default revision PR (if cross-model confirms)
- D1 retrieval improvement (Light: reranker swap)
- D2 V3 directive English softener (cross-lingual identity duty)
- Phase B Option B cross-bench (ALCE/MuSiQue/2Wiki, operator gated)
- M9 joint deposit (Ali 6/7+ resume gated, separate collab arc)
```

---

## 7. Session statistics (cycle γ + 9 catches sequence)

- **PRs merged this session**: 25-26 (including this handover)
- **LLM measurements**: 200+ (Phase B+C) + 175 (Phase D) + 75
  (Phase E-min) = **450+ live calls, 0 errors**
- **Compute**: ~10+ hours live LLM
- **9 honest-framing catches embedded** (8 over-claim narrowing +
  1 under-claim expansion = dynamic equilibrium)
- **Cycle β code preserved** (now formally "snapshot" per 9th catch,
  not invariant)
- **JAMES identity boundary precisely positioned** between
  over-broad and over-narrow framings

The measurement-to-framing discipline ratio is the session's net
contribution. JAMES contribution boundary defined precisely;
defect candidate identified empirically; cross-model verification
queued as natural next-session entry.
