docs: constrain post-A3 accept recovery claim

1 files changed, 31 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/PAPER_PLAN.md b/PAPER_PLAN.md
index 82b7c08..baf5ebe 100644
--- a/PAPER_PLAN.md
+++ b/PAPER_PLAN.md
@@ -182,3 +182,34 @@ claim, and score—not another post-hoc ResNet tuning branch.
 This is the realized branch: A3 SDIL became nonfinite at epoch 89 and ended at
 chance. A4 remained untouched. The working title therefore stays
 mechanism-focused, and the standard-ResNet result is a disclosed limitation.
+
+## Post-A3 accept recovery: innovation on a strong inherited substrate
+
+The failed direct-vectorizer A3 branch remains closed. The post-failure
+baseline audit found two sharply different outcomes: intermittent residual
+response mirroring ends at chance with NaN validation loss despite 0.999998
+endpoint Q/W cosine, while modified Kolen--Pollack passes its frozen 20-epoch
+screen at 82.66%. Both mechanisms are inherited and receive no novelty credit.
+
+`MIXED_TRAFFIC.md` defines the only current route that can revise the
+standard-ResNet conclusion. It keeps reciprocal KP fixed as the instructional
+substrate and crosses raw, norm-matched raw, and neutral-period innovation
+under identical four-times-RMS soma-predictable traffic. One short screen, one
+full seed-0 validation panel, and one untouched five-seed test panel were
+frozen before any mixed-traffic task endpoint. Only the complete final panel
+can raise the reviewer estimate to 6/10.
+
+If it passes, revise the abstract and contribution language narrowly:
+
+- claim that somato-dendritic innovation is load-bearing on a standard
+  ResNet-20 with a strong zero-query local reciprocal credit path;
+- attribute credit transport and reciprocal plasticity explicitly to Akrout
+  et al.; do not describe KP performance as SDIL novelty;
+- report the 376,832 predictor parameters, elementwise arithmetic, affine
+  MACs, peak memory, and wall time rather than presenting a MAC-only frontier;
+- retain failed natural/top-down traffic and desired-velocity results, so the
+  claim remains predictable-traffic removal rather than a cortical model.
+
+If MT-1, MT-2, or MT-3 fails, preserve the current mechanism-only narrative and
+the score of 5/10. No lower traffic ratio, deleted seed, or replacement
+confirmation panel is permitted.