Summary

The framework specifies one measurement contract that every shadow application implements. A shadow provides \(\Phi(\omega, t)\) on a frequency × time grid; the framework derives everything else. Source: framework/metrics/metrics.md + framework/metrics/atoms.md.

Inputs from a shadow application

  • Phi(omega, t): 2-D array, dimensions \((N_\omega, N_t)\). Non-negative for energy density.
  • omegas: 1-D frequency-grid centres, length \(N_\omega\). Log-uniform or uniform.
  • times: 1-D snapshot times, length \(N_t\). Monotone-increasing. Carries the cadence-stamp required by Theorem 7.

Optionally: Phi_total(t), J(omega, t), D(omega, t).

Primitive metrics

Cascading value at \((\omega, t)\)

\(\Phi(\omega, t)\) — direct from input.

Local rate \(\rho(\omega, t)\)

Centred finite difference at the snapshot cadence:

\[ \rho(\omega, t_i) \;=\; \frac{\Phi(\omega, t_{i+1}) - \Phi(\omega, t_{i-1})}{t_{i+1} - t_{i-1}} \]

Local dissipation rate \(\varepsilon(\omega, t)\) — the primary brake metric

The pointwise irreversible component of the local energy budget. \(\varepsilon > 0\) is the universal brake principle (Section IV.A of the primitive law). Computed as \(\varepsilon = -\rho - \Pi_{\text{in}} + \Pi_{\text{out}} + J - D\) where the flux components are derivable from \(\Phi\) (the flux is tooling, not a primitive).

Brake exponent \(\beta(\omega)\)

Per-band ordinary least squares of \(\log|\rho|\) against \(\log\Phi\) over the time window where \(\Phi\) varies non-trivially. Returns \(\beta\), \(\log\alpha\), \(R^2\), residual AR(1) coefficient \(\rho_{\text{AR}(1)}\).

Three independent brake estimators

Each returns the same named tuple. Disagreement between estimators signals model misspecification.

  • polyfit (OLS). Naive baseline. Bootstrap CI from 1,000 resamples (deterministic seed). validation/code/regression.py · polyfit_brake_p
  • GLS-AR(1) (Cochrane–Orcutt). Iterative GLS with first-order autoregressive residuals. Returns \(\rho_{\text{AR}}\) for diagnostics. gls_ar1_brake_p
  • Bayesian (Laplace + Metropolis). MAP + Laplace covariance, Metropolis sampling for credible intervals. Weakly-informative priors: \(\alpha, \beta \sim \mathrm{Normal}(0, 10^2)\), \(\log \sigma \sim \mathrm{Normal}(0, 5^2)\), \(\rho_{\text{AR}} \sim \mathrm{Uniform}(-1, 1)\). Textbook defaults from Gelman et al., NOT calibrated to any cascade. bayesian_brake_p

Documented failure modes

The framework reports honestly when its primitive does not fit. Documented modes:

  • Narrow log-range. When \(\log|\Phi_{\max}/\Phi_{\min}| \lesssim 1\), Theorem 3 binds. Confidence intervals too wide.
  • Strong residual autocorrelation. \(|\rho_{\text{AR}}| \gtrsim 0.7\): naive OLS CIs too narrow; GLS-AR(1) and Bayesian-AR(1) correct for this.
  • Inflow-dominated band. Form \(\rho = -\alpha \Phi^\beta\) does not apply.
  • Steady state. \(\rho \approx 0\); use \(\varepsilon\) directly.
  • Bump-hunt instances at low sample size. Cascade-style tools (PELT, EMD, wavelet) do not improve sideband-exponential bump-hunt at \(\sim 22\) bins. The honest reporting is the negative finding (Law V, Theorem 12).