Measurement and RF-IDENT
Can an observer identify every state using only the tests it has, while keeping each step admissible?
The research problem
An observation family may separate states in principle while particular tests are unavailable or unsafe at some stage of an identification procedure. RF-IDENT studies this constrained version of identification over finite ordered state spaces.
Current bounded result
The 29 September 2026 theorem record covers a specific class of bounded height-at-most-two posets: a least element, a greatest element, and an antichain of middle states. For an explicitly supplied Boolean test library, it characterizes when repair-safe identification is feasible and constructs an identifying tree. The formal adaptive model specifies the query and safety conventions. An internal AI review records proof and verifier limits; it is not external human peer review.
Inspect the research record
Read the theorem’s Scope and statement, Necessity, Sufficiency and a canonical construction, and Essential boundary examples for the result and its limits. The inherited safety argument is available in branch cancellation and repair-graph dynamics. These are supporting research records, not an integrated publication manuscript. Download the exact source records and checksum manifest.
Why it matters to The MIND
This turns a broad question—“can the system recognize a state?”—into one about available observations, permitted actions, and a verifiable success condition. It complements ProLTs, which describe distinguishability, and observation refinement, which studies structural change.
Open work
The consolidated technical report From Observable States to Acquirable Predictive Models extends the question from identifying every state to reporting a required class. For the same two-ended antichain family, it describes the finest attainable transcript partition and tests whether it supplies enough information for exact prediction under known dynamics. Its alternating query/action model separately addresses certainty about the current state after actions. The report reproduces the needed proofs and records its overlap with the earlier notes.
The source records above remain the historical RF-IDENT branch record; the consolidated report is available through the paper guide. General height-two feasibility, optimal depth, and broader observation libraries remain open. Neither the restricted theorem nor its predictive application resolves those general problems.