OSTOE — open-source theory of everything, claims registry

Falsified FALSIFIED — "the golden ratio φ is singled out by the spectral response"

id: phi-not-special · filed: 2026-09-29 · depends: method-mechanism-first · falsifier: survived three independent level tests, n=24–48 nulls each — the claim is dead

What died: the claim that the spectral gap (and related statistics) of the magnetic Laplacian respond to the golden ratio φ = 1.618… specifically, as opposed to responding to smooth structure in a phase-per-level parameter c.

What was tried [E]: flat U(1) connections on the level-K Menger complex with phase 2π·c^(−k) on level-k bars, c swept 1.3…2.0, against 24–48 seeded nulls (shuffle = same phase-value multiset, random assignment; random = iid phases).

• K=3: gap is smooth and monotone in c; φ sits exactly on the trend (z = −1.4 vs shuffle). Third consecutive level with no φ feature.
• K=4 (n=48 nulls): φ's gap is inside the null cloud (z = −1.1). Its spacing_std (5.90) exceeds every null draw — but so does the whole organized end of the c-family.

Surviving weaker claim [F from the same data]: the load-bearing structure is large coherent phases correlated with loop scale, not the value φ. The metric split is level-stable: gap responds to phase magnitude; spacing_std responds to scale-organization. This weaker claim is the parent of symmetry-sector-spacing-mechanism, which identifies the actual mechanism.

Earlier version: handoff1-phi-signature-dead records the first φ-signature claim and why it died. Sign of the miss: the signature lived in the spanning-tree/loop-length proxy, not in the geometry.

Downstream: any entry invoking φ as a distinguished parameter inherits this falsification unless it specifies a different observable where φ could matter.