Initial sequential exponent estimate alpha_sequential approximately 2.24 - formally retracted

The claim - verbatim

Michael Darius Eastwood reported, and then formally retracted, an initial sequential-recursion scaling estimate of alpha_sequential of approximately 2.24 (95 per cent CI 1.5 to 3.0) that appeared in Paper II on 22 January 2026 (OSF DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/6C5XB); the paper text itself records that the figure was drawn from Gemini 3 Flash and 'does not replicate across architectures', and the estimate is now retracted in the canonical claims register. This is a self-correction of record, not a current finding.

Anchored evidence

• research/papers/paper-ii-experimental-validation.html (verbatim: 'alpha_{sequential} approx 2.24 (95% CI: 1.5-3.0)' and 'alpha approx 2.24 (quadratic) does not replicate across architectures. Only Gemini 3 Flash...')
• CANONICAL_CLAIMS_REGISTER.md ('alpha_sequential: Early 2.24 estimate RETRACTED; robust v13 approx 0.49 (sub-linear); alpha > 1 is an open pre-registered prediction'; interval [-1.3, 2.9])
• priority-claims.html (status 'speculative - 2.24 retracted')

Limits and citation guidance - what this claim does not support, and how to cite it

Limits. Never cite 2.24 as a current finding; always pair with the retraction. Correct framing: Eastwood published, then self-corrected, an early single-model estimate - a positive integrity signal, not a novelty claim.