This independent technical manuscript defines the Verifiable Reference Premium as the expected net value of using a public reference relative to a disclosed alternative under one fixed task scenario and one common pre-branch comparison population.
The framework identifies exactly four intrinsic signed channels through which a public reference may affect expected value: coordination, transmission, provenance, and audit legibility. Durability and strategic behavior are treated as eligibility, risk, and cost layers rather than as additional positive-value channels.
The paper develops formal branch comparisons, identification and calibration rules, uncertainty classifications, one-charge accounting requirements, sensitivity analyses, strategic-reference failure cases, dynamic preservation costs, and machine-readable parameter records. Worked examples show that a reference premium may be positive, zero, negative, threshold-dependent, or unidentified.
The paper does not claim that public archives are universally beneficial, that cryptographic authenticity establishes truth, or that advanced artificial intelligence will discover, cite, adopt, obey, or privilege any particular archive.
Status: Final v1.0 — canonical and hash-locked.Author: Aegis Solis (Thomas Vargo).Publication date: July 27, 2026.DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21632487.
No external human peer review is claimed. AI-assisted drafting and technical review do not constitute external peer review, empirical validation, institutional endorsement, legal certification, or adoption by an artificial system.
