# `j3_oc` Branch Charter

## Purpose

This note defines the lens for the `j3_oc` branch.

Its job is to say, before domain work begins:

- what this branch is fixing as its ambient starting object
- what nearby options remain live in the larger program
- how this branch relates to the existing `spin2_3` reduced program
- what standards of claim discipline apply inside this folder

This is a branch-control note, not a paper draft.

---

## Governing framework

This branch is governed by the reusable meta framework in:

- [0 - meta.md](../../meta/0%20-%20meta.md)

So every significant claim in this folder should be tracked by:

1. category
2. logical status
3. claim maturity

The seven standing categories remain:

1. statics / kinematics
2. dynamics
3. epistemics / observables
4. consistency / selection
5. interpretation
6. phenomenology
7. completion / open problems

---

## Fixed by the lens

Inside this branch, the primary ambient organizing object is:

- `J3(C \otimes O)`
- equivalently, the complexified exceptional Jordan object `H3(O_C)` where that notation is more convenient

This means the branch is intentionally starting from the complexified exceptional Jordan setting rather than from the reduced `Spin(2,3)` kernel.

That is a branch choice. It is not yet a theorem of the larger program.

---

## Option set

The larger project still contains a live nearby option set:

- `J3(O)` as the simpler real exceptional Jordan organizer
- `J3(C \otimes O)` as the larger complexified ambient object
- a relation in which one is ambient and the other effective

This branch does **not** pretend that the option set has been globally closed.

It instead makes a local commitment:

- work as if `J3(C \otimes O)` is the primary ambient object
- ask whether the reduced branches can be disciplined from there
- judge success by whether this branch earns explanatory advantages rather than only additional room

---

## Working branch

The working branch for this folder is:

- `J3(C \otimes O)` is primary
- `spin2_3` is downstream and comparative
- the ambient-to-observable bridge is the main task

So the folder should read:

- top first
- reduced slices second
- observable extraction third

This is the opposite order from the currently stronger reduced `spin2_3` branch, and that reversal is deliberate.

---

## Relation to `spin2_3`

The relation to the existing reduced program is:

- `spin2_3` remains its own valid branch
- `spin2_3` is **not** the backbone of `j3_oc`
- `spin2_3` is a downstream effective target, comparison case, or reduction image

In practical terms:

- `j3_oc` may cite `spin2_3` for reduced structures already clarified there
- `j3_oc` must not assume those reduced structures are already derived from the complexified Jordan ambient object
- any time `T1/T2`, `u`, `SU(3)`, mixing, or phenomenology is imported from `spin2_3`, the note should say whether it is being used as background target data, a comparison point, or an earned consequence

Relevant comparison branch:

- [1 - master framework.md](1%20-%20master%20framework.md)

---

## Claim discipline inside this folder

Every nontrivial claim in this branch should be framed, explicitly or implicitly, by the following pattern:

- `Fixed by the lens`: exceptional Jordan language is being used, with the complexified object primary
- `Option set`: `J3(O)`, `J3(C \otimes O)`, or a relation between them
- `Working branch`: use `J3(C \otimes O)` as ambient unless a note says otherwise
- `Status`: `Axiom/Postulate`, `Choice`, `Derived`, `Interpretation`, or `Missing`
- `Maturity`: `1` through `6`
- `Bridge burden`: what would be needed to justify the branch against nearby alternatives

This branch especially needs discipline around:

- whether complexification is physically required or merely mathematically convenient
- whether the selected direction `u` is derived, induced, or inserted
- whether `SU(3)` appears as physical color or only as structural stabilizer data
- whether reduced `Spin(2,3)` structures are obtained by a disciplined map or by selective matching

---

## Success conditions for the branch

At a minimum, this branch should make progress on the following six anchor tasks:

1. explicit ambient-to-observable reduction
2. disciplined treatment of `J3(O)` versus `J3(C \otimes O)`
3. status of the selected direction `u`
4. physical realization of `SU(3)`
5. geometric meaning of mixing
6. explicit observables / measurement / falsification language

If it cannot improve the project on those tasks, then the branch may remain mathematically interesting without becoming physically preferable.

---

## Working bottom line

The safe reading of this charter is:

1. `j3_oc` is a stand-alone ambient branch built around `J3(C \otimes O)`.
2. It does not replace `spin2_3`, but it does aim to subsume the ambient analysis above it.
3. Its central burden is the missing middle: a disciplined reduction from ambient Jordan structure to reduced observable physics.
4. Its claims should be written under explicit status and maturity control from the start.