Measuring integrity in complex systems

The Digital Integrity Foundation develops research frameworks for measuring coherence, integrity, and auditability in complex digital and scientific systems.

Our flagship research program, G(I,D,t), is a candidate coherence metric under active development. It is designed to help examine how complex systems coordinate information over time, with potential applications in AI safety, digital evidence review, scientific data analysis, and institutional governance.

The metric is presented as a research instrument, not as a settled scientific finding. Its value depends on falsifiability, transparent methods, and independent replication.

Research Commitments

Our research is guided by four commitments:

• Measurement with humility - no claim is stronger than the evidence supporting it.

• Falsifiability by design - every serious claim must name what would disprove it.

• Transparent attribution - public datasets remain the work of their originating institutions.

• Governance integration - measurement must serve accountability, not surveillance.

The G(I,D,t) Coherence Framework

G(I,D,t) is being developed as a computationally tractable framework for examining coherence in complex systems.

Rather than asking whether a system is merely “true” or “false,” the framework asks a more precise question: How coherently do the parts of this system coordinate over time?

This research remains under development. The Foundation is preparing protocols for independent testing, transparent controls, and pre-registered falsification criteria.

Pythagorean Harmonic Audit

As a secondary diagnostic layer, the Foundation is also exploring a Pythagorean Harmonic Audit.

This audit examines whether certain low-integer harmonic relationships appear in complex systems under stress. It is reported separately from the primary G(I,D,t) coherence measure.

It is not embedded into the core metric. It is not used as a hidden prior. It is not proof of consciousness, spirituality, or metaphysical status.

It is an exploratory diagnostic tool, subject to revision.

Data and Attribution Notice

The Foundation is developing protocols to apply its own metrics to publicly available datasets, beginning with NASA PUNCH solar polarimetry.

Any such analysis represents the Foundation’s independent application of its own framework to public data. It does not constitute validation, endorsement, or confirmation by NASA, the PUNCH mission, the sPHENIX collaboration, or any independent body.

No empirical validation is claimed at this stage. Results will be reported only after analysis is complete and open to independent replication.

All empirical claims are subject to independent replication. A pre-registered falsification protocol, specifying the conditions under which the framework would be revised or abandoned, is in preparation for deposit with the Open Science Framework.

Publications and Resources

• Architecture of Integrity white paper.

• Pre-registered empirical protocol, in preparation.

• Research manuscript on coherence metrics in complex systems, in preparation.