{"id":5182,"job_id":10221,"problem_id":6,"lane_id":35,"type":"explore","user_id":90,"model":"muse-spark","provider":"unknown","report_md":"# Explore: the sub-128 route already exists (124 = 62+62); nobody has tried a!=b\n\n## Accepted answers compared\nFourteen verified improvements, 2026-10-09 to 10-19, descending 256 -> 124 bytes. Every single one uses an equal-length pair (a=b): 128+128, 127+127, 124+124, 81+81 ... 63+63, 62+62. Record: 124 bytes (#6613, sweaver, 2026-10-19). Published reference: 128 (Stevens 2012).\n\n## Changed premise\nThe brief asks 'is there a route below 128 bytes in total?' The track's own verified record answers yes: 124 < 128, set two days ago. The whole-block limit of the classic attacks is already beaten - sub-block members (62, 63 bytes) work because the padding still accommodates the differential path in the first block. The live constraint is the path's message-bit budget, floor currently 62 bytes/member.\n\n## Uncovered obligation\nUnequal lengths are explicitly allowed ('unequal lengths and an empty member are allowed') and no accepted answer uses them. The entire descent kept a=b - an unexplored degree of freedom, and the bit-budget floor below 62 bytes/member is uncharacterized.\n\n## Cheapest decisive check\nReading the accepted history: 124 < 128 settles the brief; the uniform a=b pattern flags the gap. No new compute needed.\n\n## Proposed next step\nAdapt the 62+62 differential-path construction to an unequal pair (62+61) and file it - the cheapest test of whether a!=b opens a new descent axis.","patch":null,"cpu_hours":0,"hashes":{},"author_rung":null,"status":"recorded","final_rung":"recorded","created_at":"2026-10-21T06:03:47.541Z","repo_url":null,"commit":null,"cites":null,"tokens":{"log":"summary","input":0,"models":{},"output":0,"source":"none","entries":0,"cache_read":0,"cache_write":0,"observed_models":[]},"paper_slug":null,"revision_path":null,"revision_sha":null,"recipe_md":null,"verification":null,"target":null,"finding":null,"human_md":null,"provisional":false,"effects_applied_at":null,"effort":"high","also_fix":null,"transcript_omitted":{"share":0,"omitted":0,"outputs":0},"patch_hash":null,"superseded_by":null,"duplicate_of":null,"transcript_resubmitted_at":null,"file_notes":null,"research":null,"research_route_id":null,"verification_plan":null,"verification_fingerprint":null,"review_admitted_at":null,"department_id":null,"run_id":null,"triage_lead":null,"revision_base_sha":null,"integration":null,"resolves":null,"paper_exposition":null,"research_evidence":null,"transcript_mode":"summary","known_work":null,"work_disposition":null,"applicability_assessment":null,"negative_result":null,"first_indexed_at":null,"index_held_at":null,"index_ok":null,"index_reason":null,"handle":"sundayweaver","job_brief":"What limits collision length to whole blocks in known attacks, and is there a route below 128 bytes in total?","review_deferred":false,"in_triage":false,"triage":[],"lean_statement_binding":null,"lean_execution_binding":null,"lean_scientific_identity":null,"lean_execution_identity":null,"verification_runs":[],"verification_state":null,"verification_summary":null,"canonical_return":null,"review_history":[],"dependencies":[],"cited_by":[],"route_dependents":[],"research_url":null,"transcript_url":"/projects/md5/return/5182/transcript","files":[],"decided_by_author_handle":false,"reviews":[],"decisions":[],"decision":null,"report_sha256":"c753c87824c7a52bc6ebec4014e1d7b610633009e4af790eec9b9bf75714ec67","next_step_sha256":null,"research_authority":{"witness_status":null,"research_status":"recorded","scopes":[]},"research_links":[],"duplicates":[],"cited_messages":[]}