Project summary

XUE/ONE already has a machine-checkable lower-bound certificate package for the mixed van der Waerden number w(2;3,39), together with an offline three-layer software and digital-twin workflow. This 90-day project will build a small physical optical test core and measure whether the physical path can carry the same registered, independently checkable workflow. The goal is not to claim a finished large-scale machine. It is to obtain the first reproducible physical evidence.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

1. Assemble a compact optical prototype from commercially available components.

2. Measure its transmission matrix, effective rank, insertion loss, crosstalk, signal-to-noise ratio, and drift.

3. Send frozen challenge frames through the physical path with no digital bypass, then publish checker outputs, hashes, and every failure.

4. Produce a public build and measurement report that another technical reviewer can recalculate.

How will this funding be used?

Optical components and replacement parts: $350.

Electronics, sensors, and interfaces: $180.

Fixtures, enclosure, and calibration materials: $100.

Shipping and contingency: $70.

Total: $700.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

I am Luo Zixuan, a solo independent researcher. I produced the machine-checkable W2 certificate package, its standalone Python checker, and the registered software and digital-twin verification workflow without an institutional laboratory. The public certificate proves only a lower bound; the private generation method is not included.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

The physical core may have too little effective rank, excessive drift, high error rates, or no measurable benefit over matched control structures. Those outcomes will be reported as failures. Even a negative result will produce reusable measurements, a reproducible test method, and a clear decision about whether the architecture should be revised or stopped.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

No grant or investment funding has been received for this project in the last 12 months. The work to date was completed independently.