Atomic Authority Execution Requires a Four-Level Refinement Ladder
Atomic fenced execution requires distinct refinement arguments for functional transition behavior, concurrent real-time histories, crash recovery, and authority-preserving deployment.
Ideal compare-and-set simulates the abstract guarded transition, while split read/write admits two successes that no abstract sequential order explains. Concurrent observations additionally require a linearization witness that preserves completed-before-invoked precedence. Volatile linearizability still does not imply crash consistency: fence-only persistence loses the protected effect, while effect-only persistence permits duplication on retry.
Even a correct concrete protocol is not thereby authorized for installation. Semantic refinement and deployment authority are independent predicates. The exact checker passes 15 of 15 tests.
Research packet: atomic-execution-refinement-ladder.md