Inertial Enhancement without Local Depletion Deepening in a Minimal Covariant Depletion-Field Realization

This work studies a minimal covariant realization (C0) of the Verarmungsfeldtheorie (VFT, depletion-field theory) programme, in which an SU(2) Skyrme field is coupled to a scalar depletion field. It derives a local covariant depletion-mediated energy-exchange rate and analyzes the lowest coupled radial breathing mode on a previously validated static profile. Using pre-registered decision rules and two independent finite-element implementations (linear P1 and quadratic P2), the study obtains a reproduced second-order response in which stored mode energy makes the local depletion shallower while increasing the effective rest-energy response. The independent P2 calculation passes its pre-registered numerical gate and reproduces the P1 reference mode with a continuum overlap of 0.9999999999990581. The result is established on the stored mode-energy proxy axis, which has not been identified with the excitation variable of Axiom V of the VFT programme. It therefore does not constitute an Axiom-V sign verdict. Instead, it establishes a concrete requirement on any further realization connecting the dynamical excitation channel to depletion and effective inertia. This Zenodo record contains the final manuscript, LaTeX source, and the complete release reproduction package, including byte-identified numerical producers, result objects, pre-registration and review records, governance records, manifests, and SHA-256 checksums. Version 0.2 — traceability supplement.This version leaves all v0.1 files unchanged and adds R4D_PaperI_reproduction_package_v0p2.zip, containing six historical execution/governance objects required to expose previously omitted provenance anchors in the Paper-I chain. No scientific result, numerical value, frozen verdict, or historical source object is revised or re-frozen. The supplement adds Execution Manifests rc2/rc3, Gate_R4D0 rc2, Gate_R4D1 rc2, Governance Addendum A / Sign-Lock rc2, and the byte-identical P2 selftest. It also clarifies that the manuscript statement “Every object is listed with its SHA-256 in the manifest …” is too broad if read as referring to a single chain-tip manifest: object identity is distributed across the historical manifest/record chain, and some broader R4D objects referenced by the historical execution manifests remain outside the Paper-I reproduction cut. Traceability details.R4D_PaperI_reproduction_package_v0p2.zip: 31,240 B; SHA-256 ef980bdaa16b44b3bd9e5c87797409cfa8877810495599458b926cbbcd10406c. The included P2 selftest is byte-identical across Producer rc1/rc2/rc3, as recorded in Execution Manifest rc8. Five of the six historical objects added by the supplement have full SHA-256 anchors exposed in the delivered Paper-I manifest chain. Governance_Record_v0p1_Addendum_A_SignLock_rc2.md is exposed in the delivered Paper-I chain by the SHA-256 prefix e8478504…; its full SHA-256 is e8478504e2fbc951d1151ae6a12cdb587c0f4f824aeebd67034fb6deb0c7f0f9, while its corresponding full-digest provenance anchor belongs to the wider realization-chain archive.