T-041: s(17)>466001/100000=4.66001

V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

2026-09-27 published · Overbeck after Levy, Mira-acc, Guzhou0806 · n=17

s(17)>466001/100000 = 4.66001, by the bounds/4.66001/ package of Overbeck's 17-squares-certified-bound, published untagged on 27 September 2026. It raised the verified bound by exactly 1999/100000 over T-040.

It keeps v1.1.0's checkers byte for byte and combines two completed charge candidates: 224 point, 225 two-of-three, 30 three-of-five, two four-of-seven, 154 weighted-threshold and 254 pairwise-intersecting winning-subset orbits, 7,048 feature images over 20,856 sites, all 86 distinct rules of capacity one, over 2,168 parent-angle intervals with parents of side 461300/466001 in the container 4613/1000. Seventeen cores at the minimum core charge 1000026844 exceed the budget 17000402008 (units of 10^-9) by 54340.

It was replayed here in full on 27 September 2026 by the source's Python and JavaScript BigInt checkers, which agree on every interval and with both published ledger pairs; they are one event-cell method.

Overbeck, 17-squares-certified-bound, building on Squares Project (Levy), Mira and Guzhou0806, as its ATTRIBUTION.md states. Its AUTHORS.md names Overbeck as Kleddamag and says the work was produced with AI agents (OpenAI Codex) under his direction.

Significance, composition and next rung
Significance
Raised the verified lower bound at n=17 by 0.01999 on T-040's checkers and budget rules, with a larger dictionary of the same features. A substantive case result, S3 by the T-015 and T-032 precedent. Confirmed on 11 October beside T-040 and T-043: a larger dictionary of the features T-040 introduced, at one count.
Next rung
V4 and C4 need two adversarial AI reviews by distinct reviewers and a human oversight record, and none is retained. A second machine method is not at hand: the native parent-core route cannot read the weighted and winning-subset features, and the review's independent exact sweep, which shares no code with the source and reproduced all 2,168 row minima, was review scratch and is the same method. Retaining that sweep as a repository instrument would make the exact leg this repository's own. Rung 5 needs a proof-assistant formalization reviewed by human experts. Superseded as the verified lower bound on 2026-09-29 by Guzhou0806's R068 (T-043), which continues this charge; stays true as stated.
Novelty
previously-published Present in an identified source

The case

Case record

n=17

4.664.676
456
4.1235.123
nn+1

Proven

4.66044≤s(17)≤4.675531

  • exact

Citation record n-017

lowerGuzhou0806 after Overbeck et al. 2026, GitHub (confirmed T-093)

upperBidwell 1998, Squares in Squares (confirmed T-065)

Open

  • optimality

The case record

Results on the case

19 results in the register on n=17, oldest first, each with what it established and how it stands now.

  1. 2005 published T-007

    s(n)≥min(⌈n⌉,n−2⌊n⌋+1+1) for 4≤n≤324

    V0 C1 Lower bound incomplete on this case, superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Nagamochi · Nagamochi 2005 · source · register

  2. 2026-08-21 published T-015

    s(17)≥22529/5000=4.5058

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Massaccesi after Burns · Burns–Massaccesi n17 · packet · register

  3. 2026-08-31 established T-001

    s(17)≥4426213/1000000=4.426213, from a sixteen-point unavoidable set

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Levy after Bentz · register

  4. 2026-08-31 established T-003

    The sixteen-point set's unavoidability ceiling lies in [4426213/1000000,4427/1000)

    V3 C3 Method limit confirmed

    Levy after Bentz · register

  5. 2026-09-04 established T-019

    s(n)≥459/100=4.59 for n=17,18,19

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Levy after Burns, Massaccesi · register

  6. 2026-09-04 published T-085

    Nagamochi 2005, Lemma 1 is false for every container with a>3 and b>2

    V3 C3 Correction confirmed

    Karakuş; Vlasenko · Karakuş 2026 · chelokot Nagamochi counterexample 2026 · packet · register

  7. 2026-09-20 published T-032

    s(17)≥461300/99999=4.61304613…, and beneath it Mira's s(17)≥4613/1000

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Guzhou0806, Mira-acc after Levy, Burns, Massaccesi · n17 weighted certificates 2026-09-20 · packet · register

  8. 2026-09-21 published T-038

    s(17)>461300/99853=4.6197910929…

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Overbeck after Levy, Mira-acc, Guzhou0806 · Kleddamag n17 certified bound · packet · source · review · register

  9. 2026-09-21 published T-065

    s(17)≤4.6755300936045509…, Bidwell's packing certified exactly

    V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed

    Overbeck after Levy, Mira-acc, Guzhou0806 · Kleddamag n17 certified bound · packet · source · review · register

  10. 2026-09-25 published T-039

    s(17)>231001/50000=4.62002

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Guzhou0806 after Overbeck, Mira-acc, Levy · Guzhou0806 n17 R052 · packet · source · review · register

  11. 2026-09-26 published T-040

    s(17)>232001/50000=4.64002

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Overbeck after Levy, Mira-acc, Guzhou0806 · Kleddamag n17 4.640020 · packet · source · review · register

  12. 2026-09-27 published T-041 this result

    s(17)>466001/100000=4.66001

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Overbeck after Levy, Mira-acc, Guzhou0806 · Kleddamag n17 4.66001 · packet · source · review · register

  13. 2026-09-28 published T-042

    s(17)>233009/50000=4.66018

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Guzhou0806 after Overbeck, Mira-acc, Levy · Guzhou0806 n17 R067 · packet · source · review · register

  14. 2026-09-28 published T-043

    s(17)>116511/25000=4.66044

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Guzhou0806 after Overbeck, Mira-acc, Levy · Guzhou0806 n17 R068 · packet · source · review · register

  15. 2026-09-29 published T-058

    Rectangle-certificate ceiling α·UB(n) proved for n=1..100; B·UB(n) on 64 grid rows

    V3 C3 Method limit confirmed

    Hosono after Tokoharu, Daniel · wand125 tools 2026 · packet · register

  16. 2026-09-29 published T-083

    s(n)≥1/2+n−⌊n⌋+1/4 for every nonsquare 8≤n≤324

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-093 and T-153 (reported)

    Karakuş · Karakuş 2026 · source · register

  17. 2026-09-30 published T-093

    s(17)>18641771/4000000=4.66044275

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed

    Guzhou0806 after Overbeck, Mira-acc, Levy · Guzhou0806 n17 R071 · packet · source · review · register

  18. 2026-10-12 published T-153

    Candidate proof that Bidwell's 1998 packing is optimal, s(17)=4.67553009360455…

    V0 C1 Optimality reviewed

    Overbeck after Levy, Ahmed, Mira-acc, Guzhou0806, Maaz · Overbeck n17 candidate 2026 · packet · register

  19. 2026-10-12 published T-154

    Fitzharding reports a Lean proof that s(17)=4.67553009360455…

    V3 C1 Formalization reviewed

    Fitzharding after Levy, Ahmed, MacIver · Fitzharding n17 Lean 2026 · packet · source · source build receipt · review 1 · review 2 · register