T-205: Mixed rectangle-measure lower bound s(68)≥853/100 verified, on the 201-direction net

V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed

2026-10-16 published · Hosono after Tokoharu and Levy · n=68

A rectangle measure of wand125/square-packing, published on 16 October 2026 and reported in jlevy/squares#446, proves s(68)≥853/100 = 8.53.

The certificate, mixed_n68_L853, is a density of 726 uniform rectangles in D4 orbits, 5796 distinct rectangles after expansion, and no point or segment, of total mass 6799999/100000 < 68. Its declared net has 201 half-angle tangents of step 83/40000 at core side 9977/10000. The strict core extent 399908091/400000000 < 1 and the last tangent 83/200, past tan(pi/8), supply the reviewed net-and-shrink implication.

The retained maintained sqverify-fast capture verifies all 201 directions at threshold one, under the qualified Mac release build of Rust 1.98.0. Its whole-net controls record 197 coverage refusals and verified mutant directions 46, 47, 48 and 49, and the near-threshold mutant is refused. The mathematical review accepts the implication and independently recomputed the saved-point captures. The outer capture exit was unobserved after supervisor loss; the complete recovered native result exited 0, and the later check and control outer commands exited 0.

This raises the verified and reported lower lanes from 851/100 to 853/100. The bound is confirmed by a re-implementation sharing components with the producer's checker, sqverify-proof-net, which is Hosono's adaptation of this repository's sqverify_fast crate: the two share the crate apart from their declared-net readers. The exact audits check premises and saved poses, not coverage between poses; no independent full implementation, second method, proof-assistant check or optimality theorem is claimed.

wand125 after Tokoharu and Levy, square-packing. The source says parts of the work were produced with AI assistance under human direction.

Significance, composition and next rung
Significance
The strongest verified and reported lower bound on record at n=68, 1/50 above the prior lanes, by the certificate kind and standard net of T-082, T-090 and T-091, with no new technique, at S3 as T-176 to T-178 and T-216 are.
Composition
One source certificate and one complete maintained native replay, C3. The replay shares components with the producer's checker, Hosono's adaptation of this repository's sqverify_fast crate, apart from the declared-net readers. The separate exact premise and saved-point audits the case record cites supply no universal decision or higher rung.
Next rung
V4 and C4 need the additional qualifying adversarial AI review and the explicit human oversight the rung rules require. An independent full implementation would add implementation diversity; premise and saved-point checks do not supply it.
Novelty
previously-published Present in an identified source

The case

Case record
Regularized by the Squares Project with its own axis tool (regularize_axis_components/2)
As published
The packing as published, Couzo 2026 [PingYou PR 574 certificates 2026-10-13]

n=68

8.538.799
8910
8.2469.246
nn+1

Proven

8.53000≤s(68)≤8.798796

  • exact

Citation record n-068

lowerHosono after Tokoharu and Levy 2026, GitHub (confirmed T-205)

upperCouzo et al., GitHub (confirmed T-174)

Open

  • optimality

The case record

LowerUpper
Gap0.26879523…

Results on the case

15 results in the register on n=68, 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-205

    Nagamochi · Nagamochi 2005 · source · register

  2. 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

  3. 2026-09-22 published T-044

    Weighted point lower bounds for ten counts in n=26…72, plus seven from the same files

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-205

    Hosono after Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 point bounds 2026 · packet · source · review · register

  4. 2026-09-27 published T-046

    Rectangle-density lower bounds reported for 48 counts in n=18…95

    V0 C0 Lower bound recorded superseded by T-205

    Hosono after Tokoharu, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 rectangle bounds 2026 · wand125 rectangle bounds 2026-09-28 · packet · packet · register

  5. 2026-09-27 published T-056

    Smaller packings for 49 counts from n=68 to 307, each certified two independent ways

    V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-174

    Couzo · franciscouzo square-packing 2026-09-27 · packet · register

  6. 2026-09-28 published T-070

    Rectangle-density lower bounds replayed at 25 counts in n=29…95

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-205

    Hosono after Tokoharu, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 rectangle bounds 2026-09-28 · packet · packet · source · review · register

  7. 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

  8. 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-205

    Karakuş · Karakuş 2026 · source · register

  9. 2026-10-01 published T-068

    Rectangle-density lower bounds verified at 34 counts in n=19…95

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-205

    Hosono after Tokoharu, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 rectangle bounds 2026-10-01 · packet · source · review · register

  10. 2026-10-01 published T-074

    Rectangle-density lower bounds replayed at 31 counts in n=19…95

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-205

    Hosono after Tokoharu, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 rectangle bounds 2026-10-01 · packet · packet · source · review · register

  11. 2026-10-05 published T-098

    Exact optima of 48 known-best packings: s(n) ≤ S', 3.5e-13 to 5.0e-11 below each printed side

    V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-174

    Daniel after Couzo, de Winter, Ellsworth, Levy · evand exact optima 2026-10-05 · packet · register

  12. 2026-10-07 published T-118

    Exact rational ceiling refinements at n=68

    V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-174

    Rehwaldt after Couzo and earlier contributors · Rehwaldt n68 refinement 2026-10-07 · packet · register

  13. 2026-10-13 published T-174

    Tighter certificates at 68 counts from PingYou Ltd, of others' packings and its own

    V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed

    PingYou Ltd after Friedman, Ellsworth, Daniel, Xu, Barnett, Couzo, Ostashev, Chaoweeraprasit, Gupta, Fang, Polkovskyi, Levy · PingYou PR 574 certificates 2026-10-13 · packet · register

  14. 2026-10-13 published T-180

    Closed-form lower bound s(N)≥a(N) for every non-square N≥49, reported

    V0 C1 Lower bound reviewed on this case, superseded by T-205

    Hosono · wand125 closed form 2026-10-14 · packet · packet · register

  15. 2026-10-16 published T-205 this result

    Mixed rectangle-measure lower bound s(68)≥853/100 verified, on the 201-direction net

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed

    Hosono after Tokoharu and Levy · wand125 fine-net lower bounds 2026-10-16 · packet · source · review · register