docs: flag soundness, alpha-drift, saturation-hybrid in file headers

Three caveats surfaced during walkthrough lived only in the
conversation transcript before this commit.  Now they live where
future agents and future-me will actually see them:

- reach_operation.m and reachability/README.md state prominently that
  the current reach tube is an over-approximation of the LINEAR
  model, not a sound tube for the nonlinear plant.  Thesis-blocking
  for a real safety claim.  Upgrade paths documented.

- ctrl_heatup.m header and plant-model/CLAUDE.md note that the
  feedback-linearization u_ff assumes exact alpha_f, alpha_c.  Real
  plants drift (burnup ~20%, boron ~10x, xenon).  Robust treatment =
  parametric reach with alpha as an interval.

- ctrl_heatup.m header and plant-model/CLAUDE.md note that sat() is
  formally a 3-mode piecewise-affine sub-system.  Operation-mode LQR
  is dormant (trivially); heatup will need either a dormancy proof
  or explicit hybrid modeling.

README.md top-level now has a run-commands table for the reach
artifacts and a pointer to the soundness status.

Hacker-Split: raise caveats from transcript to artifact so the work
is actually reviewable by people who weren't in the room.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ pwr-hybrid-3-demo/
     figures/               Shared figures for thesis + talks
   fret-pipeline/           FRET → ltlsynt → AIGER → state machine
   plant-model/             PWR point kinetics + thermal-hydraulics
-  reachability/            Continuous-mode verification (TBD)
+  reachability/            Continuous-mode verification (linear-model tube + Lyapunov barrier attempt; see README)
+  julia-port/              Parallel plant-model port + ReachabilityAnalysis.jl scaffold
   hardware/                Ovation HIL artifacts (TBD)
+  claude_memory/           Session notes by AI agents (distilled up into CLAUDE.md over time)
   thesis/                  [submodule] PhD proposal
   presentations/
     2026DICE/              [submodule] DICE 2026 abstract
@@ -48,12 +50,25 @@ python3 scripts/trace_aiger.py circuits/PWR_HYBRID_3_DRC.aag diagrams
 dot -Tpng diagrams/PWR_HYBRID_3_DRC_states.dot -o diagrams/PWR_HYBRID_3_DRC_states.png
 ```
 
-Run the plant model (MATLAB or GNU Octave in `plant-model/`):
+Run the plant model (MATLAB in `plant-model/` — Octave compatibility not tested since the LQR pieces landed):
 
 ```matlab
-main
+main                 % original single-scenario demo (null vs operation)
+main_mode_sweep      % all five DRC modes back-to-back, writes to ../docs/figures/
+test_linearize       % Jacobian sanity check, saves linearization for reach
 ```
 
+Run the reach artifacts (`reachability/`):
+
+```matlab
+reach_operation      % linear reach tube for operation-mode LQR
+barrier_lyapunov     % Lyapunov-ellipsoid barrier cert attempt (sweeps weights)
+```
+
+**Soundness note:** the current reach tube is the LINEAR model's tube;
+it is not yet a sound over-approximation of the nonlinear plant.  See
+`reachability/README.md` § Soundness status.
+
 ## Prerequisites
 
 - Python 3.10+

claude_memory/2026-04-17-controllers-linearization-and-first-reach.md

@@ -110,6 +110,28 @@ tight *only* along T_c without blowing out the other directions.
 **Logical next step for a thesis-strength barrier: SOS polynomial
 barriers or polytopic (halfspace-intersection) invariants.**
 
+## Soundness, α-drift, saturation — the three "this isn't actually rigorous yet" flags
+
+Dane caught these during walkthrough.  All three now documented in the
+relevant file headers so they don't live only in the transcript:
+
+- **Soundness**: `reachability/reach_operation.m` and
+  `reachability/README.md` now prominently state the current reach
+  tube is over-approximation of the LINEAR model, not the nonlinear
+  plant.  Upgrade paths: nonlinear reach (CORA/JuliaReach
+  nonlinearSys) or linear reach + Taylor-remainder inflation.  Either
+  is thesis-blocking for a real safety claim.
+- **α-drift**: `ctrl_heatup.m` header and `plant-model/CLAUDE.md` now
+  note that the feedback-linearization cancellation assumes exact
+  α_f, α_c.  Real reactors have α drifting (burnup ~20%, boron ~10x,
+  xenon).  Robust treatment = α as interval, parametric reach.
+- **Saturation semantics**: `ctrl_heatup.m` header now notes the
+  sat() is piecewise affine and must be either proven dormant or
+  modeled as a hybrid sub-mode in reach.  Operation-mode LQR is
+  dormant (trivially); heatup will need explicit treatment.
+
+Documented in `README.md` top-level under the reach commands too.
+
 ## Loose ends for the next session
 
 - Julia reach needs state rescaling. `S = diag(...)` chosen so all

plant-model/CLAUDE.md

@@ -172,3 +172,25 @@ running example.
   power-spike overshoot in the simulation.  Physical resolution: the
   reactor should be taken critical in shutdown mode (at ~0.1% power)
   before DRC transitions to heatup.  `main_mode_sweep.m` uses this IC.
+
+## Robustness caveats (idealized in current artifacts)
+
+- **α_f, α_c are treated as known exactly.**  In reality α_f drifts
+  ~20% over burnup; α_c spans ~10x across soluble-boron dilution over
+  a cycle; xenon adds 2-3 $ reactivity on its own timescale.  The
+  feedback-linearization in `ctrl_heatup.m` assumes the controller's
+  α matches the plant's; if not, the clean `rho_total = Kp*e`
+  property degrades to `Kp*e + delta*alpha*dT`, and the P term must
+  absorb the residual.  Stabilization still holds but reach analysis
+  should eventually treat α as a bounded parametric uncertainty.
+- **Saturation is a hybrid sub-mode.**  The `sat(u, u_min, u_max)` in
+  `ctrl_heatup.m` is formally piecewise affine.  Current reach
+  treats it as dormant (true for operation/LQR, near-true for the
+  demo heatup trajectory).  A rigorous heatup reach has to model
+  the saturation regions explicitly.
+- **Linear-model reach is not sound for the nonlinear plant.**  The
+  reach artifacts in `../reachability/` use the linearization; the
+  result is a sound over-approximation of the LINEAR model's reach,
+  not of the plant's.  To upgrade: nonlinear reach directly, or
+  linear reach + Taylor-remainder inflation.  See
+  `../reachability/README.md` § Soundness status.

plant-model/controllers/ctrl_heatup.m

@@ -13,6 +13,19 @@ function u = ctrl_heatup(t, x, plant, ref)
 %    +0.5*beta guarantees rho_total < beta (below prompt), which in
 %    turn bounds the neutron-kinetics excursion rate for reachability.
 %
+%  IMPORTANT for reach analysis:
+%    The sat() is a 3-mode piecewise-affine system (sat-low / linear /
+%    sat-high).  Under linear reach assumptions it must either be
+%    (a) proven dormant (u_unsat stays in [u_min, u_max] across the
+%        reach set — trivial to check, expensive to over-approximate
+%        tightly), or
+%    (b) handled as an explicit hybrid automaton nested under the DRC
+%        mode, with transitions when u_unsat crosses the saturation
+%        bounds.
+%    The current reach_operation.m assumes (a) implicitly.  Heatup
+%    reach will need option (b) because u_unsat is near the +0.5*beta
+%    bound during early ramp.
+%
 %  Why no integrator:
 %    Ramp tracking has a structural lag proportional to ramp_rate / Kp_eff.
 %    Acceptable because the DRC exits heatup on a predicate window
@@ -20,6 +33,18 @@ function u = ctrl_heatup(t, x, plant, ref)
 %    Adding PI would double-count the intrinsic plant integrator
 %    (thermal mass) and make anti-windup a hybrid transition.
 %
+%  IMPORTANT caveat on the cancellation u_ff:
+%    The feedback linearization works only if the controller's values
+%    of alpha_f, alpha_c match the plant's.  In reality alpha drifts:
+%    alpha_f ~20% over burnup, alpha_c by ~10x across boron dilution,
+%    plus xenon.  With alpha_true = alpha_nom*(1+delta), the
+%    cancellation leaves residual reactivity delta*alpha*dT that the
+%    P term cleans up — stabilization still holds, but the clean
+%    "rho_total = Kp*e" property is gone.  A robust deployment would
+%    treat alpha as an interval and propagate parametric uncertainty
+%    through reach (zonotope with parameter generators), or add
+%    adaptive alpha estimation.  Idealized here.
+%
 %  Inputs:
 %    t      - time [s]
 %    x      - state vector (10 x 1)

reachability/README.md

@@ -2,7 +2,47 @@
 
 Continuous-mode verification for the PWR_HYBRID_3 hybrid controller.
 
-## Status
+## Soundness status: APPROXIMATE
+
+The current `reach_operation.m` result is **not a sound reach tube for
+the physical plant**.  It is a sound over-approximation of the
+*linearized* closed-loop system (A_cl = A - BK around x_op) under
+bounded disturbance.  The linear model is itself an approximation of
+the nonlinear plant (`../plant-model/pke_th_rhs.m`), and that
+approximation error is not currently bounded or inflated into the tube.
+
+Two paths to upgrade to a sound result:
+
+1. **Nonlinear reach directly** — CORA `nonlinearSys`, JuliaReach
+   `BlackBoxContinuousSystem`, or equivalent.  More expensive but the
+   honest answer.
+2. **Linear reach + Taylor-remainder inflation** — compute an upper
+   bound on `||f_nl(x, u) - (A x + B u)||` over the reach set (via
+   Hessian norm estimate on each component of `f_nl`) and inflate the
+   linear tube by that bound.  Less expensive, still rigorous.
+
+Both are thesis-blocking for any safety claim.  Deferred only until
+the per-mode plumbing is solid; it is not a "nice to have".
+
+The current 5-orders-of-margin buffer (reach envelope ~0.03 K against
+a 5 K safety band) means linearization error would have to be huge to
+invalidate the conclusion, but that is vibes, not a proof.
+
+## Related open issues
+
+- **Saturation semantics.** `ctrl_heatup.m` uses `sat(u, u_min, u_max)`.
+  Saturation is formally a 3-mode piecewise-affine system.  For
+  heatup reach this has to be handled as (a) hybrid locations, or
+  (b) proven dormant via reach on `u_unsat`.  Not modeled in the
+  current artifacts (operation-mode LQR saturation is dormant in
+  practice but the proof is implicit).
+- **Parametric uncertainty in α_f, α_c.**  Real plants have α drift
+  with burnup (~20%), boron (α_c ranges 10×), xenon.  The
+  feedback-linearization in `ctrl_heatup.m` assumes exact α; a robust
+  treatment would make α an interval and propagate parametric reach.
+  Currently idealized — flag in the chapter.
+
+## What's here
 
 **Per-mode only.** Following the compositionality argument in the thesis:
 verify each continuous mode separately, let the DRC handle discrete
@@ -48,8 +88,11 @@ options are CORA (MATLAB) or JuliaReach (port the plant to Julia).
 
 ## What this does NOT do yet
 
+- Any sound reach tube (see top of this file).
 - Nonlinear reach for the original P controller on operation.
-- Heatup reach (the ramped reference makes x* time-varying — needs
+- Heatup reach (ramped reference makes x* time-varying — needs
-  trajectory-LQR or a different formulation).
+  trajectory-LQR or a different formulation, and the saturation
+  semantics need to be made explicit).
 - Shutdown, scram, initialization reach.
 - Hybrid-system level verification (mode switching validity).
+- Parametric robustness to α_f, α_c drift.

reachability/reach_operation.m

@@ -1,9 +1,30 @@
 %% reach_operation.m — linear reach set for operation mode (LQR closed-loop)
 %
-%  Compute a sound over-approximation of the reach set starting from a
+%  *** SOUNDNESS STATUS: APPROXIMATE, NOT SOUND. ***
-%  box around x_op, under LQR feedback, with Q_sg in a specified
+%
-%  interval.  Check that T_avg stays inside the t_avg_in_range predicate
+%  This file computes a reach tube for the *linearized* closed-loop
-%  for all t in [0, T_final].
+%  system (A_cl = A - BK around x_op) under bounded Q_sg.  The tube
+%  itself is a sound over-approximation of the LINEAR model's reach
+%  set — it uses conservative box hulls and elementwise-absolute-value
+%  matrix propagation.  But the LINEAR MODEL is only an approximation
+%  of the real nonlinear plant (pke_th_rhs.m), so the result is not a
+%  sound reach tube for the actual plant.
+%
+%  To upgrade to a sound result, pick one:
+%    (a) Nonlinear reach directly (CORA's nonlinearSys, JuliaReach's
+%        BlackBoxContinuousSystem).  Expensive, honest.
+%    (b) Linear reach + Taylor-remainder inflation: compute an upper
+%        bound on ||f_nonlinear(x,u) - (A x + B u)|| over the reach
+%        set and inflate the linear tube by that bound.  Cheaper,
+%        requires a Hessian-norm estimate.
+%  Tracked as a thesis-blocking todo.  For now, the 5-orders-of-margin
+%  buffer (|dT_c| ~ 0.03 K vs safety band 5 K) gives us a lot of room
+%  to absorb linearization error, but that's not a proof.
+%
+%  Compute a reach-tube over-approximation starting from a box around
+%  x_op, under LQR feedback, with Q_sg in a specified interval.  Check
+%  that T_avg stays inside the t_avg_in_range predicate for all t in
+%  [0, T_final].
 %
 %  This is the *continuous-mode obligation* for q_operation:
 %     X_entry  := { x : |x - x_op| <= delta_entry }