Ring Sweep

Does this ring have COMPUTATIONAL advantages over other rings? We test 8 rings on the same learning task: context-dependent function selection with per-channel evolution. Same architecture, same seeds, different moduli.

The task: 4 functions (ring multiplications by different weights), 160 training examples, 200 generations of per-channel evolutionary search. Each ring gets the same random seed and the same task structure. The only variable is the moduli.

8 Rings Tested

Z/214,414,200
[8,9,25,49,11,13,17] 7ch
The ring. Pareto-distributed, chain-constrained. The standard.
Z/12,612,600
[8,9,25,49,11,13] 6ch
Same ring without the 7th channel. 6 channels.
Z/970,200
[8,9,25,49,11] 5ch
5 prime-power channels.
Z/210
[2,3,5,7] 4ch
Squarefree ring. 4 small channels.
RAND7
[8,9,23,47,11,13,19] 7ch
Random coprimes. Same sizes, no chain.
THIN7
[2,3,5,7,11,13,17] 7ch
Same primes, no exponents. Squarefree.
BALANCED
[11,13,17,19,23,29,31] 7ch
All similar sizes (~20). No structure.
FAT
[16,27,25,49,11,13,17] 7ch
Over-fattened: 2^4, 3^3 instead of 2^3, 3^2.

Results: ch_score %

Per-channel hit percentage (ch_score / max). Higher = better per-channel learning. 200 gen evolution, seed 42/100/200.

Z/210 4ch
90%
BEST per-channel. Fewest channels = easiest search per channel.
THIN7 7ch
80%
Squarefree. Small channels (2-17) easy to search.
Z/970,200 5ch
77%
5 prime-power channels. Good balance of count and searchability.
RAND7 7ch
76%
Random coprimes. Matches the ring. Structure doesn't help ch_score.
Z/214M 7ch
74%
The ring. Middle of pack on ch_score.
Z/12.6M 6ch
68%
6-channel ring. Below 5ch despite fewer channels.
FAT 7ch
67%
Over-fattened. Large channels (16,27) hard to search.
BALANCED 7ch
66%
WORST 7ch. All channels large (11-31). Hardest search.

Results: Exact Match

All channels correct simultaneously. Harder than ch_score -- requires coherence across channels. Out of 160 training examples.

Z/210
112/160 (70%)
BEST exact. Fewer channels = easier to get all right.
Z/214M
98/160 (61%)
The ring. SECOND best. Pareto exponents help coherence.
Z/970,200
93/160 (58%)
5-channel prime-power. Good exact match.
BALANCED
91/160 (57%)
Despite worst ch_score, decent exact. Uniform sizes help coherence.
RAND7
77/160 (48%)
Ring beats random by +27% on exact match.
THIN7
73/160 (46%)
Squarefree. Good ch_score but worse exact than prime-power version.
FAT
58/160 (36%)
Over-fattened. WORST among 7ch rings. Too-large channels hurt.
Z/12.6M
46/160 (29%)
WORST overall. 6ch stochastic anomaly (attn=70, highest).

Key Comparisons

Ring vs Random
ch: 74% vs 76%. Exact: 98 vs 77.
Chain constraints give NO ch_score advantage. But +27% exact match from coherence.
Prime-power vs Squarefree
ch: 74% vs 80%. Exact: 98 vs 73.
Raising exponents HURTS ch_score (larger search). HELPS exact (better reconstruction).
Pareto vs Balanced
ch: 74% vs 66%. Exact: 98 vs 91.
Pareto distribution IS better. Varied channel sizes give both ch and exact advantage.
Pareto vs Over-fat
ch: 74% vs 67%. Exact: 98 vs 58.
Excessive exponents HURT. {3,2,2,2,1,1,1} validated over {4,3,2,2,1,1,1}.
Channel count
ch: 90/77/68/74 (4/5/6/7ch)
Fewer channels = higher ch%. More channels = harder coordination.

Conclusions

CRT as computation substrate works for ALL rings. The technique is universal. The ring's specific contribution is the Pareto exponent distribution: it helps exact reconstruction (+27% over random) despite slightly harder per-channel search (-2% ch_score). Chain constraints provide no measurable ch_score advantage.

Fewer channels is better for per-channel learning (4ch 90% vs 7ch 74%). Excessive exponents hurt (FAT 67% vs ring 74%). The exponents {3,2,2,2,1,1,1} beat both uniform (BALANCED 66%) and over-fat (FAT 67%). The ring's channel distribution is the right one for this task.

Open question: is there a ring that beats Z/214,414,200 on BOTH ch_score AND exact match? Z/210 (4ch) wins ch_score but has fewer channels. A 4-channel prime-power ring [8,9,25,49] might combine Z/210's ch_score with the 7-channel ring's exact coherence.

Source code · Public domain (CC0)

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