SOURCE FACT
What a source is, how it is identified, its verification key, root control and status.
Evidence ceiling E3Proof boundary
FEDERATED AUTHORITY
Finality discovers and represents authority. It does not manufacture authority.
A Reality Graph source becomes authoritative only when signed source facts and authority claims are explicitly accepted by a trusted governing authority for the relevant context. A Finality-authored discovery record alone cannot create authority.
Three signed layers
Authority is a governance relation, not a database flag.
Partitions can be operated by institutions, jurisdictions, source registries or independent operators while preserving a common graph contract.
AUTHORITY CLAIM
A claim that a source is authoritative for a predicate in a context.
GOVERNING ACCEPTANCE
The institution/jurisdiction/contract owner explicitly accepts or rejects that claim.
REVOCATION
A trusted partition can revoke or supersede an earlier accepted claim.
Snapshot
Accepted partition hashes create a reproducible graph snapshot.
Private partition
Institutions can keep internal graph detail private while exposing signed accepted assertions required for Finality.