We develop a companion “junction and readout” paper to the OT gauge/duality framework, focusing on how controlled state preparation interfaces with local EFT bookkeeping via Seeley–DeWitt (SDW) heat-kernel coefficients. A non-negotiable accounting rule in d=4 (“Einstein lock”) fixes the Einstein–Hilbert prefactor at SDW order a2 and forbids any state-dependent factor multiplying RRR. Consequently, measurable state-dependence is restricted to (i) a source-only reweighting of active charges q=μeff (pk) M and/or (ii) higher-dimension operators starting at SDW order a4 (e. g. Tr (FμνFμν), R², RE under explicit adiabatic control of gradients. We show that gauge kinetic terms arise automatically at a4 through ΩμνΩ^μν, while OT “gauges” remain dual multipliers enforcing admissible currents and should not be identified with spacetime gauge fields. We then provide an inference pipeline that maps protocol-defined modulations δPop↦δpk into bounds on local slopes β⋆=−∂pklnμeff and on a4-sector Wilson-coefficient slopes ηi, ⋆. Finally, we “mirror” this pipeline against recent precision platforms (optical-clock redshift networks at mm–cm scales and internal-state universality tests in atom interferometry), clarifying which experimental null results already enforce the Einstein-lock separation and how near-term upgrades can target specific slope combinations. A companion glossary documenting terminology and structural conventions is available at DOI: 10. 5281/zenodo. 18526966. and fundations: 10. 5281/zenodo. 18644600
Gwenolé Bocquet (Tue,) studied this question.