Mean bounds, structural reductions, and exhaustive verification for tree independence polynomial unimodality

This record contains the current manuscript for the project “Erdos Problem #993: Tree Independence Polynomial Unimodality.” The paper proves that the mean independent-set size satisfies mu(T) < n/3 for every tree with d_leaf <= 1, develops structural reductions that constrain any counterexample, and reports exhaustive verification of unimodality for all 8,691,747,673 trees on n <= 29 vertices. It also includes asymptotic results for leaf attachment and a computer-assisted extremal analysis for spider families. This version is the minor-revision polish snapshot dated 2026-03-18. It tightens several arguments, clarifies the conditional framework and computational pipeline, and improves the presentation of formalization and artifact status. The conjecture that every tree independence polynomial is unimodal remains open.