Epistemic Channel Separation: An Underrecognized Design Dimension in Multi-Agent Communication

This preprint investigates epistemic channel separation as an underrecognized design dimension in multi-agent communication. Current multi-agent communication protocols primarily optimize content transmission while leaving epistemic state implicit. This work introduces the distinction between content channels and epistemic channels, characterizes Authority Illusion as a format-induced epistemic misattribution phenomenon, and evaluates the Epistemic Communication Protocol (ECP) as a proof-of-concept operationalization. Through four experiments over 1,000 agent chains, the study provides evidence that epistemic information requires an independent representational channel rather than natural-language self-report or structural formatting alone. This manuscript is released as a preprint for open research discussion.