Environmental Local Expansion in Scalar–Tensor Cosmology: A Controlled Successor to the Cosmic Gradient Energy Model

This correction-only v0.4 revision narrows the evidence claims in the controlled scalar–tensor successor to CGEM v1.3. The earlier quantitative CGEM claims remain withdrawn. No new numerical integration, physical test, replacement residual or novelty claim is reported.

Candidate A2 supplies an archived Cassini-compatible background/perturbative example. Its stored candidate-versus-GR residual compares unequal present matter fractions (approximately 0.30239 versus 0.3) and does not isolate coupling. Archived Figure 3 places A2 below GR while the final results file places it above; the figure is retained for provenance and withdrawn as support for the reported residual. No corrected matched-background or beta-off residual is supplied.

Candidate A1 remains blocked by unavailable experiment-identical local geometry. Candidate B remains supported only within its recorded local checks; its homogeneous cosmological symmetry-breaking trajectory is unresolved and a demonstrated same-point cosmological pass is not claimed. The local expansion scalar is not an observationally fitted Hubble constant, and detectability is unresolved.

The unchanged 22 August 2026 evidence archive is retained as historical evidence, not newly validated results. Previous versions remain available. This deposit includes the v0.4 DOCX, its native Microsoft Word-rendered PDF, the unchanged archive, and a SHA-256 checksum list. Any future scientific novelty claim is reserved for a separately assessed paper.