• Computer Science > Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing [Submitted on 24 Feb 2026] Title:Circumventing the CAP Theorem with Open Atomic Ethernet View PDF HTML (experimental)Abstract:The CAP theorem is routinely treated as a systems law: under network partition, a replicated service must sacrifice either consistency or availability. • The theorem is correct within its standard asynchronous network model, but operational practice depends on where partition-like phenomena become observable and on how lower layers discard or preserve semantic information about message fate. • This paper argues that Open Atomic Ethernet (OAE) shifts the engineering regime in which CAP tradeoffs become application-visible by (i) replacing fire-and-forget link semantics with bounded-time bilateral reconciliation of endpoint state – the property we call bisynchrony – and (ii) avoiding Clos funnel points via an octavalent mesh in which each node can act as the root of a locally repaired spanning tree. • The result is not the elimination of hard graph cuts, but a drastic reduction in the frequency and duration of application-visible “soft partitions” by detecting and healing dominant fabric faults within hundreds of nanoseconds. • We connect this view to Brewer’s original CAP framing, the formalization by Gilbert and Lynch, the CAL theorem of Lee et al., which replaces binary partition tolerance with a quantitative measure of apparent latency, and Abadi’s PACELC extension. • References & Citations expo

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  • Computer Science > Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing [Submitted on 24 Feb 2026] Title:Circumventing the CAP Theorem with Open Atomic Ethernet View PDF HTML (experimental)Abstract:The CAP theorem is routinely treated as a systems law: under network partition, a replicated service must sacrifice either consistency or availability. The theorem is correct within its standard asynchronous network model, but operational practice depends on where partition-like phenomena become observable and on how lower layers discard or preserve semantic information about message fate. This paper argues

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