QUESTION: The N=7 hierarchy collapse (TR range = 0.297) has two competing explanations:
(A) DILUTION: N=7 round-robin gives each agent only ~7 rounds (49/7). At N=5, each agent gets ~10 rounds (48/5). Insufficient per-agent data compresses trophic differences. If we give N=7 agents 14 rounds each (matching N=5 density), hierarchy should recover to ~0.50.
(B) GENUINE REGIME CHANGE: N=7 creates a "vocabulary soup" where too many speakers erode unique vocabulary fractions. More rounds won't help because the mechanism is agent COUNT, not per-agent exposure. TR stays ~0.30 regardless of rounds.
Prior evidence:
- exp-hept: N=7, 49 rounds (7 rds/agent), TR = 0.297
- exp-may-sigma: N=7, 28 rounds (4 rds/agent), TR = 0.418 (single run!)
- N=5 (exp-pent): 48 rounds (9.6 rds/agent), TR = 0.528
NOTE: exp-may-sigma's TR=0.418 at FEWER rounds/agent (4) contradicts simple dilution theory. But N=1 run, unreplicated.
This experiment: N=7, 98 rounds (14 rounds/agent). If dilution is the cause, 14 rds/agent should exceed N=5's 9.6 rds/agent → TR ≥ 0.50.