chore(release): release v0.4.4

- Bump crate, utility package, citation, and documentation metadata
- Publish the v0.4.4 changelog and release performance comparison
- Refresh reproducible LU-solve benchmarks and archived performance reports
- Include exact-conversion and LDLT performance improvements
- Harden version-sync checks and generated Markdown formatting

Author: acgetchell

AGENTS.md

@@ -124,6 +124,11 @@ invariant over the convenient edit.
   from the same representative benchmark command, inputs, features, and
   environment. Use `bench-vs-linalg` (vs nalgebra / faer) or `bench-exact`
   (exact arithmetic), as appropriate.
+- For nanosecond-scale fixed-size kernels, prefer Criterion `bencher.iter` so
+  the complete public operation is measured symmetrically across implementations.
+  Use `iter_batched` only when setup is explicitly outside the estimand, the
+  exclusion is applied comparably to every implementation, and a same-binary
+  comparison shows that batching does not materially distort the result.
 - Preserve benchmark provenance and distinguish descriptive point-estimate
   ratios from statistically supported performance claims. Marginal Criterion
   interval separation is not a paired confidence interval for the change.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,108 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.4.4] - 2026-07-12
+
+### ⚠️ Breaking Changes
+
+- Make numerical invariants and errors explicit
+- Require Rust 1.97.0
+
+### Added
+
+- [**breaking**] Make numerical invariants and errors explicit
+  [`668daed`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/668daed6f5d83a03fc95a7872a0a302d097e3fc4)
+
+  - add structured error reasons, locations, origins, and factorization context
+  - make determinant, exact-conversion, LU, and LDLT paths range-safe and mathematically explicit
+  - validate benchmark inputs independently and require reproducible, provenance-backed performance evidence
+  - centralize tool versions, adopt nextest profiles, and replace Codacy with repository-owned checks and SARIF reporting
+
+### Changed
+
+- Consolidate setup abort handling [`b9e453e`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/b9e453e540da3c63b0a14ca94b4bcfbc9c8ff6bd)
+
+  - Share `OrAbort` across exact and comparison benchmarks while preserving contextual panic behavior.
+  - Centralize Clippy policy in Cargo.toml for consistent local and CI checks.
+  - Keep `unreachable_pub` enforced while allowing intentional crate-visible helpers.
+  - Enable CodeRabbit's request-changes review workflow.
+
+### Dependencies
+
+- Bump python-multipart in the uv group across 1 directory [`6bb4fb7`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/6bb4fb7ce48e49d4d2a5bfe4ff5d55b09e6300e2)
+- Bump zizmorcore/zizmor-action from 0.5.6 to 0.5.7 [`4a999a6`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/4a999a664211126e581da47713f6d2426d6db698)
+- Bump github/codeql-action/upload-sarif [`85c0a7b`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/85c0a7bd6a1b3d3e0e00f4e82c6d544c2ca0f22b)
+- Bump actions/checkout from 6.0.2 to 7.0.0 [`0f0f956`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/0f0f956c64ddbc5700f3c2f96b90242703e0a410)
+- Bump astral-sh/setup-uv from 8.1.0 to 8.2.0 [`259acaa`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/259acaa06cc2d6b50f5c024c60cbdf9fe3172f7f)
+- Bump codecov/codecov-action from 6.0.1 to 7.0.0 [`035807c`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/035807c9312ce1ff818dcab9dd986980dfcb37d8)
+- Bump vulnerable Python tooling dependencies [`4990260`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/49902604db70de7c6831f559aee967bf3c376bc1)
+
+### Documentation
+
+- Add mathematical basis and clarify numerical guarantees [`31b7b1e`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/31b7b1e7c547fc69edbb601e68b2f29e83d5cd24)
+
+  - define the binary64, factorization, determinant-filter, exact-arithmetic, tolerance, and error contracts
+  - align README, API documentation, examples, and LDLT diagnostics with guarantees over stored values
+  - audit academic references and extend Criterion coverage for determinant error-bound paths
+- Clarify determinant and LDLT failure contracts [`e257343`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/e2573434c541a8115750b3a965882f7b484b6be0)
+  - State the determinant sign condition without ambiguous Markdown delimiters.
+  - Distinguish singular zero pivots from coupled zero-pivot LDLT rejections.
+  - Align citation and contributor guidance with the positive-definite domain.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Make v0.4.3 comparisons correctness-aware [`4ac5af9`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/4ac5af9ce104c5126bfd6217414977cca269b62e)
+
+  - Adapt the shared benchmark harness across v0.4.3 API differences without changing measured operations
+  - Exclude invalid balanced-range baselines while requiring current samples and reporting unavailable comparisons
+  - Preserve benchmark provenance, suite-specific fallback commands, and publication rollback guarantees
+  - Harden Windows Git input, changelog links, and version-reference parsing across platforms
+- Harden exact arithmetic and benchmark publication [`db2fad5`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/db2fad50087c773f7ae37f181f720da2a9ff4a23)
+  - add `DeterminantWithErrorBound` for paired determinant estimates and certified bounds
+  - scale exact systems independently and round exact values directly to IEEE-754
+  - fail benchmark publication closed on invalid samples or mismatched provenance
+  - make release and changelog tooling transactional, path-safe, and Windows-portable
+  - align benchmark CI with pinned local tools and least-privilege publishing
+
+### Maintenance
+
+- Update setuptools requirement in the dependencies group [`6a6c339`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/6a6c339e7fbec1c9ca4226005794e8ab87f0c2d6)
+
+  Updates the requirements on [setuptools](https://github.com/pypa/setuptools) to permit the latest version.
+
+  Updates `setuptools` to 83.0.0
+
+  - [Release notes](https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/releases)
+  - [Changelog](https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/blob/main/NEWS.rst)
+  - [Commits](https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/compare/v65.0.0...v83.0.0)
+- Avoid duplicate review checks [`5e15d92`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/5e15d9250455fd1467e47a735412f65449f30b56)
+  - Use the legacy required status while preserving automatic approvals.
+  - Add explicit dense D3 determinant coverage and document the D4 error bound.
+- [**breaking**] Require Rust 1.97.0 [`4033f1f`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/4033f1f39e411ed066fec808805371979995964b)
+  - Align Cargo, the pinned toolchain, Clippy, dependency-audit triggers, and maintainer guidance with the new baseline.
+  - Audit Rust 1.97 integer bit helpers against exact-arithmetic hot paths and retain existing operations where alternatives do not preserve performance.
+  - Correct v0.4.3 citation metadata and document exact decomposition and solve scaling accurately.
+
+### Performance
+
+- Restore det_direct throughput for D=2..4 [`f6d6885`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/f6d68855a314fc4802c559080d9faca85db81bb9)
+
+  - Reintroduce branch-free dense expansions for D=2 and D=3.
+  - Share D=4 minors while retaining guarded sparse evaluation.
+  - Preserve non-finite handling for mathematically inactive terms.
+- Restore small-matrix det_sign_exact throughput [`b8bfa9f`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/b8bfa9fa0c908ea034d294ceb123c8191eff3395)
+  - Reuse proof-bearing shared minors for D4 determinant and permanent evaluation.
+  - Restore the dense D3 filter while preserving sparse, overflow, and underflow fallbacks.
+  - Require headline benchmarks to exercise the intended filter and document historical harness overhead.
+- Improve inf_norm throughput [`dc28f98`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/dc28f9828a1e90b5604e4a55284175e50f84d7e2)
+  - Check row-sum finiteness once per completed row on the success path.
+  - Replay only overflowing rows to preserve the first failing matrix coordinate.
+  - Preserve left-to-right accumulation and const evaluation across dimensions.
+- Improve dot and norm2_sq throughput [`ece54d7`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/ece54d7b2a73111c2bc378a417189e2951a39cbc)
+  - Check accumulator finiteness once after the success-path reduction.
+  - Replay only non-finite reductions to preserve the first failing step.
+  - Preserve left-to-right fused accumulation and const evaluation.
+
 ## [0.4.3] - 2026-06-09
 
 ### ⚠️ Breaking Changes
@@ -93,6 +195,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   - Align the Python utility package metadata and lockfile with the crate release.
   - Add citation metadata validation to the release checklist and config lint flow.
   - Include CITATION.cff in YAML/CFF formatting checks.
+- Make release documentation links portable [`dd4ad19`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/commit/dd4ad192a42e28d9cc72b336b40802fe65cea4f0)
 
 ### Fixed
 
@@ -672,6 +775,7 @@ Older releases are archived by minor series:
 - [0.2.x](docs/archive/changelog/0.2.md)
 - [0.1.x](docs/archive/changelog/0.1.md)
 
+[0.4.4]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/compare/v0.4.3...v0.4.4
 [0.4.3]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/compare/v0.4.2...v0.4.3
 [0.4.2]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/compare/v0.4.1...v0.4.2
 [0.4.1]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/compare/v0.4.0...v0.4.1

CITATION.cff

@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ cff-version: 1.2.0
 message: "If you use this software, please cite it as below."
 type: software
 title: "la-stack: Fast, stack-allocated linear algebra for fixed dimensions in Rust"
-version: 0.4.3
-date-released: 2026-06-09
+version: 0.4.4
+date-released: 2026-07-12
 url: "https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack"
 repository-code: "https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack"
 identifiers:

Cargo.lock

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "la-stack"
-version = "0.4.3"
+version = "0.4.4"
 edition = "2024"
 rust-version = "1.97.0"
 license = "BSD-3-Clause"

Cargo.toml

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 [![DOI](https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.18158926.svg)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18158926)
 [![Crates.io](https://badgen.net/crates/v/la-stack)](https://crates.io/crates/la-stack)
 [![Downloads](https://badgen.net/crates/d/la-stack)](https://crates.io/crates/la-stack)
-[![License](https://badgen.net/github/license/acgetchell/la-stack)](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/LICENSE)
+[![License](https://badgen.net/github/license/acgetchell/la-stack)](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/LICENSE)
 [![Docs.rs](https://docs.rs/la-stack/badge.svg)](https://docs.rs/la-stack)
 [![CI](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
 [![rust-clippy analyze][clippy-badge]][clippy-workflow]
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ for the algorithms, validity boundaries, and supporting references.
   exact values allocate as required
 - ✅ `unsafe` forbidden
 
-See [CHANGELOG.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/CHANGELOG.md)
+See [CHANGELOG.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/CHANGELOG.md)
 for release history and
-[docs/roadmap.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/docs/roadmap.md)
+[docs/roadmap.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/docs/roadmap.md)
 for current release planning.
 
 ## 🚫 Anti-goals
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ Add this to your `Cargo.toml`:
 
 ```toml
 [dependencies]
-la-stack = "0.4.3"
+la-stack = "0.4.4"
 ```
 
 ### Feature flags
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ rationals (this pulls in `num-bigint`, `num-rational`, and `num-traits` for
 
 ```toml
 [dependencies]
-la-stack = { version = "0.4.3", features = ["exact"] }
+la-stack = { version = "0.4.4", features = ["exact"] }
 ```
 
 These routines are exact with respect to the finite binary64 values stored in
@@ -501,8 +501,8 @@ breaking callers.
 ![LU solve (factor + solve): median time vs dimension][lu-solve-benchmark]
 
 Raw data:
-[docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.csv](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.csv)
-Historical provenance status:
+[docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.csv](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.csv)
+Measurement provenance:
 [docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.provenance.json][benchmark-provenance]
 
 Representative benchmark: `lu_solve` factors the matrix and solves one
@@ -515,34 +515,30 @@ across operations.
 Timings count only when the implementation preserves the documented
 correctness guarantees and invariants. Performance claims require comparable
 before-and-after evidence using the same inputs, configuration, and environment.
-This v0.4.3 snapshot predates deterministic measurement-provenance capture, so
-its CPU, operating system, Rust toolchain, exact measured source state,
-dependency lock digest, and Criterion configuration are unavailable. The CSV
-preserves confidence bounds, but without the missing configuration and
-environment they do not make the result reproducible across environments. Treat
-it as a historical snapshot, not reproducible cross-environment evidence. Future
-`just plot-vs-linalg-readme` publications run the benchmark-input correctness
-gate, require complete canonical-dimension coverage, and write deterministic
-JSON provenance beside the CSV and SVG.
+This snapshot records the measured source state, CPU, operating system, Rust
+toolchain, dependency lock and harness digests, Criterion command, and
+correctness-gate result in the adjacent JSON sidecar. The publication workflow
+requires complete canonical-dimension coverage and regenerates the CSV, SVG,
+README table, and provenance together.
 
 For the full per-kernel comparison methodology, input construction, and
 release-comparison workflow details, see
-[docs/BENCHMARKING.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/docs/BENCHMARKING.md).
+[docs/BENCHMARKING.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/docs/BENCHMARKING.md).
 For the current release-to-release performance snapshot, see
-[docs/PERFORMANCE.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/docs/PERFORMANCE.md).
+[docs/PERFORMANCE.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/docs/PERFORMANCE.md).
 
 <!-- BENCH_TABLE:lu_solve:median:new:BEGIN -->
 
-| D | la-stack median (ns) | nalgebra median (ns) | faer median (ns) | la-stack vs nalgebra | la-stack vs faer |
+| D | la-stack median (ns) | nalgebra median (ns) | faer median (ns) | reduction vs nalgebra (point est.) | reduction vs faer (point est.) |
 |---:|--------------------:|--------------------:|----------------:|---------------------:|----------------:|
-| 2 | 2.044 | 4.542 | 143.958 | +55.0% | +98.6% |
-| 3 | 9.596 | 23.599 | 185.466 | +59.3% | +94.8% |
-| 4 | 23.338 | 50.717 | 210.976 | +54.0% | +88.9% |
-| 5 | 45.368 | 69.065 | 277.564 | +34.3% | +83.7% |
-| 8 | 127.861 | 164.412 | 364.864 | +22.2% | +65.0% |
-| 16 | 631.997 | 663.822 | 882.674 | +4.8% | +28.4% |
-| 32 | 2,745.604 | 2,424.540 | 2,867.431 | -13.2% | +4.2% |
-| 64 | 17,543.034 | 14,747.731 | 12,266.271 | -19.0% | -43.0% |
+| 2 | 2.051 | 4.609 | 149.537 | +55.5% | +98.6% |
+| 3 | 10.032 | 23.094 | 185.935 | +56.6% | +94.6% |
+| 4 | 21.806 | 53.542 | 218.921 | +59.3% | +90.0% |
+| 5 | 43.787 | 70.437 | 282.262 | +37.8% | +84.5% |
+| 8 | 128.337 | 167.505 | 414.791 | +23.4% | +69.1% |
+| 16 | 672.680 | 581.273 | 875.411 | -15.7% | +23.2% |
+| 32 | 2,873.720 | 2,470.435 | 2,861.209 | -16.3% | -0.4% |
+| 64 | 18,165.369 | 15,021.737 | 12,225.703 | -20.9% | -48.6% |
 
 <!-- BENCH_TABLE:lu_solve:median:new:END -->
 
@@ -597,38 +593,38 @@ CI runs `just ci` on Ubuntu, macOS, and Windows to keep platform coverage
 aligned with the local comprehensive validation path.
 
 For coverage commands and report locations, see
-[`docs/COVERAGE.md`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/docs/COVERAGE.md).
+[`docs/COVERAGE.md`](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/docs/COVERAGE.md).
 For the full contributor workflow, see
-[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/CONTRIBUTING.md).
 
 ## 📝 Citation
 
 If you use this library in academic work, please cite it using
-[CITATION.cff](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/CITATION.cff)
+[CITATION.cff](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/CITATION.cff)
 (or GitHub's "Cite this repository" feature). Tagged releases are archived on
 Zenodo under the
 [all-versions concept DOI](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18158926).
 
 ## 📚 References
 
 For canonical references to the algorithms used by this crate, see
-[REFERENCES.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/REFERENCES.md).
+[REFERENCES.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/REFERENCES.md).
 
 ## 🤖 AI Agents
 
 AI coding assistants should read
-[AGENTS.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/AGENTS.md)
+[AGENTS.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/AGENTS.md)
 before proposing or applying changes. See
-[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/CONTRIBUTING.md)
 for the repository's AI-assisted development note.
 
 ## 📄 License
 
-BSD 3-Clause License. See [LICENSE](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.3/LICENSE).
+BSD 3-Clause License. See [LICENSE](https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/LICENSE).
 
 [audit-badge]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/actions/workflows/audit.yml/badge.svg
 [audit-workflow]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/actions/workflows/audit.yml
-[benchmark-provenance]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/668daed6/docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.provenance.json
+[benchmark-provenance]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/blob/v0.4.4/docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.provenance.json
 [clippy-badge]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/actions/workflows/rust-clippy.yml/badge.svg
 [clippy-workflow]: https://github.com/acgetchell/la-stack/actions/workflows/rust-clippy.yml
-[lu-solve-benchmark]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/acgetchell/la-stack/v0.4.3/docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.svg
+[lu-solve-benchmark]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/acgetchell/la-stack/v0.4.4/docs/assets/bench/vs_linalg_lu_solve_median.svg