{"id":"btree-delete-causes-monotonic-degradation","text":"B-tree deletion is structurally degrading: empty leaf pages are never freed, freed pages leave dangling parent pointers, and tree height only increases — causing monotonic space amplification and search-path lengthening over delete-heavy workloads.","truth_value":"IN","source":"","source_url":"","source_hash":"","justifications":[{"type":"SL","antecedents":["btree-delete-leaks-pages","btree-free-page-no-parent-fixup","btree-height-never-shrinks"],"outlist":[],"label":"Three independent deletion-related gaps compound into a systemic degradation pattern where the tree never reclaims structural overhead"}],"dependents":["btree-structural-integrity-silently-erodes"],"metadata":{"last_reviewed":"2026-05-30T09:01:17","review_result":"pass"},"created_at":"","updated_at":"","reviewed_at":"","verified_at":"","retracted_at":"","explanation":{"steps":[{"node":"btree-delete-causes-monotonic-degradation","truth_value":"IN","reason":"SL justification valid","antecedents":["btree-delete-leaks-pages","btree-free-page-no-parent-fixup","btree-height-never-shrinks"],"label":"Three independent deletion-related gaps compound into a systemic degradation pattern where the tree never reclaims structural overhead"},{"node":"btree-delete-leaks-pages","truth_value":"IN","reason":"premise"},{"node":"btree-free-page-no-parent-fixup","truth_value":"IN","reason":"premise"},{"node":"btree-height-never-shrinks","truth_value":"IN","reason":"premise"}]}}