arxiv mirror

paper/src/mirrors/arxiv/INSTRUCTIONS.md

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+The source thesis lives in paper/src/ (main.tex + chapters/ + preamble.tex + bib/references.bib).
+Your job is to produce a self-contained arxiv-ready submission in this directory.
+
+## What to produce
+
+A single compilable main.tex that reproduces the full thesis content and compiles
+cleanly with pdflatex + bibtex (no latexmk extras, no shell-escape). The output
+must pass arxiv's AutoTeX pipeline without manual intervention.
+
+## arxiv constraints to satisfy
+
+1. Flat layout: all files referenced by \input or \includegraphics must sit in
+   this directory or one level below (no ../../ relative paths). Copy or symlink
+   chapters and graphics here, then rewrite \input paths accordingly.
+
+2. Bibliography: arxiv does not run biber. Use bibtex. The preamble currently
+   loads biblatex with backend=bibtex — keep that, or switch to natbib +
+   \bibliographystyle{plainnat} if biblatex causes trouble. Either way, include
+   the pre-built .bbl file in the submission tarball (arxiv runs bibtex once but
+   having the .bbl avoids failures).
+
+3. Packages: remove or replace anything arxiv's TeX Live snapshot may not carry.
+   Known problematic ones in the current preamble:
+   - newtxtext/newtxmath: fine on recent TeX Live, but have a fallback to
+     \usepackage{times} + \usepackage{mathptmx} if the build fails.
+   - algorithm2e: arxiv supports it, keep it.
+   - cleveref: fine.
+   - pgfplots: fine, but pin compat=1.18.
+
+4. No \include of generated code appendix: the concat_code.sh appendix that gets
+   appended at build time is for the university submission only. Omit it here or
+   replace with a short note pointing to the repository URL.
+
+5. Hyperref: keep it but add \usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref} to suppress colored
+   boxes, which look bad in arxiv's PDF renderer.
+
+6. Title / author block: use a normal \maketitle with full author name, affiliation,
+   and date. Do not use the titlepage environment from the university version.
+
+7. Double spacing: remove \doublespacing (arxiv readers expect single spacing).
+
+8. Page headers: remove the fancyhdr block; arxiv adds its own stamp header.
+
+## Minimal diff principle
+
+Preserve all content, section order, equations, theorems, figures, and tables from
+the original thesis exactly. Only make the structural changes listed above. Do not
+paraphrase, summarize, or rewrite prose. The mirror is a format adaptation, not
+an editorial one.
+
+## How to verify
+
+From paper/src/mirrors/arxiv/ run:
+  pdflatex main.tex
+  bibtex main
+  pdflatex main.tex
+  pdflatex main.tex
+
+The build must complete without errors (warnings are acceptable). The resulting
+main.pdf should be visually equivalent to paper/build/main.pdf modulo formatting
+differences from removing double spacing and the titlepage.
+
+To build via make from the repo root:
+  make pdf.arxiv