{"id":"sibling-field-is-structural-only","text":"Leaf pages carry a `next_sibling` field in their serialized format (`NO_SIBLING = 0xFFFFFFFF` sentinel), but no tree operation uses sibling pointers for traversal or merging — it is scaffolding, not a live data structure. Note: may refine existing `btree-leaf-sibling-chain`.","truth_value":"IN","source":"entries/2026/05/28/topic-concurrent-btree-deletion.md","source_url":"","source_hash":"","justifications":[],"dependents":[],"metadata":{},"explanation":{"steps":[{"node":"sibling-field-is-structural-only","truth_value":"IN","reason":"premise"}]}}