diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index db2c98e..c1aa8ce 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -84,3 +84,6 @@ launch-video/
 
 # Reference implementations (local only)
 trop_avg_ref/
+
+# Academic papers (local only, not for distribution)
+papers/
diff --git a/papers/2508.21536v2.pdf b/papers/2508.21536v2.pdf
deleted file mode 100644
index 6d21e05..0000000
Binary files a/papers/2508.21536v2.pdf and /dev/null differ