A theory of structural model validity in simulation.

During the last decennia, the practice of simulation has become increasingly popular among many system analysts, model builders and general scientists for the purpose of studying complex systems that surpass the operability of analytical solution techniques. As a consequence of the pragmatic orientation of simulation, a vital stage for a successful application is the issue of validating a constructed simulation model. Employing the model as an effective instrument for assessing the benefit of structural changes or for predicting future observations makes validation an essential part of any productive simulation study. The diversity of the employment field of simulation however brings about that there exists an irrefutable level of ambiguity concerning the principal subject of this validation process. Further, the literature has come up with a plethora of ad hoc validation techniques that have mostly been inherited from standard statistical analysis. It lies within the aim of this paper to reflect on the issue of validation in simulation and to present the reader with a topological parallelism of the classical philosophical polarity of objectivism versus relativism. First, we will position validation in relation to verification and accreditation and elaborate on the prime actors in validation, i.e. a conceptual model, a formal model and behaviour. Next, we will formally derive a topological interpretation of structural validation for both objectivists and relativists. As will be seen, recent advances in the domain of fuzzy topology allow for a valuable metaphor of a relativistic attitude towards modelling and structural validation. Finally, we will discuss several general types of modelling errors that may occur and examine their repercussion on the natural topological spaces of objectivists and relativists. We end this paper with a formal, topological oriented definition of structural model validity for both objectivists and relativists. The paper is concluded with summarising the most important findings and giving a direction for future research.Model; Simulation; Theory; Scientists; Processes; Statistical analysis;

Geospatial Narratives and their Spatio-Temporal Dynamics: Commonsense Reasoning for High-level Analyses in Geographic Information Systems

The modelling, analysis, and visualisation of dynamic geospatial phenomena has been identified as a key developmental challenge for next-generation Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this context, the envisaged paradigmatic extensions to contemporary foundational GIS technology raises fundamental questions concerning the ontological, formal representational, and (analytical) computational methods that would underlie their spatial information theoretic underpinnings. We present the conceptual overview and architecture for the development of high-level semantic and qualitative analytical capabilities for dynamic geospatial domains. Building on formal methods in the areas of commonsense reasoning, qualitative reasoning, spatial and temporal representation and reasoning, reasoning about actions and change, and computational models of narrative, we identify concrete theoretical and practical challenges that accrue in the context of formal reasoning about `space, events, actions, and change'. With this as a basis, and within the backdrop of an illustrated scenario involving the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban narratives, we address specific problems and solutions techniques chiefly involving `qualitative abstraction', `data integration and spatial consistency', and `practical geospatial abduction'. From a broad topical viewpoint, we propose that next-generation dynamic GIS technology demands a transdisciplinary scientific perspective that brings together Geography, Artificial Intelligence, and Cognitive Science. Keywords: artificial intelligence; cognitive systems; human-computer interaction; geographic information systems; spatio-temporal dynamics; computational models of narrative; geospatial analysis; geospatial modelling; ontology; qualitative spatial modelling and reasoning; spatial assistance systemsComment: ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (ISSN 2220-9964); Special Issue on: Geospatial Monitoring and Modelling of Environmental Change}. IJGI. Editor: Duccio Rocchini. (pre-print of article in press

A Categorical View on Algebraic Lattices in Formal Concept Analysis

Formal concept analysis has grown from a new branch of the mathematical field of lattice theory to a widely recognized tool in Computer Science and elsewhere. In order to fully benefit from this theory, we believe that it can be enriched with notions such as approximation by computation or representability. The latter are commonly studied in denotational semantics and domain theory and captured most prominently by the notion of algebraicity, e.g. of lattices. In this paper, we explore the notion of algebraicity in formal concept analysis from a category-theoretical perspective. To this end, we build on the the notion of approximable concept with a suitable category and show that the latter is equivalent to the category of algebraic lattices. At the same time, the paper provides a relatively comprehensive account of the representation theory of algebraic lattices in the framework of Stone duality, relating well-known structures such as Scott information systems with further formalisms from logic, topology, domains and lattice theory.Comment: 36 page

Hypercommutative operad as a homotopy quotient of BV

We give an explicit formula for a quasi-isomorphism between the operads Hycomm (the homology of the moduli space of stable genus 0 curves) and BV/$\Delta$ (the homotopy quotient of Batalin-Vilkovisky operad by the BV-operator). In other words we derive an equivalence of Hycomm-algebras and BV-algebras enhanced with a homotopy that trivializes the BV-operator. These formulas are given in terms of the Givental graphs, and are proved in two different ways. One proof uses the Givental group action, and the other proof goes through a chain of explicit formulas on resolutions of Hycomm and BV. The second approach gives, in particular, a homological explanation of the Givental group action on Hycomm-algebras.Comment: minor corrections added, to appear in Comm.Math.Phy

Algorithmic information and incompressibility of families of multidimensional networks

This article presents a theoretical investigation of string-based generalized representations of families of finite networks in a multidimensional space. First, we study the recursive labeling of networks with (finite) arbitrary node dimensions (or aspects), such as time instants or layers. In particular, we study these networks that are formalized in the form of multiaspect graphs. We show that, unlike classical graphs, the algorithmic information of a multidimensional network is not in general dominated by the algorithmic information of the binary sequence that determines the presence or absence of edges. This universal algorithmic approach sets limitations and conditions for irreducible information content analysis in comparing networks with a large number of dimensions, such as multilayer networks. Nevertheless, we show that there are particular cases of infinite nesting families of finite multidimensional networks with a unified recursive labeling such that each member of these families is incompressible. From these results, we study network topological properties and equivalences in irreducible information content of multidimensional networks in comparison to their isomorphic classical graph.Comment: Extended preprint version of the pape

Dual Logic Concepts based on Mathematical Morphology in Stratified Institutions: Applications to Spatial Reasoning

Several logical operators are defined as dual pairs, in different types of logics. Such dual pairs of operators also occur in other algebraic theories, such as mathematical morphology. Based on this observation, this paper proposes to define, at the abstract level of institutions, a pair of abstract dual and logical operators as morphological erosion and dilation. Standard quantifiers and modalities are then derived from these two abstract logical operators. These operators are studied both on sets of states and sets of models. To cope with the lack of explicit set of states in institutions, the proposed abstract logical dual operators are defined in an extension of institutions, the stratified institutions, which take into account the notion of open sentences, the satisfaction of which is parametrized by sets of states. A hint on the potential interest of the proposed framework for spatial reasoning is also provided.Comment: 36 page