Terminology
Identification and estimation keep Pearl and SciML names (DoIntervention, backdoor_adjustment_set, d_separated, Policy, …). Those exports are not renamed.
Temporal declarations attach to existing types (TemporalNodeSpec, LaggedEdge, TemporalDAGSpec, Policy, ObservationBridge). Whitehead glossary terms (prehension, creative advance, concrescence, superject) belong in the CDCS book Concept Reference, not in this manual.
| Term | Meaning in this package |
|---|---|
temporal_support | Temporal extent of the value a node represents (PointwiseSupport, PointSupport, IntervalSupport, FromOnsetSupport, GlobalSupport). GlobalSupport is not a stand-in for unspecified support or for time invariance of a mechanism. |
value_representation | How the value represents its referent (:state, :event, :trajectory, :interval_summary, :attribute); glossary “value type” |
referent_id / ReferentSpec | What entity or organisation the variable concerns; prefer identity_criterion and optional ontological_character on the referent |
identity_criterion | Why manifestations count as the same referent (required only when continuity matters to the argument) |
graph_kind | TimeUnrolledGraph, ProcessGraph, or SemanticGraph |
ontological_character | Optional metadata (:occasion, :enduring); declare mainly on ReferentSpec; never selects how many nodes are created |
relation_kind | Declared edge semantics (:causal_influence, :constitutive_persistence, :constitutive_dependence, :participation, …); the sole input to causal_projection |
Edge role (temporal_edge_role) | Declared non-causal relation_kind if present; otherwise a construction label (:onset_assignment, :recurrent_influence, :pointwise_influence, :causal_influence) describing which supports an edge joins. Roles are descriptive; they never change causal membership |
information_set / availability | Policy $ℋ_t$ and ObservationBridge.availability: when a quantity may be used at decision time. A Policy may take the bridge itself as its information_set, so $ℋ_t$ is derived from declared availability rather than restated |
InterventionJustification | Recorded reason (kind, targets, note) that licenses a scalar $do$ on an :interval_summary or an intervention against a :feasibility constraint; Boolean bypasses are refused |
semantic_fingerprint | Digest of declared meanings; distinct from graph_fingerprint |
| Onset | Explicit constitution time in FromOnsetSupport(t₀); must follow the mechanism (not Julia array indexing, and not an implicit package default) |
| Replacement / deployment | Successor instance / policy applicability; not a second intervention algebra |
Governing rule: declare what each variable represents and its support; construct nodes from those declarations and graph_kind; never derive ontology from construction or appearance. Node multiplicity follows temporal_support and graph_kind; referent identity follows referent_id. Identification uses causal_projection. Scalar $do$ on :interval_summary and :feasibility constraints are gated by validate_intervention_semantics.