Theoretical foundations of general system modeling.

Mission

To carry the theoretical foundations of systems analysis from published research into the practice of Information Systems development.

This mission is pursued by publishing original research on the foundations of system modeling and their applications; by teaching and lecturing on these foundations; and by grounding applied consulting work in a theoretically justified basis rather than convention alone.

The Triune Continuum Paradigm

A paradigm for general system modeling, defined in a 2002 EPFL doctoral thesis and built on three principles drawn from formal logic and philosophy.

Each principle answers a distinct requirement of a rigorous modeling framework: unambiguous semantics, internally consistent structure, and a justified minimal set of foundational concepts.

Applied to formalize the conceptual framework of RM-ODP (the ISO/ITU-T standard for system modeling) and to construct an alternative, internally consistent metamodel for UML. Full technical detail is in the doctoral dissertation and the papers listed below.

The Theory of Triune Continuum

The paradigm's namesake theory: an account of the continuums necessary and sufficient to cover the scope of general system modeling.

Defined in the same 2002 EPFL doctoral thesis, the theory of Triune Continuum introduces three continuums that together represent the scope of general system modeling. The spatiotemporal continuum is where subjective space-time metrics are defined; the constitution continuum is where subjective constitutional metrics are defined — for instance, objects described in relation to their environments. The two are introduced as strict complements: everything in scope that is not space-time is constitution, and everything that is not constitution is space-time.

From the relation between these two necessarily emerges a third: the information continuum, which holds information about how the first two relate — for example, information about objects and their environments as related to spatiotemporal intervals or points in space-time.

The three are triune in the strict sense: none exists without the other two. The instant a spatiotemporal continuum is introduced, everything outside it forms the constitution continuum, and information about their mutual relation emerges as the third. This gives diverse modeling frameworks — from jurisprudence and healthcare to software engineering — a way to justify a minimal set of concepts that is both necessary and sufficient for their representation scope.

The Triune Continuum Emblem

The logotype is not decorative — its every element encodes the theory it represents.

The three smaller circles positioned within the larger one stand for the three continuums. The black and white circles represent the spatiotemporal and constitution continuums, introduced as complements — which is why each makes visual sense only against its opposite background: the white circle reads against black, the black circle against white. The third circle, the Taoist yin-yang symbol, stands for the information continuum: the continuum that holds information about how the first two relate.

The yin-yang is a deliberate tribute — the same idea is generalized in Taoist philosophy's principal text, the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao Tzu (604–531 BC):

The Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 42

Read against the theory: the Tao begetting one stands for a universal scope that allows for modeling at all. One begetting two stands for modeling intrinsically assuming two essences — space-time and constitution. Two begetting three stands for the information about their mutual relation that necessarily emerges from the first two. And three begetting the ten thousand things stands for the unlimited richness of that information.

That unlimited richness is also why the background is a full spectral gradient: the spectrum's unbroken continuum of nuances symbolizes the unlimited richness of information the three continuums can represent together.

Recognition

Selected milestones

Publications

Contact

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