Space-Time Map Specification

A specification defining a rigorous notation for modelling 4D spatiotemporal entities and their evolving composition.

Visual Language Preview

Below is a conceptual example of a conformant Space-Time Map tracking an entity's mereological composition, fusion, and boundary state changes over a temporal axis:

This repository contributes a formal visual language for space-time maps and a companion algorithmic layout specification for producing conformant diagrams from 4D ontology data.

Figure 1: Visual representation of a spacetime map showing overlapping spatiotemporal extents against continuous time.

Why This Matters

Most timeline and process notations do not encode persistent identity and parthood over time in a formally constrained way.

This work addresses that gap by defining:

• A normative visual grammar for 4D perdurantist data
• Conformance classes for renderers and layout engines
• Explicit handling of boundary epistemics
• Rules for installations, co-location, fusion outlines, and transition (mereological change) behaviour
• A staged algorithm model with testable intermediate structures

Main Novel Contribution

The primary contribution is the main specification:

• docs/spacetime-map-specification.md

It establishes:

• Normative rendering rules using RFC 2119 language
• Ontology-grounded model semantics (fully mapped to the Information Exchange Standard (IES) ontology)
• Construction constraints and inference rules
• Canonical defaults and configurable rendering/layout settings
• Canonical data patterns for implementation alignment

Companion Documents

• docs/layout-algorithm-specification.md
  • Defines a nine-stage computational pipeline from ontology data to diagram plan
  • Specifies testable boundary data structures between stages
• docs/layout-algorithm-worked-examples.md
  • End-to-end stage traces for concrete fixtures

Conformance Model

The specification defines two conformance classes:

• Rendering conformance
  • Produces visual output satisfying all MUST and MUST NOT rendering clauses
• Layout conformance
  • Additionally satisfies normative layout settings, canonical defaults, and algorithm-related obligations

Intended Audience

• Ontology engineers and 4D modellers
• Teams implementing interoperable knowledge graph visualisation pipelines
• Visualisation and diagramming tool developers
• Researchers in temporal/mereological representation

Current Status

• Specification Only: This repository contains the formal text, layout rules, and data schemas. It does not include an executable rendering engine.
• Main specification includes normative sections, appendices, and canonical patterns
• Companion algorithm spec and worked examples are present
• Example fixture data is included in docs/example-data

Recommended Reading Order

1. docs/spacetime-map-specification.md
2. docs/layout-algorithm-specification.md
3. docs/layout-algorithm-worked-examples.md

Citation

If you build on this work, cite this repository and the specification version used.

Suggested minimum citation metadata:

• Project: Space-Time Map Specification
• Main spec version: 0.3.0
• Repository URL: this repository URL
• Access date and commit hash

Contributing

As this specification is currently draft, we actively welcome critiques on all parts of the specification, especially edge cases that would not be covered.

To report flaws, gaps in the rules, or propose algorithmic optimizations to the pipeline please open an Issue.

License

See LICENSE for licensing terms.