dynamicsystemsarchitecture.org

Glossary

Real terms used across the NCFCA architecture — each definition sourced directly from the formal proof or a verification page, with a link to where the full context lives. Growing as real terms get defined; not a finished, closed list.

PurposeOne place to check what a term actually means and where it comes from, instead of re-deriving it from context on every page that uses it.
StatusActive Development — 15 architecture terms in this first pass; the education/fitness glossary (91 real terms) is a separate, upcoming batch
Depends on
Superseded by
EvidenceEvery definition below is quoted or precisely paraphrased from its source page, not written from memory.

Originalterm coined or precisely defined by this architecture  ·  Generalstandard term used with a specific meaning here

Anomaly Window CEP Circuit Breaker DSP Evidence Fraction Forward-Walk Governance Layer IRP Kernel Registry Lower-Triangular Causal Pipeline Non-Collapsibility Schema Floor Signal Smearing SCP Value Laundering
Anomaly Window Original

A maximal interval during which the execution profile's anomaly indicator δ(t) equals 1 — i.e., the Calibration Execution Profile exceeds a domain-specific threshold θC. Starts at onset (t₀), ends the first moment δ(t) returns to 0 (t₁).

Related: Circuit Breaker, CEP · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.5

Calibration Execution Profile (CEP) Original

One of the four NCFCA profiles. Captures execution state (C) — response latency, error rate, system-level reliability signals. Acts as the system's circuit breaker: when it exceeds threshold, it suspends writes to the Dynamic State Profile.

Related: DSP, Circuit Breaker, Non-Collapsibility · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.1

Circuit Breaker Protocol Original
The Circuit Breaker's three real states — Monitoring, Suspended, Resumed

The write-suspension rule Φ(t) = 1 − δ(t): permits writes to the Dynamic State Profile when Φ(t)=1, suspends all writes when Φ(t)=0. Equivalently specified as a three-state finite state machine: MONITORING → SUSPENDED → RESUMED.

Related: Anomaly Window, Schema Floor · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.4 / 2.4a

Dynamic State Profile (DSP) Original

One of the four NCFCA profiles. Captures genuine internal state (D) — a directed acyclic graph of concept or skill nodes with mastery states. Write access is subject to circuit-breaker suspension; this is the profile the whole architecture exists to protect.

Related: Non-Collapsibility, Schema Floor · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.1

Evidence Fraction Original

The real, computed fraction of currently-registered invariants a claim has actually been checked against — not a hand-typed confidence number. Computed directly from a Verification Registry's records; a claim's evidence fraction drops automatically when a new invariant is added, without anyone manually flagging it.

Related: Kernel Registry · Core document: Observation Kernels

Forward-Walk (Validation) General

Testing a strategy or model on data chronologically after the period it was built or tuned on — as opposed to backtesting twice on the same historical window. A strategy discovered in-sample and then run unmodified on genuinely later, unseen data.

Core document: NFL Strategy Composer

Governance Layer Original

Applies structural rules across multiple estimator outputs before producing one governed decision: confidence gating, disagreement detection between estimators, and a circuit breaker on extreme-and-uncertain results. Distinct from TestingGovernance, which governs execution-kernel fault-injection testing — two real mechanisms for two different pipelines, not competing versions of one thing.

Core document: Governance Layer

Interface Response Profile (IRP) Original

One of the four NCFCA profiles. Captures interface state (I) — friction from how a question or interaction was presented, distinct from whether the underlying content was understood. Updated from State Context Profile signals only.

Related: SCP · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.1

Kernel Registry Original

The real, current registry of every kernel in the lab — 15 as of this writing, classified into 5 real families. Lets an orchestrator (or a person) check a kernel's real lifecycle requirements before running it, instead of finding out via a crash.

Related: Evidence Fraction · Core document: Infrastructure, Kernel Taxonomy

Lower-Triangular Causal Pipeline Original

The causal graph over the four profiles, restricted to edges (S→D, S→I, D→C, I→C). Under the ordering S ≺ D ≺ I ≺ C, the adjacency matrix is strictly lower-triangular — meaning no edge ever points from a "later" profile back to an "earlier" one. This structure is what Theorem 1 proves prevents execution state from causally influencing internal state.

Related: Non-Collapsibility · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.3

Non-Collapsibility (Rule) Original
Four structurally separate profiles — S, D, I, C — kept physically apart, no shared wall

The four NCFCA profiles must be maintained as structurally independent data structures. No write path may exist in the data model permitting a value from the Calibration Execution or Interface Response profile to directly modify the Dynamic State Profile. The profiles may not be averaged, merged, or projected into a shared representation at any stage.

Related: DSP, Lower-Triangular, Signal Smearing · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.2

Schema Floor Original
The schema floor stays level and undisturbed while chaotic anomaly conditions churn above it

The confirmed, pre-anomaly value of the Dynamic State Profile that must be preserved — not degraded or overwritten — while the circuit breaker is suspended during an anomaly window. Theorem 2 proves the prerequisite-gated update rule combined with the circuit-breaker protocol preserves schema floor integrity during execution anomalies.

Related: Circuit Breaker, Anomaly Window · Core document: The Proof, Theorem 2

Signal Smearing Original

What happens when four categorically distinct signal classes (S, D, I, C) are mixed into one composite measurement before separation is attempted. Once mixed, the information required to separate them is gone — not a statistical estimation problem solvable with a better algorithm, but a structural information problem (Proposition 1.3). The named problem NCFCA's architecture exists to prevent, not correct after the fact.

Related: Non-Collapsibility, Value Laundering · Core document: The Proof, Proposition 1.3

State Context Profile (SCP) Original

One of the four NCFCA profiles. Captures environmental state (S) — conditions external to the learner or system that aren't a reflection of genuine understanding. Resolved prior to any inference over the Dynamic State Profile.

Related: DSP · Core document: The Proof, Definition 2.1

Value Laundering Original

A real vulnerability found in Claim 1's isolation guarantee: a value's declared source label was checked, but its actual computational provenance wasn't traced — meaning a value could carry an honest-looking label while its underlying computation had actually mixed channels upstream. Found, diagnosed, fixed, and regression-checked.

Related: Signal Smearing · Core document: Value Laundering — Found and Fixed

What's next for this page

The real 91-term glossary already built for the education and fitness frameworks (gregorylacefield.com side) is a separate, upcoming batch — kept apart from this pass to avoid rushing the migration and introducing errors. This page will grow term by term as real definitions get established, not all at once.