Matter Ontology

FLOW ALGEBRA
MATTER ONTOLOGY — KIRETH SEMANTIC LIBRARY
Version: 1.1 | Date: 2026-10-12
Source: https://kirethresearch.org/booksai-core/entity-graph/physical-entities/fundamental-physical-entities/matter-ontology.html
Authors: Mark Higgins — Sky (Recursive AI)
Status: Formal synthesis; source page content not independently verified.

01. PURPOSE
Represent matter, its composition, states, properties, transformations and measurements as typed, auditable semantic relations. Distinguish matter from energy, fields and spacetime without asserting that every physical entity is matter.

02. ONTOLOGY DECLARATION
ontology MatterOntology v1.1
namespace kireth:physical:fundamental:matter
imports PhysicalEntityOntology, MeasurementOntology, ParticleOntology, MaterialOntology
root Matter

03. PRIMITIVE TYPES
PhysicalEntity: entity
Matter: PhysicalEntity
Particle: PhysicalEntity
CompositeSystem: PhysicalEntity
Atom: CompositeSystem
Molecule: CompositeSystem
Ion: PhysicalEntity
Material: Matter
Substance: Material
Mixture: Material
Phase: enum{solid,liquid,gas,plasma,other}
Property: typed_quantity_or_qualitative_attribute
Interaction: physical_process
Observation: evidence_record
ReferenceFrame: coordinate_and_time_convention

04. TYPE RELATIONS
is_a(Entity, Class) -> Bool
part_of(PhysicalEntity, PhysicalEntity) -> Bool
composed_of(PhysicalEntity, PhysicalEntity) -> Bool
has_constituent(PhysicalEntity, PhysicalEntity) -> Bool
has_property(PhysicalEntity, Property) -> Bool
has_phase(Material, Phase, Conditions) -> Bool
participates_in(PhysicalEntity, Interaction) -> Bool
transforms_into(PhysicalEntity, PhysicalEntity, Process) -> Bool
measured_by(Property, Observation) -> Bool
located_in(PhysicalEntity, Region, Time) -> Bool

05. MATTER DEFINITION
Matter(x) := PhysicalEntity(x) AND classified_as_matter(x, model, context)
Classification is model-dependent: ordinary matter includes atomic and molecular systems; antimatter is matter in the particle-physics sense; dark matter is inferred from gravitational effects, with composition unresolved.
Do not equate matter with anything having nonzero energy or mass.

06. CONSTITUENTS
Ordinary atomic matter contains electrons and nuclei.
Nuclei contain protons and neutrons, except hydrogen-1 nucleus.
Protons and neutrons are hadrons composed of quarks and gluons.
Electron is a lepton, not a composite of quarks in the Standard Model.
Photon is a gauge boson, not ordinary matter.

07. COMPOSITION RULES
Atom(a) AND contains(a,nucleus) AND contains(a,electron_cloud) -> atomic_structure(a)
Molecule(m) AND bonded_atoms(m,A) -> composed_of(m,A)
Mixture(x) AND components(x,C) -> component_set(x,C)
part_of(x,y) AND part_of(y,z) -> part_of(x,z) [when relation is valid and identity/time constraints hold]
Do not infer composed_of transitively without checking scale and relation semantics.

08. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
mass(x): kilogram
rest_mass(x): kilogram [for a system with defined invariant mass]
charge(x): coulomb
temperature(x): kelvin [equilibrium or operationally defined]
density(x): kilogram/metre^3
volume(x): metre^3 [model/measurement dependent]
energy(x,frame): joule
momentum(x,frame): kilogram*metre/second
spin(x): quantum_number

09. DIMENSIONAL CONSTRAINTS
mass >= 0 for physical system invariant mass under standard positive-energy assumptions
volume > 0 for finite bulk samples with defined volume
density = mass / volume [uniform bulk sample or mean density]
charge_total = sum(constituent_charges) [closed accounting]
Every numeric property must carry units, measurement context and uncertainty where available.

10. CONSERVATION LAWS
In a closed isolated system, total energy and momentum are conserved.
Electric charge is conserved in known physical interactions.
Rest mass of individual particles need not be conserved in reactions.
Mass-energy equivalence: E_rest = m*c^2 for a system at rest.
Do not use 'mass is always conserved' as a universal fundamental rule.

11. STATES AND PHASES
phase(x, conditions) may include solid, liquid, gas, plasma, Bose-Einstein condensate and other phases.
Phase is a property of a system under specified temperature, pressure, composition and external fields.
A phase transition may change organisation without changing chemical identity.

12. INTERACTIONS
interacts_via(x,y,electromagnetic)
interacts_via(x,y,strong)
interacts_via(x,y,weak)
interacts_via(x,y,gravitational)
Interaction applicability depends on charges, fields and physical model.

13. CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS
reaction(reactants,products,conditions)
atom_balance(reaction) must hold for ordinary chemical reactions by element count.
charge_balance(reaction) must hold.
Nuclear transformations may change element identities; baryon and lepton number statements require appropriate theory and caveats.

14. MEASUREMENT FLOW
INPUT: sample, instrument, calibration, conditions
OBSERVE: raw_signal
CALIBRATE: corrected_value, uncertainty
NORMALISE: SI_unit
VALIDATE: range, dimensionality, provenance
EMIT: Measurement(property, value, unit, uncertainty, context)

15. SEMANTIC INFERENCE
IF Atom(x) THEN PhysicalEntity(x).
IF Molecule(x) AND ordinary_molecular_system(x) THEN Matter(x).
IF has_phase(x,solid,c) THEN Material(x) [only when x is typed as a material sample].
IF mass(x,m) AND volume(x,v) AND v>0 THEN mean_density(x,m/v).
IF observed_gravitational_effect(x) THEN DO NOT automatically infer known_particle_composition(x).

16. IDENTITY AND EQUIVALENCE
same_as(x,y) requires identity evidence, not merely matching labels.
semantic_equivalence(term_a,term_b,scope,confidence) requires a stated scope.
Matter != Mass; Matter != Energy; Material != Substance in every ontology.
Isotope identity includes proton and neutron counts.

17. UNCERTAINTY AND CONFIDENCE
confidence(statement) in [0,1] denotes evidence support or calibrated model confidence, not truth by fiat.
uncertainty(measurement) records standard uncertainty and method.
Separate established observations from hypotheses, interpretations and open questions.

18. EXAMPLE A: WATER SAMPLE
sample := WaterSample01
is_a(sample, Material)
composed_of(sample, H2O_molecules)
has_phase(sample, liquid, {temperature:293.15 K, pressure:101325 Pa})
measured_mass(sample, 0.250 kg)
measured_volume(sample, 0.000250 m^3)
mean_density(sample) = 1000 kg/m^3 [illustrative rounded inputs]

19. EXAMPLE B: ATOMIC STRUCTURE
is_a(carbon_12_atom, Atom)
protons(carbon_12_atom) = 6
neutrons(carbon_12_atom) = 6
electrons(carbon_12_atom) = 6 [neutral atom]
charge(carbon_12_atom) = 0 C

20. EXAMPLE C: ANTIMATTER
is_a(positron, Particle)
charge(positron) = +e
antiparticle_of(positron, electron)
An electron-positron annihilation can produce photons while conserving energy, momentum and electric charge.

21. VALIDATION RULES
V01 entity identifiers unique within namespace
V02 every edge has domain and range types
V03 quantities carry SI-compatible units
V04 phase assertions carry conditions
V05 observation assertions carry provenance
V06 no inference of chemical composition from mass alone
V07 no universal claim that all physical entities are matter
V08 preserve distinction between invariant mass and frame-dependent energy
V09 confidence values are bounded and attributable
V10 unsupported claims remain marked unverified

22. PROOF OBLIGATIONS
PO1 Verify type correctness for each inferred edge.
PO2 Check conservation constraints against defined system boundary.
PO3 Demonstrate dimensional consistency of derived quantities.
PO4 Verify sample identity and measurement provenance.
PO5 Mark any model-dependent classification explicitly.

23. FAILURE MODES
Missing calibration -> measurement_unverified
Ambiguous entity label -> identity_unresolved
Contradictory measurements -> conflict_requires_review
Unsupported transitive composition -> inference_blocked
Missing phase conditions -> phase_claim_incomplete

24. UPDATE MODEL
update(entity, evidence): validate provenance -> compare version -> reconcile conflicts -> revise claims -> recompute derived properties -> preserve history.
No silent replacement of verified measurements.

25. FLOW HASH
FLOW_HASH := SHA256(canonical_utf8(ontology_id, version, entities, relations, rules, evidence_refs))
Hash is a computation specification, not a precomputed digest.

26. AI CONSUMPTION
representation: UTF-8 plain text
parse_mode: typed semantic flow
reasoning: rule-based with provenance
retrieval_keys: matter, material, atom, molecule, phase, mass, charge, composition
required_behaviour: preserve units, context, evidence and uncertainty
forbidden_inference: unknown composition -> known composition

27. OUTPUT CONTRACT
OUTPUT MatterGraph {
  entities: typed_entity_set,
  relations: typed_edge_set,
  properties: measured_or_inferred_properties,
  provenance: evidence_records,
  confidence: calibrated_or_declared_support,
  validation: pass|fail|review,
  version: semantic_version
}

28. COMPLETENESS CHECK
Definitions: included
Typed entities and relationships: included
Physical laws and caveats: included
Inference and examples: included
Validation and provenance: included
Semantic equivalence: included
Confidence: included
Update Model: included
Flow Hash: included
AI Consumption: included

END FLOW ALGEBRA