论文标题
分层解释的弦图
String Diagrams for Layered Explanations
论文作者
论文摘要
我们提出了一个分类框架来推理科学解释：对现象的描述，旨在将其转化为更简单的术语或已经理解的环境。我们激励的例子来自系统生物学，电路理论和并发。我们演示了如何通过分层道具的图形积分来统一地理解这些看似多样的区域中的三个解释模型。分层道具允许以不同级别的精度以及这些水平之间的平移对相同现象进行紧凑的视觉呈现。值得注意的是，我们的方法允许部分解释，即仅翻译图的一部分，同时保持其余图未触及。此外，我们的方法为系统生物学中的反事实模型的正式推理铺平了道路。
We propose a categorical framework to reason about scientific explanations: descriptions of a phenomenon meant to translate it into simpler terms, or into a context that has been already understood. Our motivating examples come from systems biology, electrical circuit theory, and concurrency. We demonstrate how three explanatory models in these seemingly diverse areas can be all understood uniformly via a graphical calculus of layered props. Layered props allow for a compact visual presentation of the same phenomenon at different levels of precision, as well as the translation between these levels. Notably, our approach allows for partial explanations, that is, for translating just one part of a diagram while keeping the rest of the diagram untouched. Furthermore, our approach paves the way for formal reasoning about counterfactual models in systems biology.
