DIMENSIONAL DOMAIN
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 928 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
The region of space-time occupied by a system.
This term was created by A. ANGYAL (1941, in F.E. EMERY, Ed., 1969, p.21).
The dimensional domain is similar to a topological space, extended over the time dimension. Its characteristics are defined by the system within and it thus becomes differentiated from its environment.
According to ANGYAL: The dimensional domain is intimately involved in the formation of systems“ (p.21).
It becomes defined through the autogenesis process, but it may grow and undergo internal transformations, within defined limits. The dimensional domain contains the systems structure. In ANGYAL's words: “A system is a distribution of the members in a dimensional domain” (p.25).
J.W. SUTHERLAND distinguished in a somewhat different — and more precise — sense:
- “- the ecological dimension of the system which encompasses its ”without“;
- the domain dimension, which is its “within”;
- the dynamic dimension “which is used to house any structural or functional changes which might occur between successive snapshots” (1974, p.131).
In this encyclopedia the term “invironment” is proposed for the domain dimension “within”.