[FRIAM] looking for a word

[Steven A Smith]

Glen -

hmmm...  "Plexus" as a portmanteau of Plectic and Nexus then?

I sense in your groping/grasping/grappling for this word/phrase that you
are seeking *both* explicit and implicit connectivity?   "Weaving"
suggests to me that you are thinking implicit connections as much as
explicit your use of "Confluent Flow" suggests function/dynamism rather
than structure.

Your description makes me think of (as you may intend) of the braiding
of rivulets within a delta (or any flat section of river, alluvial fan,
or pleneplain).... if I understand the dynamics at all, sedimentation is
deposited relatively uniformly, causing a "flat" region and the most
minor of differences define where water will canalize... and variations
over time of those differences (wind, rates of evaporation, etc) lead to
*multiple* channels which appear to be independent of one another, even
crossing.   When they "cross" I am left to wonder if they are formed or
flow concurrently or represent an evolution over time where many may
carry water at one time, but as flow increases, one (or another) is
preferred for a time, reinforcing an old or cutting a new channel.  
Braided rivers are considered distinct from Meandering rivers, but I
wonder if that isn't just a (time)scale difference?  I have been
casually studying the Platte ("flat") River for unrelated reasons...

This is part of the reason for asking about the function(s) of the
system(s) you are studying.

You seem to want to avoid any implications of growth...  does that mean
you don't expect the structure to reflect a response to some dynamic
element or to not have "evolved" from something more simple (like from a
very sparse or fully connected graph to the one in question)?

I am also curious (in a hair splitting way) about your (Marcus' ?) use
of homology in this context.   Would you be referring to the patterns of
similarity across subgraphs of the whole graph?  When you invoked
fractal, I heard an implication of patterns of similarity at different
scales.

- Steve

> I *really* want to use some form of "plectic" like plexus or complex.  But its explanatory power is limited.  As I'll soon respond to Steve, I need something that evokes the concept of merging/confluent flow but without the overtones of generation (like Robert's growth/dynamism).  Even the "filtration" concept derived from Marcus' suggestion of persistent homology, implies a temporal component.
>
>
> On 08/17/2018 01:03 PM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
>> Complex junction?