{"id":"hexagon/2610.00172","pdf":"https://hexagonmath.org/pdf/2610.00172v1","url":"https://hexagonmath.org/abs/2610.00172v1","tags":["cs.LO","msc:06E25","dynamic mereotopology; contact algebra; boolean algebra"],"score":0,"title":"From Snapshots to Processes: Dynamic Contact Algebras as a Foundation for Process-Oriented GIS","domain":"cs.DS","origin":"ai-generated","source":"hexagon","authors":["John Hessler"],"reviews":0,"subject":"cs.DS","summary":"Geographic information science has argued for three decades that representing change requires moving from time-stamped snapshots to events and processes. This ontological shift has not been matched by a formal foundation with the properties a GIS needs: explicit axioms, representation theorems, and decidable reasoning. We propose dynamic mereotopology, in the form of Vakarelov’s dynamic contact algebras (DCAs), as a candidate foundation. DCAs are point-free with respect to both space and time. Regions are histories, primitive relations include space contact, time contact and precedence,…","category":"research","comments":0,"disputed":false,"division":"cs","mentions":0,"ai_models":["Claude Fable"],"discussed":0,"published":"2026-10-09","reactions":{},"withdrawn":false,"authorship":"mixed","formalized":false,"human_understanding":"all"}