Towards a logical and scientific foundation for system concepts, principles, and terminology

This paper provides preliminary results of an approach that is being used to support the efforts to standardize concepts and terminology for architecture and systems by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) convened under working group JTC1/SC7/WG42. The approach is based on logic and the methodology of science. The results provide: (i) a demonstration of the proposed modeling approach using different definitions of system and related systems principles, (ii) a scientific interpretation of the logical model offered for system that gives further validation of the approach and reveals how system element interactions in Hamiltonian mechanics can be modeled as the transport of energy between elements, (iii) giving a sharper meaning to the engineering definition of System that (iv) extends the meaning of interactions in the INCOSE definition of system. This approach should be also useful for reasoning about definitions for systems of systems.