Invariant Dynamics

Research Arm

Research

Applied research in observability, decision geometry, and longitudinal systems modeling. The corpus is shaped by live operating constraints and released as durable methods.

What the Research Arm Is

The Research Arm turns real-world system problems into reusable methods and versioned artifacts. Current corpus threads include Structural Observability, Decision Geometry, Mutual Observability Fields, and Perceptual Shadows.

We operate as an applied lab: consulting creates empirical grounding, then research packages what works into papers, notes, and concept primitives. The goal is dependable method transfer, not speculative novelty.

We also run prototype programs like Health DKM on HRS data and Deep Sky-style instrumentation workstreams. Each project must define assumptions, uncertainty boundaries, and a credible reproducibility path.

Research Governance

Research Charter

Mission: Build methods for making complex socio-technical systems legible, navigable, and governable.

Values: rigor, reproducibility, safety, and honest uncertainty.

Outputs: methods, prototypes, reference implementations, public notes/papers, workshops.

Research Themes

Themes map directly to corpus concepts and active paper/prototype tracks, so every line of inquiry has a clear publication or implementation pathway.

Structural Observability

A working method for making hidden coupling, bottlenecks, and constraint boundaries visible enough to support safe intervention.

Example questions

  • Where are the current blind spots in our operating picture?
  • Which system states can we reliably detect before failure cascades?

Decision Geometry

Geometric framing for decision surfaces, constraint trade-offs, and intervention pathways in uncertain systems.

Example questions

  • Which decisions are structurally high-leverage versus locally optimal?
  • How do constraint boundaries reshape feasible intervention sets?

Mutual Observability Fields

Models of how actors observe one another across shared environments, including lag, distortion, and asymmetric visibility.

Example questions

  • Where do observation asymmetries create avoidable coordination failures?
  • What field structure best represents cross-agent sensing constraints?

Perceptual Shadows

Frameworks for identifying blind regions where signals appear sufficient but critical state remains hidden.

Example questions

  • What failure pathways remain in shadow under current instrumentation?
  • How should teams test for hidden-state exposure before incidents occur?

Observability Curvature and Projection Surfaces

Methods for reasoning about curvature, projection distortion, and state-transition pressure in dynamic systems.

Example questions

  • Where do projection choices hide instability or overstate confidence?
  • How can curvature signals improve intervention timing decisions?

Health DKM and Longitudinal Health Systems

Applied modeling on HRS data to map longitudinal risk trajectories, transition pressure, and decision-relevant intervention windows.

Example questions

  • Which trajectories indicate compounding risk versus recoverable drift?
  • How do longitudinal manifold views improve policy and care planning?

How Work Gets Selected

Every project follows a documented path from intake to release, with explicit assumptions and review gates before it enters the public or client-private corpus.

  1. Step 1

    Intake (problem framing)

    Define the operational problem, constraints, stakeholders, and acceptable decision boundaries.

  2. Step 2

    Hypothesis

    State what we think is true, why it matters, and what evidence could invalidate the claim.

  3. Step 3

    Method

    Specify the data, modeling approach, and evaluation plan needed to test the hypothesis.

  4. Step 4

    Artifact

    Produce a paper, prototype, or reference implementation with documented assumptions and limits.

  5. Step 5

    Release

    Release publicly or privately depending on confidentiality, safety constraints, and sponsor agreements.

Some research outputs remain private due to client confidentiality. We aim to publish generalized methods and synthetic examples whenever possible.

Programs

Participation pathways support corpus growth while maintaining consistent quality, precedence discipline, and ethics standards.

Research Fellows

Who it's for

Senior practitioners, investigators, and technical leaders with domain depth in high-consequence systems.

Typical contribution types

  • Co-authoring methods papers and technical notes
  • Advising evaluation design and release standards
  • Mentoring scoped projects and junior contributors

What they receive

  • Co-authorship credit and formal acknowledgment
  • Structured collaboration on applied research programs
  • Potential stipend for defined advisory contributions

Expectations

  • Adherence to ethics and conflict disclosure requirements
  • Respect for confidentiality boundaries and data controls
  • High standards for methodological rigor and review quality

Research Affiliates

Who it's for

Practitioners and emerging thinkers who contribute to focused work packages under defined supervision.

Typical contribution types

  • Prototype implementation and method documentation
  • Dataset preparation, measurement, and analysis support
  • Drafting reproducibility artifacts and technical appendices

What they receive

  • Contributor credit on publications and releases
  • Access to shared methodology review sessions
  • Potential stipend for scoped, approved contributions

Expectations

  • Clear attribution and transparent contribution records
  • Compliance with confidentiality and responsible-use rules
  • Consistent delivery against agreed quality thresholds

Visiting and Emerging Researchers

Who it's for

Students and early-career researchers with strong fundamentals and a clear interest in applied systems research.

Typical contribution types

  • Short-term funded research sprints with defined questions
  • Mentored experiments and reproducibility checks
  • Draft notes or preprints with publication pathways

What they receive

  • Structured mentorship from Fellows and staff
  • Publication pathway guidance and review support
  • Potential project stipend tied to scoped milestones

Expectations

  • Careful handling of sensitive domains and uncertainty claims
  • Documented methods and reproducible work products
  • Professional communication and ethical research conduct

Library Status

Publications Library In Curation

We are curating the public publications library to ensure releases are substantive, technically complete, and useful in production contexts.

Until that curation is complete, publication and paper listings are intentionally hidden from this page.

Critical Credibility

Funding and Ethics

Research is funded via: (a) a percentage of consulting profit, (b) sponsorships, (c) grants where applicable.

Conflicts of interest: we disclose sponsor relationships for any public work.

Confidentiality boundaries: client data is not shared without explicit permission; research uses synthetic or authorized datasets for public examples.

We do not publish client data. When research is published, it is generalized and supported by authorized or synthetic datasets.

Human subjects and sensitive domains: we follow appropriate ethical constraints and make no medical or clinical claims.

Calls to Action

Have a system that’s hard to understand? Let’s frame it.

We can scope a focused collaboration around your system and map it to existing corpus methods or a new paper track.

Engage us

Want to contribute as a Fellow/Affiliate? Apply.

Share your background, contribution area, and relevant code, technical notes, or prior applied work for review.

Apply / Join research network

FAQ

Short answers to common governance, publication, and participation questions.

Is this academic or commercial?

It is applied research with commercial grounding. Consulting engagements provide empirical context, while research outputs are developed to publication-grade standards when constraints allow.

Will you publish client work?

Not directly by default. We publish generalized methods and synthetic or explicitly authorized examples only when publication is compatible with confidentiality commitments.

Who owns the IP?

Client-specific deliverables follow engagement terms. Generalized methods, reference implementations, and synthetic examples may be published by Invariant Dynamics under a contract-first split.

Do you fund independent research?

Yes, in scoped form. We fund selected independent or partner-led projects when they align with the charter and have a concrete methodology and output plan.

What makes your approach different?

We start from live operating constraints, not abstract toy problems. Methods are expected to be reproducible, uncertainty-aware, and useful in governance and execution contexts.