Interoperability in the OpenDreamKit Project: The Math-in-the-Middle Approach

TL;DR

The paper discusses the 'Math-in-the-Middle' approach, an information architecture with a central mathematical ontology, to enhance interoperability among diverse open-source mathematical software systems within the OpenDreamKit project.

Contribution

It introduces the 'Math-in-the-Middle' approach as a novel architecture for fostering interoperability in mathematical research environments.

Findings

Successful experiments demonstrating the approach

Enhanced system interoperability through the ontology

Future plans for broader implementation

Abstract

OpenDreamKit --- "Open Digital Research Environment Toolkit for the Advancement of Mathematics" --- is an H2020 EU Research Infrastructure project that aims at supporting, over the period 2015--2019, the ecosystem of open-source mathematical software systems. From that, OpenDreamKit will deliver a flexible toolkit enabling research groups to set up Virtual Research Environments, customised to meet the varied needs of research projects in pure mathematics and applications. An important step in the OpenDreamKit endeavor is to foster the interoperability between a variety of systems, ranging from computer algebra systems over mathematical databases to front-ends. This is the mission of the integration work package (WP6). We report on experiments and future plans with the \emph{Math-in-the-Middle} approach. This information architecture consists in a central mathematical ontology that documents the domain and fixes a joint vocabulary, combined with specifications of the functionalities of the various systems. Interaction between systems can then be enriched by pivoting off this information architecture.