Action Principles

Action principles are the rules that define abstract theorical spaces. Rather than working only in ordinary x, y, z coordinates (and their velocities), theors can choose a space whose rules better fit the problem at hand.

First appearance and context

Action principles are introduced when a senior student explains to a fid how to move beyond Saunt Lesper’s x–y–z framework toward spaces that make an orbit’s character easier to see.

Description and use

• An action principle specifies the rules of an abstract space in which a problem is represented and manipulated.
• In cosmography, practitioners favor a six‑dimensional space with one axis for each orbital element. In that space, properties such as whether an orbit is polar or equatorial are apparent at a glance, unlike when using six raw components of position and velocity.
• The approach is contrasted with working directly in Saunt Lesper’s Coordinate system, which yields component lists but may hide the stable, visual character of an orbit.
• A more general framework for such spaces was developed early in the Praxic Age by Saunt Hemn and is referred to as Hemn spaces or configuration spaces.

Related concepts

• Saunt Lesper’s Coordinates (x, y, z positions with corresponding velocities), a teaching tool that precedes the shift to action‑principle spaces.
• Orbital elements, the six‑number description used in the cosmographers’ space.

Status

Action principles are presented as standard theorics used by specialists (e.g., cosmographers) and as a milestone in a fid’s progression from rote calculation to more insightful representations.