Formulohen

Formulohen is a fictional analytical framework used in speculative mathematics and science-fiction contexts to describe a method for decomposing and explaining mathematical formulas by converting them into modular units called hens.

The term formulohen is a portmanteau of formula and hen, the latter chosen to signify a hierarchical encoding node. The concept has appeared in various worldbuilding and educational thought experiments since the early 21st century, but it is not an established mathematical method. In its fictional use, formulohen provides a structured way to represent the meaning and structure of formulas through discrete units that can be inspected, expanded, and reassembled.

Core ideas of formulohen treat every formula as a tree of subformulas. Each node, or hen, carries a label, the subformula it represents, and an optional explanatory note. The approach emphasizes recursive decomposition, allowing users to drill down into subexpressions and then reconstruct the original formula. This yields both a structural representation and a natural-language explanation that mirrors the formula’s logic, making abstract relationships more transparent in narrative or educational settings.

In practice, a simple expression such as E = m c^2 might be represented in formulohen as a set of hens: a top-level hen for the equation, a hen for the left-hand side variable E, and hens for the right-hand side components m and c^2, with c^2 further decomposed into c and the exponent 2. Each hen can be expanded to provide definitions, units, or contextual notes, enabling a modular walkthrough of the formula.

Formulohen is used primarily within fiction and speculative education to illustrate explainable reasoning and modular interpretation of formulas. It is not intended as a rigorous mathematical doctrine, and its usage remains confined to noncanonical contexts. See also concepts of explainable AI, symbolic representation, and didactic decomposition.