# sudden (temporal)

A change in a parameter that is shorter than the sampling interval of the observer's model, and thus unmodelled.

- Computed level: L12 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: window  ·  Arena: temporal

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [model](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-model.representation), [change](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-change.process), [sample](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-sample.material), [short](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-short.length), [time](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-time.dimension)

**Through:** A change in a condition occurs so quickly relative to the observer's sampling interval that it falls outside the model's temporal resolution, making the shift imperceptible and unrepresented.

**Novel properties:**
- unmodelled transition
- temporal invisibility
- sampling gap

## Examples
- The 2003 Northeast Blackout spread across 247,000 square miles in under 5 minutes, faster than grid operators' monitoring systems could register. *(engineering)*
- Alpha particles from polonium-210 decay in 0.0001 nanoseconds, undetectable by standard radiation counters sampling every microsecond. *(physics)*
- The flash crash of the Dow Jones on May 6, 2010, dropped 998 points in 20 minutes, unseen by daily market models. *(economics)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-sudden.temporal*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-sudden.temporal.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*