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Mental Model

Every primitive in Book Duplex belongs to one of three buckets:

  1. Position
  2. Structure
  3. Flow

Everything else is a transformation or interaction of those three.

Position​

Position answers where the pair is relative to equilibrium.

Position is the state of price. It does not explain whether the move is allowed to continue.

Structure​

Structure answers what liquidity permits.

Structure is the terrain. It defines friction, support, resistance, and how that terrain is changing through time.

Flow​

Flow answers what participants are actually doing.

Flow is commitment. It is the capital that either confirms or fails to confirm the structural picture.

The Core Compression​

The whole system can be reduced to:

pressure + friction + participation
  • pressure: directional structural and flow bias
  • friction: how hard the book makes movement
  • participation: whether real traders are funding the move

How Edge Appears​

Edge does not come from a single metric. It comes from either:

  • alignment
  • conflict

Alignment means the system agrees. Conflict means one layer is lying, lagging, or being overrun.

Canonical Interaction Examples​

Displacement + Depth​

  • stretched + thin liquidity ahead -> continuation
  • stretched + thick opposing liquidity -> rejection

Log(A/B) + Centroid​

  • positive near-mid imbalance -> immediate structural support
  • positive imbalance far away -> latent support, not immediate support

Trade Profile + Depth​

  • aggressive buying into thick supply -> absorption
  • aggressive buying into thin supply -> expansion

Flow vs Structure​

  • agreement -> stable moves
  • conflict -> traps, adverse selection, or reversals

Full-System Read​

The highest-quality continuation read looks like:

displacement positive
+ Log(A/B) positive near mid
+ centroid positive
+ trade flow positive
+ SLS gravity rising
-> continuation probability increases

The inverse uses the same logic in reverse.

Next Steps​