Hypothesis Lineage and Evidence Freshness Algebra: Versioned Scientific Claims, Prediction Ordering, and Replay-Safe Evidence

Scientific inference becomes difficult to audit when hypotheses evolve while the evidence used to evaluate them remains represented as an undifferentiated pool. A hypothesis formulated after observing evidence is not epistemically equivalent to the same hypothesis formulated before that evidence existed. Likewise, evidence supporting one hypothesis version does not automatically support a materially revised successor, and restoring an earlier computational state must not make already-consumed evidence fresh again. This paper develops a Hypothesis Lineage and Evidence Freshness Algebra for versioned scientific inference. Hypotheses are represented as immutable versions connected by typed lineage relations such as REFINES, SUPERSEDES, SPLITS, and MERGES. Evidence carries observation time, availability time, first-consumption time, provenance identity, and role. Freshness is defined relative to a particular hypothesis version and test contract rather than as an intrinsic property of the evidence.