What are hypergroups and hyperrings good for? I came across the concept of a hyperring in two recent papers by Connes and Consani (From monoids to hyperstructures: in search of an absolute arithmetic and The hyperring of adèle classes). It's a weakening of the ring concept, but where the addition is allowed to be multivalued. Indeed the additive part of a hyperring forms a 'canonical hypergroup'.
A canonical hypergroup is a set, $H$, equipped with a commutative binary operation, 
$$
  + : H \times H \to P^*(H)
$$ 
taking values in non-empty subsets of $H$, and a zero element $0 \in H$, such that


*

*$+$ is associative (extended to allow addition of subsets of $H$);

*$0 + x = {\{x\}} = x + 0, \forall x \in H$;

*$\forall x \in H, \exists ! y \in H$ such that $0 \in x + y$ (we denote this $y$ as $-x$);

*$\forall x, y, z \in H, x \in y + z$ implies $z \in x - y$ (where $x - y$ means $x + (-y)$ as usual).


(NB: $x$ may be written for the singleton {$x$}.)
I know that hyperrings occur whenever a ring is quotiented by a subgroup of its multiplicative group, but I'd like to know more about where and how hyperrings and hypergroups have cropped up in different branches of mathematics. How is a canonical hypergroup to be thought of as canonical? Are noncanonical hypergroups important? Is there a category theoretic way to see these hyperstructures as natural?
 A: I'm not really expert in the use of Hyperstructures. Months ago I found this paper from Viro at arxiv looking for Tropical mathematics. 
1 -   O. Viro-HYPERFIELDS FOR TROPICAL GEOMETRY I.
HYPERFIELDS AND DEQUANTIZATION
This is very intersting because he tried to introduce the basic concept of Multivalued maps, and the structures formed by them, giving an interesting timeline of terms and authors. 
The basic concepts he introduces are:

  
*
  
*Multivalued operations
  
*Multigroups homomorphisms (normal h. and strong h.)
  

$f:M\rightarrow N$ is a multigorup homomorphism of $(M,u_1,*_1)$ and $(M,u_2,*_2)$ if $f(u_1)=u_2$ and $f(a*_1 b)\subset f(a)*_2f(b)$
$f:M\rightarrow N$ is a strong multigorup homomorphism if  $f(a*_1 b)=f(a)*_2f(b)$

  
*
  
*Multigroups/Hyperogroups (Sets with associative binary multimaps, identity and inverses)
  
*Multirings (rings where the additive group is replaced by a commutative multigroup)
  

In multirings the distibutivity is described by the fact that the letf and right traslations of the multiplicative operation are (weak)multigroup automorphisms of the additive multigroup

  
*
  
*Hyperrings (Multirings where the distibutivity holds in a strong way- m. traslations are strong multigroup automorphism)
  
*Hyperfields/Multifields (Multirings or Hyperrings with multiplicative inverses)
  

Due to the Marshall Theorem in every Hyperfield the distributivity holds in a strong way so Hyperfields and Multifields are the same thing.

About other fields for these multivalued algebraic structures, Viro uses them for his work on the Tropical Geometry introducing some new structures (Complex and Real  Tropical hyperfields $\mathcal T\Bbb C$ and $\mathcal T\Bbb R$ and others interesting constructions: see 1).
Other kind of Hyperstructures are studied for other purposes but I'm not able to make a detailed list. But here there is an interesting hystorical references about Hypergroup and Hypergroupoids.
P. Corsini - History and new possible research directions of 
hyperstructures 
A: The theory of hyperstructures has been introduced by Marty in 1934 during the 8th
Congress of the Scandinavian Mathematicians [Marty]. Marty introduced hypergroups as
a generalization of groups. He published some notes on hypergroups, using them in different contexts as algebraic functions, rational fractions, non commutative groups and then many researchers have been worked on this new field of modern algebra and developed it. It was later observed that the theory of hyperstructures has many applications in both pure and applied sciences; for example, semi-hypergroups are the simplest algebraic hyperstructures that possess the properties of closure and associativity. The theory of hyperstructures has been widely reviewed [P.Corsini, P. Corsini and V-Leoreanu, B. Davvaz and V. Leoreanu-Fotea, T. Vougiouklis].
In [P. Corsini & V. Leoreanu-Fotea] Corsini and Leoreanu-Fotea have collected numerous applications of algebraic hyperstructures, especially those from the last fiffteen years to the following subjects: geometry, hypergraphs, binary relations, lattices, fuzzy sets and rough sets, automata, cryptography, codes, median algebras, relation algebras, articial intelligence, and probabilities.
The hyperrings were introduced and studied by Krasner [M.Krasner], Nakasis [Nakasis], Massourouce [Massourouce] and especially studied by Davvaz and Leoreanu-Fotea [DAvvaz-Leoreanu], Zahedi and Ameri [Zahedi-Ameri],
Ameri and Norouzi [Ameri-Norouzi] . The study on hyperrings in [Davvaz-Leoreanu] ends with an outline of applications in chemistry and physics, analyzing several special kinds of hyperstructures:
e-hyperstructures and transposition hypergroups. The theory of suitable modified hyper-
structures can serve as a mathematical background in the field of quantum communication
systems. A well-known type of a hyperring, called the Krasner hyperring [23]. Krasner hy-
perrings are essentially hyperrings, with approximately modied axioms in which addition
is a hyperoperation, while the multiplication is an operation. Then, this concept has been
studied by a variety of authors. Some principal notions of hyperring theory can be found
in [17, 18, 26, 40, 42]. The another type of hyperrings was introduced by Rota in 1982
which the multiplication is a hyperoperation, while the addition is an operation, and it is
called it a multiplicative hyperring( for more details see [35, 36, 37, 38]) which was subsequently investigated by Olson and Ward [28] and many others. De Salvo [19] introduced hyperrings in which the additions and the multiplications are hyperoperations. Moreover, there exists another types of hyperrings that both the addition and multiplication are hyperoperations and instead associativity, commutativity and distributivity satisfy in weak associativity, weak commutativity and weak distributivity, which is called Hv-hyperrings, this type of hyperrings can be seen in [41, 42].
Now day the hyperstructures has been growth rapidly. I, as an researcher in this field,   am interesting to application of this subjects to other branches of mathematics, Physics and engineering. I shall be grateful if you can inform me about that.
References
[R. Ameri1] R. Ameri, On Categories of hypergroups and hypermodules, Journal of Discrete Mathematical Science and and Cryptography, 6, 2-3 (2003) 121-132.
[R-Ameri2] R. Ameri, M. Norouzi, On multiplication (m; n)-hypermodules, European Journal of Combinatorics, 44 (2015) 153-171.
[R-Ameri3] R. Ameri, M. Norouzi, New fundamental relation of hyperrings, European Journal of Combinatorics, 34 (2013) 884{891.
[[R-Ameri4] R. Ameri, M. Norouzi, Prime and primary hyperideals in Krasner , European Journal of Combinatorics, 34 (2013) 379-390.
[R-Ameri5] R. Ameri, I. G. Rosenberg, Congruences of multialgebras, Multivalued Logic and Soft Computing, Vol. 15, No. 5-6 (2009) 525-536.
[R-Ameri6] R. Ameri, M.M. Zahedi, Hyperalgebraic systems, Italian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, No. 6 (1999) 21-32.
[P. Corsini] P. Corsini, Prolegomena of hypergroup theory, Second ed., Aviani Editore, 1993.
[P. Corsini], V. Leoreanu] P. Corsini, V. Leoreanu,Applications of hyperstructures theory, Adv. Math., Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
[G.Massouros] C.G. Massouros, On the theory of hyperrings and hyperelds, Algebra i Logika, 24(1985) 728-742.
[J. Mittas] J. Mittas, Hypergroups canoniques , Mathemaica Balkanica 2 (1972) 165-179.
[A. Nakassis] A. Nakassis, Expository and Survey Article Recent Result in hyperring and Hyperfield Theory, Internet. J. Math and Math. Sci, Vol. 11, No. 2 (1988) 209- 220.
[D.M. Olson] D.M. Olson and V.K. Ward,A note on multiplicative hyperrings, Italian J. Pure Appl.Math., 1 (1997) 77-84.
[T. Vougioklis] T. Vougiouklis,Hyperstructures and Their Representations, vol. 115, Hadronic Press, Inc., Palm Harber, USA, 1994.
A: While I don't know much about hyperstructures other than hypergroups, I know it is hard to study the history behind them because of the non-consistent terminology attributed to these objects by different authors in different periods. I will say something about hypergroups and hopefully some specialist can come and give better insight. 
First some physical intuition for finite commutative hypergroups that I found useful: the simplest way to think of them is to think of a  collection of particle types $\{c_0,c_1,\cdots,c_n\}$ where two particles can collide to form a third, however not in a definite manner. Let the structure constants $n_{ij}^k$ denote the probability that $c_i+c_j\rightarrow c_k$. Now assume $c_0$ denotes photons and that they get absorbed in every collision. Also assume that for each particle there is a unique antiparticle so that their collision is likely to produce a photon with non-zero probability.
So coming to the actual definitions, call a generalized hypergroup a pair $(\mathcal K, \mathcal A)$ where $\mathcal A$ is a *-algebra with unit $c_0$ over $\mathbb C$ and $\mathcal K =\{c_0,c_1\dots,c_n\}$ is a basis of $\mathcal A$ with $\mathcal K ^*=\mathcal K$ for which the structure constants $n_{ij}^k$ defined by $$c_ic_j=\sum_k n_{ij}^k c_k$$ satisfy the conditions $c_i^*=c_j \iff n_{ij}^0>0$ and $c_i^*\neq c_j \iff n_{ij}^0 =0$.
$(\mathcal K,\mathcal A)$ is called Hermitian if $c_i^*=c_i$ for all $i$, commutative if $c_ic_j=c_jc_i$ for all $i,j$, real if $n_{ij}^k\in \mathbb R$ for all $i,j,k$, positive if $n_{ij}^k\geq 0$ for all $i,j,k$ and normalized if $\sum_k n_{ij}^k =1$ for all $i,j$. A hypergroup is a generalized hypergroup which is both positive and normalized (if positive is replaced by real you get what's called a signed hypergroup).
Now coming to canonical hypergroups, it is easy to see that associated to any hypergroup you have a new one where the hyperoperation is defined by 
$$c_i\circ c_j=\{c_k \quad | \quad n_{ij}^k\neq 0\}$$ and it is in this sense that they are to be thought of as canonical, and if you accept canonical hypergroups as important then the non-canonical ones are too.
All of the above is written from Wildberger's "Finite commutative hypergroups and applications from group theory to conformal field theory", and let me add here for the ones who can not reach the article a list of mentioned mathematical objects/theories that are very close to the concept of a hypergroup and have been studied under a plethora of different names: Kawada's work on C-algebras, Levitan's work on generalized translation operators, Brauer's work on pseudogroups, Hecke algebras, hypercomplex systems (referring to Berezansky and Kalyushnyi, Vainermann), paragroups (Ocneanu), superselection sectors (Doplicher, Haag and Roberts, Longo), Bose Mesner algebras, Racah Wigner algebras, centralizer algebras, table algebras (Arad and Blau), association schemes and the fusion rules of conformal field theories (Verlinde, Moore and Seiberg). You can look at the article for references.
Association schemes are for example hypergroups having renormalizations that can be realized by $0,1$-matrices and are very important in algebraic combinatorics and coding theory.
A: Interestingly, the hypergroup structure naturally appears in probability theory, more precisely in the study of Markov kernels, where it explains the non negativity of some natural quantities
Dominique Bakry and Nolwen Huet: The Hypergroup Property and Representation of Markov Kernels

A: The following references are useful:
[1] http://arxiv.org/pdf/1008.0772.pdf 
[2] Bijan Davvaz, Vileta Leoreanu-Fotea, Hyperring theory and applications,International Academic Press, USA, 2007.
[3]  
