Negative results on learning multivalued dependencies with queries

Data dependencies are useful to design relational databases. There is a strong connection between dependencies and some fragments of the propositional logic. In particular, functional dependencies are closely related to Horn formulas. Also, multivalued dependencies are characterized in terms of multivalued formulas. It is known that both Horn formulas and sets of functional dependencies are learnable in the exact model of learning with queries. Here we proof that neither multivalued formulas nor multivalued dependencies can be learned using only membership queries or only equivalence queries.     

NO Revision and NO Contraction

One goal of normative multi-agent system theory is to formulate principles for normative system change that maintain the rule-like structure of norms and preserve links between norms and individual agent obligations. A central question raised by this problem is whether there is a framework for norm change that is at once specific enough to capture this rule-like behavior of norms, yet general enough to support a full battery of norm and obligation change operators. In this paper we propose an answer to this question by developing a bimodal logic for norms and obligations called NO. A key to our approach is that norms are treated as propositional formulas, and we provide some independent reasons for adopting this stance. Then we define norm change operations for a wide class of modal systems, including the class of NO systems, by constructing a class of modal revision operators that satisfy all the AGM postulates for revision, and constructing a class of modal contraction operators that satisfy all the AGM postulates for contraction. More generally, our approach yields an easily extendable framework within which to work out principles for a theory of normative system change.     

On learning multivalued dependencies with queries

Data dependencies play an important role in the design of relational databases. There is a strong connection between dependencies and some fragments of the propositional logic. In particular, functional dependencies are closely related to Horn formulas. Also, multivalued dependencies are characterized in terms of multivalued formulas. It is known that both Horn formulas and sets of functional dependencies are learnable in the exact model of learning with queries. Here we present an algorithm that learns a non-trivial subclass of multivalued formulas using membership and equivalence queries. Furthermore, a slight modification of the algorithm allows us to learn the corresponding subclass of multivalued dependencies.     

Possibilistic Merging and Distance-Based Fusion of Propositional Information

The problem of merging multiple sources information is central in many information processing areas such as databases integrating problems, multiple criteria decision making, expert opinion pooling, etc. Recently, several approaches have been proposed to merge propositional bases, or sets of (non-prioritized) goals. These approaches are in general semantically defined. Like in belief revision, they use implicit priorities, generally based on Dalal's distance, for merging the propositional bases and return a new propositional base as a result. An immediate consequence of the generation of a propositional base is the impossibility of decomposing and iterating the fusion process in a coherent way with respect to priorities since the underlying ordering is lost. This paper presents a general approach for fusing prioritized bases, both semantically and syntactically, when priorities are represented in the possibilistic logic framework. Different classes of merging operators are considered depending on whether the sources are consistent, conflicting, redundant or independent. We show that the approaches which have been recently proposed for merging propositional bases can be embedded in this setting. The result is then a prioritized base, and hence the process can be coherently decomposed and iterated. Moreover, this encoding provides a syntactic counterpart for the fusion of propositional bases.     

Transforming equality logic to propositional logic

We investigate and compare various ways of transforming equality formulas to propositional formulas, in order to be able to solve satisfiability in equality logic by means of satisfiability in propositional logic. We propose equality substitution as a new approach combining desirable properties of earlier methods, we prove its correctness and show its applicability by experiments.     

AGM Contraction and Revision of Rules

In this paper we study AGM contraction and revision of rules using input/output logical theories. We replace propositional formulas in the AGM framework of theory change by pairs of propositional formulas, representing the rule based character of theories, and we replace the classical consequence operator Cn by an input/output logic. The results in this paper suggest that, in general, results from belief base dynamics can be transferred to rule base dynamics, but that a similar transfer of AGM theory change to rule change is much more problematic. First, we generalise belief base contraction to rule base contraction, and show that two representation results of Hansson still hold for rule base contraction. Second, we show that the six so-called basic postulates of AGM contraction are consistent only for some input/output logics, but not for others. In particular, we show that the notorious recovery postulate can be satisfied only by basic output, but not by simple-minded output. Third, we show how AGM rule revision can be defined in terms of AGM rule contraction using the Levi identity. We highlight various topics for further research.     

A Thorough Axiomatization of a Principle of Conditional Preservation in Belief Revision

Although the crucial role of if-then-conditionals for the dynamics of knowledge has been known for several decades, they do not seem to fit well in the framework of classical belief revision theory. In particular, the propositional paradigm of minimal change guiding the AGM-postulates of belief revision proved to be inadequate for preserving conditional beliefs under revision. In this paper, we present a thorough axiomatization of a principle of conditional preservation in a very general framework, considering the revision of epistemic states by sets of conditionals. This axiomatization is based on a nonstandard approach to conditionals, which focuses on their dynamic aspects, and uses the newly introduced notion of conditional valuation functions as representations of epistemic states. In this way, probabilistic revision as well as possibilistic revision and the revision of ranking functions can all be dealt with within one framework. Moreover, we show that our approach can also be applied in a merely qualitative environment, extending AGM-style revision to properly handling conditional beliefs.     

动态描述逻辑的Tableau判定算法

动态描述逻辑在描述逻辑的基础上引入了动态维,用于描述和推理动态领域的知识,但目前缺少有效的判定算法作为支撑.文中以描述逻辑ALCO的动态扩展为例,构建出动态描述逻辑D-ALCO.以D-ALCO的构建过程为基础,将ALCO的Tableau算法、命题动态逻辑的Tableau算法以及对可能模型途径的处理有机地结合起来,给出了D-ALCO的Tableau判定算法,证明了算法的可终止性、可靠性和完备性.应用该算法,可以在采用开世界假设的情况下对D-ALCO中公式的可满足性进行判定.对于D-ALCQO、D-ALCQIO等具有更强描述能力的动态描述逻辑,可以对该算法扩展后得到相应的Tableau判定算法.     

General default logic

In this paper, we propose a new nonmonotonic logic called general default logic. On the one hand, it generalizes Reiter’s default logic by adding to it rule-like operators used in logic programming. On the other hand, it extends logic programming by allowing arbitrary propositional formulas. We show that with this new logic, one can formalize naturally rule constraints, generalized closed world assumptions, and conditional defaults. We show that under a notion of strong equivalence, sentences of this new logic can be converted to a normal form. We also investigate the computational complexity of various reasoning tasks in the logic, and relate it to some other nonmonotonic formalisms such as Lin and Shoham’s logic of GK and Moore’s autoepistemic logic.     

Generalized modal satisfiability

It is well known that modal satisfiability is PSPACE-complete (Ladner (1977) [21]). However, the complexity may decrease if we restrict the set of propositional operators used. Note that there exist an infinite number of propositional operators, since a propositional operator is simply a Boolean function. We completely classify the complexity of modal satisfiability for every finite set of propositional operators, i.e., in contrast to previous work, we classify an infinite number of problems. We show that, depending on the set of propositional operators, modal satisfiability is PSPACE-complete, coNP-complete, or in P. We obtain this trichotomy not only for modal formulas, but also for their more succinct representation using modal circuits. We consider both the uni-modal and the multi-modal cases, and study the dual problem of validity as well.     

Theory revision with queries: Horn, read-once, and parity formulas

A theory, in this context, is a Boolean formula; it is used to classify instances, or truth assignments. Theories can model real-world phenomena, and can do so more or less correctly. The theory revision, or concept revision, problem is to correct a given, roughly correct concept. This problem is considered here in the model of learning with equivalence and membership queries. A revision algorithm is considered efficient if the number of queries it makes is polynomial in the revision distance between the initial theory and the target theory, and polylogarithmic in the number of variables and the size of the initial theory. The revision distance is the minimal number of syntactic revision operations, such as the deletion or addition of literals, needed to obtain the target theory from the initial theory. Efficient revision algorithms are given for Horn formulas and read-once formulas, where revision operators are restricted to deletions of variables or clauses, and for parity formulas, where revision operators include both deletions and additions of variables. We also show that the query complexity of the read-once revision algorithm is near-optimal.     

命题逻辑的子句集中文字的分类

检测和消除命题逻辑公式中的冗余文字,是人工智能领域广泛研究的基本问题。针对命题逻辑的子句集中子句的划分,结合冗余子句和冗余文字的概念,将命题逻辑的子句集中的文字分为必需文字、有用文字和无用文字3类,并分别给出其定义。讨论3种文字与无冗余等价子集的性质,给出其等价子集的等价描述方法。得到题逻辑的子句集中必需文字、有用文字和无用文字的判定方法,借助子句集的可满足性得到3种文字与子句集的可满足性的等价条件。上述结果对命题逻辑中文字属性的判断提供了多种可选择方法,同时为命题逻辑公式的化简奠定了理论基础。     

HORNLOG: A graph-based interpreter for general Horn clauses

This paper presents hornlog, a general Horn-clause proof procedure that can be used to interpret logic programs. The system is based on a form of graph rewriting, and on the linear-time algorithm for testing the unsatisfiability of propositional Horn formulae given by Dowling and Gallier [8]. hornlog applies to a class of logic programs which is a proper superset of the class of logic programs handled by PROLOG systems. In particular, negative Horn clauses used as assertions and queries consisting of disjunctions of negations of Horn clauses are allowed. This class of logic programs admits answers which are indefinite, in the sense that an answer can consist of a disjunction of substitutions. The method does not use the negation-by- failure semantics [6] in handling these extensions and appears to have an immediate parallel interpretation.     

一类一阶逻辑公式中的公理化真度理论及其应用

设Φ是全体不含函数符号的一阶闭逻辑公式之集.本文基于有限模型和均匀概率的思想对非单调逻辑中的典型案例做了分析,通过概率计算给出了应当赋予文字的完全闭包及其合取的真度值.以此为基础,在Φ中建立了公理化的真度理论.证明了Φ中每个公式的真度都是可计算的,并且证明了Φ中逻辑公式的真度之集H与命题逻辑中的计算结果相一致,特别是其中所有闭文字的真度都等于1/2.在真度理论的基础上引入了Φ中公式之间相似度和伪距离的计算方法,并提出了逻辑理论的相容度理论.作为应用,给出了估计Horn子句型数据库相容度的一种方法.     

Randomization of classical inference patterns and its application

By means of randomization, the concept of D-randomized truth degree of formulas in two-valued propositional logic is introduced, and it is proved that the set of values of D-randomized truth degree of formulas has no isolated point in [0,1]. The concepts of D-logic pseudo-metric and D-logic metric space are also introduced and it is proved that there is no isolated point in the space. The new built D-randomized concepts are extensions of the corresponding concepts in quantified logic. Moreover, it is proved that the basic logic connectives are continuous operators in D-logic metric space. Lastly, three different types of approximate reasoning patterns are proposed.     

Structured proof procedures

In this paper, we address the problem of enriching an interactive theorem prover with complex proof procedures. We show that the approach of building complex proof procedures out of deciders for (decidable) quantifier-free theories has many advantages: (i) deciders for quantifier-free theories provide powerful, high level functionalities which greatly simplify the activity of designing and implementing complex and higher level proof procedures; (ii) this approach is of wide applicability since most of the proof procedures are composed by steps of propositional reasoning intermixed with steps carrying out higher level strategical functionalities; (iii) decidability and efficiency are retained on important (decidable) subclasses, while they are often sacrificed by uniform proof strategies for the sake of generality; and finally (iv), from a software engineering perspective, the modularity of the procedures guarantees that any modification in the implementation can be accomplished locally. As a case study, we present and discuss a proof procedure for the existential fragment of first-order logic (prenex existential formulas without function symbols) built on top of a propositional decider.     

命题逻辑提升到一阶逻辑上的子句消去方法

在基于命题逻辑的可满足性问题（SAT）求解器和基于一阶逻辑的定理证明器上，子句集简化一直是必不可少的步骤，而其中子句消去方法在这些子句集简化方法中是非常重要的组成部分。将命题逻辑中的子句消去方法归结隐藏恒真消去方法（RHTE）和归结隐藏包含消去方法（RHSE）提升到一阶逻辑上，并且利用蕴含模归结原则（IMR）证明了这种提升方式在一阶逻辑上具有可靠性（Soundness），即依据这两种子句消去方法删除一阶逻辑公式集中的子句，并不会改变公式集的可满足性或者不可满足性。此外，将这两个方法与一阶逻辑子句消去方法锁子句消去方法（BCE）和归结包含消去方法（RSE）进行组合推广，发展得到一阶逻辑上新型子句消去方法（BC+RHS）E、（RS+RHT）E和（RHS+RHT）E，并且证明了这3种子句消去方法在一阶逻辑上的可靠性。最后，分析比较了这些子句消去方法的有效性，并且证明了这3种新型子句消去方法比组成它们的原始子句消去方法均具有更高的有效性。     

可能性理论与不相容知识处理

Ｄ．Ｄｕｂｏｉｓ和Ｈ．Ｐｒａｄｅ提出的可能性逻辑是一种基于可能性理论的非经典逻辑，主要和于不确定证据推理。可能性逻辑不同于模糊逻辑，因为模糊逻辑处理非布尔公式，其命题中包模糊谓词，而可能性逻辑处理布尔公式，其中只包含经典命题的和谓词。本文尝试在可能性理论的框架下进行不相容知识库的维护和问题求解。这里的知识表示是基于可能性逻辑的。为此，我们提出了两种不同的方法：第一种方法在计算命题可信度时，要考虑所