Strong order equivalence

Recently, strong equivalence for Answer Set Programming has been studied intensively, and was shown to be beneficial for modular programming and automated optimization. In this paper we define the novel notion of strong order equivalence for logic programs with preferences (ordered logic programs). Based on this definition we give, for several semantics for preference handling, necessary and sufficient conditions for programs to be strongly order equivalent. These results allow us also to associate a so-called SOE structure to each ordered logic program, such that two ordered logic programs are strongly order equivalent if and only if their SOE structures coincide. We also present the relationships among the studied semantics with respect to strong order equivalence, which differs considerably from their relationships with respect to preferred answer sets. Furthermore, we study the computational complexity of several reasoning tasks associated to strong order equivalence. Finally, based on the obtained results, we present – for the first time – simplification methods for ordered logic programs.     

Semantics and complexity of recursive aggregates in answer set programming

The addition of aggregates has been one of the most relevant enhancements to the language of answer set programming (ASP). They strengthen the modelling power of ASP in terms of natural and concise problem representations. Previous semantic definitions typically agree in the case of non-recursive aggregates, but the picture is less clear for aggregates involved in recursion. Some proposals explicitly avoid recursive aggregates, most others differ, and many of them do not satisfy desirable criteria, such as minimality or coincidence with answer sets in the aggregate-free case.In this paper we define a semantics for programs with arbitrary aggregates (including monotone, antimonotone, and nonmonotone aggregates) in the full ASP language allowing also for disjunction in the head (disjunctive logic programming — DLP). This semantics is a genuine generalization of the answer set semantics for DLP, it is defined by a natural variant of the Gelfond–Lifschitz transformation, and treats aggregate and non-aggregate literals in a uniform way. This novel transformation is interesting per se also in the aggregate-free case, since it is simpler than the original transformation and does not need to differentiate between positive and negative literals. We prove that our semantics guarantees the minimality (and therefore the incomparability) of answer sets, and we demonstrate that it coincides with the standard answer set semantics on aggregate-free programs.Moreover, we carry out an in-depth study of the computational complexity of the language. The analysis pays particular attention to the impact of syntactical restrictions on programs in the form of limited use of aggregates, disjunction, and negation. While the addition of aggregates does not affect the complexity of the full DLP language, it turns out that their presence does increase the complexity of normal (i.e., non-disjunctive) ASP programs up to the second level of the polynomial hierarchy. However, we show that there are large classes of aggregates the addition of which does not cause any complexity gap even for normal programs, including the fragment allowing for arbitrary monotone, arbitrary antimonotone, and stratified (i.e., non-recursive) nonmonotone aggregates. The analysis provides some useful indications on the possibility to implement aggregates in existing reasoning engines.     

正规逻辑程序回答集存在性研究

判断逻辑程序的回答集是否存在是回答集程序设计的一个重要问题,也是NP完全问题。当前利用否定圈边数的奇偶性来判断回答集存在性的方法还具有一定的局限性,即:对于非分层逻辑程序,现有方法并不能准确判断其回答集存在性。针对该问题,提出了一种新的基于否定圈的判断方法,给出了该判断方法的算法框架,证明了算法的正确性,并以实例分析说明了方法的有效性。     

A characterization of answer sets for logic programs

Checking if a program has an answer set, and if so, compute its answer sets are just some of the important problems in answer set logic programming. Solving these problems using Gelfond and Lifschitz's original definition of answer sets is not an easy task. Alternative characterizations of answer sets for nested logic pro- grams by Erdem and Lifschitz, Lee and Lifschitz, and You et al. are based on the completion semantics and various notions of tightness. However, the notion of tightness is a local notion in the sense that for different answer sets there are, in general, different level mappings capturing their tightness. This makes it hard to be used in the design of algorithms for computing answer sets. This paper proposes a characterization of answer sets based on sets of generating rules. From this char- acterization new algorithms are derived for computing answer sets and for per- forming some other reasoning tasks. As an application of the characterization a sufficient and necessary condition for the equivalence between answer set seman- tics and completion semantics has been proven, and a basic theorem is shown on computing answer sets for nested logic programs based on an extended notion of loop formulas. These results on tightness and loop formulas are more general than that in You and Lin's work.     

Toward complex fuzzy logic

Complex fuzzy logic is a postulated logic system that is isomorphic to the complex fuzzy sets recently described in a previous paper. This concept is analogous to the many-valued logics that are isomorphic to type-1 fuzzy sets, commonly known as fuzzy logic. As with fuzzy logics, a complex fuzzy logic would be defined by particular choices of the conjunction, disjunction and complement operators. In this paper, an important assertion from a previous paper, that only the modulus of a complex fuzzy membership should be considered in set theoretic (or logical) operations, is examined. A more general mathematical formulation (the property of rotational invariance) is proposed for this assertion, and the impact of this property on the form of complex fuzzy logic operations is examined. All complex fuzzy logics based on the modulus of a vector are shown to be rotationally invariant. The case of complex fuzzy logics that are not rotationally invariant is examined using the framework of vector logic. A candidate conjunction operator was identified, and the existence of a dual disjunction was proven. Finally, a discussion on the possible applications of complex fuzzy logic focuses on the phenomenon of regularity as a possible fuzzification of stationarity.     

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.     

Hypothetical reasoning in logic programs

In order to express incomplete knowledge, extended logic programs have been proposed as logic programs with classical negation along with negation as failure. This paper discusses ways to deal with a broad class of common sense knowledge by using extended logic programs. For this purpose, we present a uniform approach for dealing with both incomplete and contradictory programs, as a simple framework of hypothetical reasoning in which some rules are dealt with as candidate hypotheses that can be used to augment the background theory. This theory formation framework can be used for default reasoning, contradiction removals, the closed world assumption, and abduction. We also show a translation of the theory formation framework to an extended logic program whose answer sets correspond to the consistent belief sets of augmented theories.     

Loop-separable programs and their first-order definability

An answer set program with variables is first-order definable on finite structures if the set of its finite answer sets can be captured by a first-order sentence. Characterizing classes of programs that are first-order definable on finite structures is theoretically challenging and of practical relevance to answer set programming. In this paper, we identify a non-trivial class of answer set programs called loop-separable programs and show that they are first-order definable on finite structures.     

Dealing with explicit preferences and uncertainty in answer set programming

In this paper, we show how the formalism of Logic Programs with Ordered Disjunction (LPODs) and Possibilistic Answer Set Programming (PASP) can be merged into the single framework of Logic Programs with Possibilistic Ordered Disjunction (LPPODs). The LPPODs framework embeds in a unified way several aspects of common-sense reasoning, nonmonotonocity, preferences, and uncertainty, where each part is underpinned by a well established formalism. On one hand, from LPODs it inherits the distinctive feature of expressing context-dependent qualitative preferences among different alternatives (modeled as the atoms of a logic program). On the other hand, PASP allows for qualitative certainty statements about the rules themselves (modeled as necessity values according to possibilistic logic) to be captured. In this way, the LPPODs framework supports a reasoning which is nonmonotonic, preference- and uncertainty-aware. The LPPODs syntax allows for the specification of (1) preferences among the exceptions to default rules, and (2)?necessity values about the certainty of program rules. As a result, preferences and uncertainty can be used to select the preferred uncertain default rules of an LPPOD and, consequently, to order its possibilistic answer sets. Furthermore, we describe the implementation of an ASP-based solver able to compute the LPPODs semantics.     

一种改进的Conf-H-Mine算法

对关联规则和约束关联规则的算法进行了研究和分析,基于候选集的约束算法需要反复扫描数据库,并产生大量的候选集,在挖掘低支持度、长模式的规则时效率低下。针对算法的缺陷,该文提出了一种Conf-H-Mine算法,采用Conf-H-Struct结构存储事务集合,不产生候选集,优化了关联规则的挖掘。实验结果证明了该算法的有效性。     

Weight constraint programs with evaluable functions

In the current practice of Answer Set Programming (ASP), evaluable functions are represented as special kinds of relations. This often makes the resulting program unnecessarily large when instantiated over a large domain. The extra constraints needed to enforce the relation as a function also make the logic program less transparent. In this paper, we consider adding evaluable functions to answer set logic programs. The class of logic programs that we consider here is that of weight constraint programs, which are widely used in ASP. We propose an answer set semantics to these extended weight constraint programs and define loop completion to characterize the semantics. Computationally, we provide a translation from loop completions of these programs to instances of the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) and use the off-the-shelf CSP solvers to compute the answer sets of these programs. A main advantage of this approach is that global constraints implemented in such CSP solvers become available to ASP. The approach also provides a new encoding for CSP problems in the style of weight constraint programs. We have implemented a prototype system based on these results, and our experiments show that this prototype system competes well with the state-of-the-art ASP solvers. In addition, we illustrate the utilities of global constraints in the ASP context.     

Nested expressions in logic programs

We extend the answer set semantics to a class of logic programs with nested expressions permitted in the bodies and heads of rules. These expressions are formed from literals using negation as failure, conjunction (,) and disjunction (;) that can be nested arbitrarily. Conditional expressions are introduced as abbreviations. The study of equivalent transformations of programs with nested expressions shows that any such program is equivalent to a set of disjunctive rules, possibly with negation as failure in the heads. The generalized answer set semantics is related to the Lloyd–Topor generalization of Clark’s completion and to the logic of minimal belief and negation as failure. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Logic programs with abstract constraint atoms: The role of computations

We provide a new perspective on the semantics of logic programs with arbitrary abstract constraints. To this end, we introduce several notions of computation. We use the results of computations to specify answer sets of programs with constraints. We present the rationale behind the classes of computations we consider, and discuss the relationships among them. We also discuss the relationships among the corresponding concepts of answer sets. One of those concepts has several compelling characterizations and properties, and we propose it as the correct generalization of the answer-set semantics to the case of programs with arbitrary constraints. We show that several other notions of an answer set proposed in the literature for programs with constraints can be obtained within our framework as the results of appropriately selected classes of computations.     

一种新的关联规则挖掘算法

对关联规则算法进行了研究和分析,基于候选集的Apriori-like算法需要反复扫描数据库,并产生大量的候选集,在挖掘低支持度、长模式的规则时效率低下。针对算法的缺陷,该文提出了一种PS算法,优化了关联规则的挖掘。实验结果证明了该算法的有效性。     

Active Integrity Constraints for Database Consistency Maintenance

This paper introduces active integrity constraints (AICs), an extension of integrity constraints for consistent database maintenance. An active integrity constraint is a special constraint whose body contains a conjunction of literals which must be false and whose head contains a disjunction of update actions representing actions (insertions and deletions of tuples) to be performed if the constraint is not satisfied (that is its body is true). The AICs work in a domino-like manner as the satisfaction of one AIC may trigger the violation and therefore the activation of another one. The paper also introduces founded repairs, which are minimal sets of update actions that make the database consistent, and are specified and “supported” by active integrity constraints. The paper presents: 1) a formal declarative semantics allowing the computation of founded repairs and 2) a characterization of this semantics obtained by rewriting active integrity constraints into disjunctive logic rules, so that founded repairs can be derived from the answer sets of the derived logic program. Finally, the paper studies the computational complexity of computing founded repairs.     

Reasoning with Sets of Defaults in Default Logic

We present a general approach for representing and reasoning with sets of defaults in default logic, focusing on reasoning about preferences among sets of defaults. First, we consider how to control the application of a set of defaults so that either all apply (if possible) or none do (if not). From this, an approach to dealing with preferences among sets of default rules is developed. We begin with an ordered default theory , consisting of a standard default theory, but with possible preferences on sets of rules. This theory is transformed into a second, standard default theory wherein the preferences are respected. The approach differs from other work, in that we obtain standard default theories and do not rely on prioritized versions of default logic. In practical terms this means we can immediately use existing default logic theorem provers for an implementation. Also, we directly generate just those extensions containing the most preferred applied rules; in contrast, most previous approaches generate all extensions, then select the most preferred. In a major application of the approach, we show how semimonotonic default theories can be encoded so that reasoning can be carried out at the object level. With this, we can reason about default extensions from within the framework of a standard default logic. Hence one can encode notions such as skeptical and credulous conclusions, and can reason about such conclusions within a single extension.     

基于粗糙集的非监督快速属性选择算法

针对"大数据"中常见的大规模无监督数据集中特征选择速度难以满足实际应用要求的问题,在经典粗糙集绝对约简增量式算法的基础上提出了一种快速的属性选择算法。首先,将大规模数据集看作一个随机到来的对象序列,并初始化候选约简为空集;然后每次都从大规模数据集中无放回地随机抽取一个对象,并且每次都判断使用当前候选约简能否区分这一对象和当前对象集中所有应当区分的对象,并将该对象放入到当前对象集中,如果不能区分则向候选约简中添加合适的属性;最后,如果连续I次都没有发现无法区分的对象,那么将候选约简作为大规模数据集的约简。在5个非监督大规模数据集上的实验表明,所求得的约简能够区分95%以上的对象对,并且求取该约简所需的时间不到基于区分矩阵的算法和增量式约简算法的1%;在文本主题挖掘的实验中,使用约简后的数据集挖掘出的文本主题同原始数据集挖掘出的主题基本一致。两组实验结果表明该方法能够有效快速对大规模数据集进行属性选择。     

Approximate set-valued observers for nonlinear systems

A set-valued observer (SVO) produces a set of possible states based on output measurements and a priori models of exogenous disturbances and noises. Previous work considered linear time-varying systems and unknown-but-bounded exogenous signals. In this case, the sets of possible state vectors take the form of polytopes whose centers are optimal state estimates. These polytopic sets can be computed by solving several small linear programs. An SVO can be constructed conceptually for nonlinear systems; however, the set of possible state vectors no longer takes the form of polytopes, which in turn inhibits their explicit computation. This paper considers an “extended SVO”. As in the extended Kalman filter, the state equations are linearized about the state estimate, and a linear SVO is designed along the linearization trajectory. Under appropriate observability assumptions, it is shown that the extended SVO provides an exponentially convergent state estimate in the case of sufficiently small initial condition uncertainty and provides a nondivergent state estimate in the case of sufficiently small exogenous signals