Knowledge Compilation Using the Extension Rule

In this paper, we define a new class of tractable theories: EPCCL theories. Using EPCCL theories as a target language, we propose a new method for knowledge compilation. It is different from existing approaches in that both the compilation and the querying are based on the extension rule, a newly introduced inference rule. With our compilation method, arbitrary queries about the compiled knowledge base can be answered in linear time in the size of the compiled knowledge base. For some theories, the compilation can be done very efficiently, and the size of the compiled theory is small. Furthermore, our method suggests a new family of knowledge compilation methods.