Ultimate approximations in nonmonotonic knowledge representation systems

We study fixpoints of operators on lattices. To this end we introduce the notion of an approximation of an operator. We order approximations by means of a precision ordering. We show that each lattice operator O has a unique most precise or ultimate approximation. We demonstrate that fixpoints of this ultimate approximation provide useful insights into fixpoints of the operator O. We apply our theory to logic programming and introduce the ultimate Kripke-Kleene, well-founded and stable semantics. We show that the ultimate Kripke-Kleene and well-founded semantics are more precise then their standard counterparts We argue that ultimate semantics for logic programming have attractive epistemological properties and that, while in general they are computationally more complex than the standard semantics, for many classes of theories, their complexity is no worse.Comment: This paper was published in Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference (KR2002

The Complexity of Reasoning for Fragments of Autoepistemic Logic

Autoepistemic logic extends propositional logic by the modal operator L. A formula that is preceded by an L is said to be "believed". The logic was introduced by Moore 1985 for modeling an ideally rational agent's behavior and reasoning about his own beliefs. In this paper we analyze all Boolean fragments of autoepistemic logic with respect to the computational complexity of the three most common decision problems expansion existence, brave reasoning and cautious reasoning. As a second contribution we classify the computational complexity of counting the number of stable expansions of a given knowledge base. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper analyzing the counting problem for autoepistemic logic

Epistemic Foundation of Stable Model Semantics

Stable model semantics has become a very popular approach for the management of negation in logic programming. This approach relies mainly on the closed world assumption to complete the available knowledge and its formulation has its basis in the so-called Gelfond-Lifschitz transformation. The primary goal of this work is to present an alternative and epistemic-based characterization of stable model semantics, to the Gelfond-Lifschitz transformation. In particular, we show that stable model semantics can be defined entirely as an extension of the Kripke-Kleene semantics. Indeed, we show that the closed world assumption can be seen as an additional source of `falsehood' to be added cumulatively to the Kripke-Kleene semantics. Our approach is purely algebraic and can abstract from the particular formalism of choice as it is based on monotone operators (under the knowledge order) over bilattices only.Comment: 41 pages. To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP

Distributed Autoepistemic Logic and its Application to Access Control

In this paper we define and study an extension of autoepistemic logic (AEL) called distributed autoepistemic logic (dAEL) with multiple agents that have full introspection in their own knowledge as well as in that of others. This mutual full introspection between agents is motivated by an application of dAEL in access control. We define 2- and 3-valued semantic operators for dAEL. Using these operators, approximation fixpoint theory, an abstract algebraic framework that unifies different knowledge representation formalisms, immediately yields us a family of semantics for dAEL, each based on different intuitions that are well-studied in the context of AEL. The application in access control also motivates an extension of dAEL with inductive definitions (dAEL(ID)). We explain a use-case from access control to demonstrate how dAEL(ID) can be fruitfully applied to this domain and discuss how well-suited the different semantics are for the application in access control

Investigations in Belnap's Logic of Inconsistent and Unknown Information

Nuel Belnap schlug 1977 eine vierwertige Logik vor, die -- im Gegensatz zur klassischen Logik -- die Faehigkeit haben sollte, sowohl mit widerspruechlicher als auch mit fehlender Information umzugehen. Diese Logik hat jedoch den Nachteil, dass sie Saetze der Form 'wenn ..., dann ...' nicht ausdruecken kann. Ausgehend von dieser Beobachtung analysieren wir die beiden nichtklassischen Aspekte, Widerspruechlichkeit und fehlende Information, indem wir eine dreiwertige Logik entwickeln, die mit widerspruechlicher Information umgehen kann und eine Modallogik, die mit fehlender Information umgehen kann. Beide Logiken sind nicht monoton. Wir untersuchen Eigenschaften, wie z.B. Kompaktheit, Entscheidbarkeit, Deduktionstheoreme und Berechnungkomplexitaet dieser Logiken. Es stellt sich heraus, dass die dreiwertige Logik, nicht kompakt und ihre Folgerungsmenge im Allgemeinen nicht rekursiv aufzaehlbar ist. Beschraenkt man sich hingegen auf endliche Formelmengen, so ist die Folgerungsmenge rekursiv entscheidbar, liegt in der Klasse $\Sigma_2^P$ der polynomiellen Zeithierarchie und ist DIFFP-schwer. Wir geben ein auf semantischen Tableaux basierendes, korrektes und vollstaendiges Berechnungsverfahren fuer endliche Praemissenmengen an. Darueberhinaus untersuchen wir Abschwaechungen der Kompaktheitseigenschaft. Die nichtmonotone auf S5-Modellen basierende Modallogik stellt sich als nicht minder komplex heraus. Auch hier untersuchen wir eine sinnvolle Abschwaechung der Kompaktheitseigenschaft. Desweiteren studieren wir den Zusammenhang zu anderen nichtmonotonen Modallogiken wie Moores autoepistemischer Logik (AEL) und McDermotts NML-2. Wir zeigen, dass unsere Logik zwischen AEL und NML-2 liegt. Schliesslich koppeln wir die entworfene Modallogik mit der dreiwertigen Logik. Die dabei enstehende Logik MKT ist eine Erweiterung des nichtmonotonen Fragments von Belnaps Logik. Wir schliessen unsere Betrachtungen mit einem Vergleich von MKT und verschiedenen informationstheoretischen Logiken, wie z.B. Nelsons N und Heytings intuitionistischer Logik ab

Distributed Autoepistemic Logic and its Application to Access Control

Abstract In this paper we define and study an extension of autoepistemic logic (AEL) called distributed autoepistemic logic (dAEL) with multiple agents that have full introspection in their own knowledge as well as in that of others. This mutual full introspection between agents is motivated by an application of dAEL in access control. We define 2-and 3-valued semantic operators for dAEL. Using these operators, approximation fixpoint theory, an abstract algebraic framework that unifies different knowledge representation formalisms, immediately yields us a family of semantics for dAEL, each based on different intuitions that are wellstudied in the context of AEL. The application in access control also motivates an extension of dAEL with inductive definitions (dAEL(ID)). We explain a use-case from access control to demonstrate how dAEL(ID) can be fruitfully applied to this domain and discuss how well-suited the different semantics are for the application in access control