717 research outputs found
On the Existence of Characterization Logics and Fundamental Properties of Argumentation Semantics
Given the large variety of existing logical formalisms it is of utmost importance
to select the most adequate one for a specific purpose, e.g. for representing
the knowledge relevant for a particular application or for using the formalism
as a modeling tool for problem solving. Awareness of the nature of a logical
formalism, in other words, of its fundamental intrinsic properties, is indispensable
and provides the basis of an informed choice.
One such intrinsic property of logic-based knowledge representation languages
is the context-dependency of pieces of knowledge. In classical propositional
logic, for example, there is no such context-dependence: whenever two
sets of formulas are equivalent in the sense of having the same models (ordinary
equivalence), then they are mutually replaceable in arbitrary contexts (strong
equivalence). However, a large number of commonly used formalisms are not
like classical logic which leads to a series of interesting developments. It turned
out that sometimes, to characterize strong equivalence in formalism L, we can
use ordinary equivalence in formalism L0: for example, strong equivalence in
normal logic programs under stable models can be characterized by the standard
semantics of the logic of here-and-there. Such results about the existence of
characterizing logics has rightly been recognized as important for the study of
concrete knowledge representation formalisms and raise a fundamental question:
Does every formalism have one? In this thesis, we answer this question
with a qualified “yes”. More precisely, we show that the important case of
considering only finite knowledge bases guarantees the existence of a canonical
characterizing formalism. Furthermore, we argue that those characterizing
formalisms can be seen as classical, monotonic logics which are uniquely determined (up to isomorphism) regarding their model theory.
The other main part of this thesis is devoted to argumentation semantics
which play the flagship role in Dung’s abstract argumentation theory. Almost
all of them are motivated by an easily understandable intuition of what should
be acceptable in the light of conflicts. However, although these intuitions equip
us with short and comprehensible formal definitions it turned out that their
intrinsic properties such as existence and uniqueness, expressibility, replaceability
and verifiability are not that easily accessible. We review the mentioned
properties for almost all semantics available in the literature. In doing so we
include two main axes: namely first, the distinction between extension-based
and labelling-based versions and secondly, the distinction of different kind of
argumentation frameworks such as finite or unrestricted ones
Folk Theorems on the Correspondence between State-Based and Event-Based Systems
Kripke Structures and Labelled Transition Systems are the two most prominent
semantic models used in concurrency theory. Both models are commonly believed
to be equi-expressive. One can find many ad-hoc embeddings of one of these
models into the other. We build upon the seminal work of De Nicola and
Vaandrager that firmly established the correspondence between stuttering
equivalence in Kripke Structures and divergence-sensitive branching
bisimulation in Labelled Transition Systems. We show that their embeddings can
also be used for a range of other equivalences of interest, such as strong
bisimilarity, simulation equivalence, and trace equivalence. Furthermore, we
extend the results by De Nicola and Vaandrager by showing that there are
additional translations that allow one to use minimisation techniques in one
semantic domain to obtain minimal representatives in the other semantic domain
for these equivalences.Comment: Full version of SOFSEM 2011 pape
Computation Tree Logic with Deadlock Detection
We study the equivalence relation on states of labelled transition systems of
satisfying the same formulas in Computation Tree Logic without the next state
modality (CTL-X). This relation is obtained by De Nicola & Vaandrager by
translating labelled transition systems to Kripke structures, while lifting the
totality restriction on the latter. They characterised it as divergence
sensitive branching bisimulation equivalence.
We find that this equivalence fails to be a congruence for interleaving
parallel composition. The reason is that the proposed application of CTL-X to
non-total Kripke structures lacks the expressiveness to cope with deadlock
properties that are important in the context of parallel composition. We
propose an extension of CTL-X, or an alternative treatment of non-totality,
that fills this hiatus. The equivalence induced by our extension is
characterised as branching bisimulation equivalence with explicit divergence,
which is, moreover, shown to be the coarsest congruence contained in divergence
sensitive branching bisimulation equivalence
Combining and Relating Control Effects and their Semantics
Combining local exceptions and first class continuations leads to programs
with complex control flow, as well as the possibility of expressing powerful
constructs such as resumable exceptions. We describe and compare games models
for a programming language which includes these features, as well as
higher-order references. They are obtained by contrasting methodologies: by
annotating sequences of moves with "control pointers" indicating where
exceptions are thrown and caught, and by composing the exceptions and
continuations monads.
The former approach allows an explicit representation of control flow in
games for exceptions, and hence a straightforward proof of definability (full
abstraction) by factorization, as well as offering the possibility of a
semantic approach to control flow analysis of exception-handling. However,
establishing soundness of such a concrete and complex model is a non-trivial
problem. It may be resolved by establishing a correspondence with the monad
semantics, based on erasing explicit exception moves and replacing them with
control pointers.Comment: In Proceedings COS 2013, arXiv:1309.092
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