43,523 research outputs found
Transformation-Based Bottom-Up Computation of the Well-Founded Model
We present a framework for expressing bottom-up algorithms to compute the
well-founded model of non-disjunctive logic programs. Our method is based on
the notion of conditional facts and elementary program transformations studied
by Brass and Dix for disjunctive programs. However, even if we restrict their
framework to nondisjunctive programs, their residual program can grow to
exponential size, whereas for function-free programs our program remainder is
always polynomial in the size of the extensional database (EDB).
We show that particular orderings of our transformations (we call them
strategies) correspond to well-known computational methods like the alternating
fixpoint approach, the well-founded magic sets method and the magic alternating
fixpoint procedure. However, due to the confluence of our calculi, we come up
with computations of the well-founded model that are provably better than these
methods.
In contrast to other approaches, our transformation method treats magic set
transformed programs correctly, i.e. it always computes a relevant part of the
well-founded model of the original program.Comment: 43 pages, 3 figure
Query Evaluation in Deductive Databases
It is desirable to answer queries posed to deductive databases by computing fixpoints because such computations are directly amenable to set-oriented fact processing. However, the classical fixpoint procedures based on bottom-up processing — the naive and semi-naive methods — are rather primitive and often inefficient. In this article, we rely on bottom-up meta-interpretation for formalizing a new fixpoint procedure that performs a different kind of reasoning: We specify a top-down query answering method, which we call the Backward Fixpoint Procedure. Then, we reconsider query evaluation methods for recursive databases. First, we show that the methods based on rewriting on the one hand, and the methods based on resolution on the other hand, implement the Backward Fixpoint Procedure. Second, we interpret the rewritings of the Alexander and Magic Set methods as specializations of the Backward Fixpoint Procedure. Finally, we argue that such a rewriting is also needed in a database context for implementing efficiently the resolution-based methods. Thus, the methods based on rewriting and the methods based on resolution implement the same top-down evaluation of the original database rules by means of auxiliary rules processed bottom-up
Pac-Learning Recursive Logic Programs: Efficient Algorithms
We present algorithms that learn certain classes of function-free recursive
logic programs in polynomial time from equivalence queries. In particular, we
show that a single k-ary recursive constant-depth determinate clause is
learnable. Two-clause programs consisting of one learnable recursive clause and
one constant-depth determinate non-recursive clause are also learnable, if an
additional ``basecase'' oracle is assumed. These results immediately imply the
pac-learnability of these classes. Although these classes of learnable
recursive programs are very constrained, it is shown in a companion paper that
they are maximally general, in that generalizing either class in any natural
way leads to a computationally difficult learning problem. Thus, taken together
with its companion paper, this paper establishes a boundary of efficient
learnability for recursive logic programs.Comment: See http://www.jair.org/ for any accompanying file
A Parameterised Hierarchy of Argumentation Semantics for Extended Logic Programming and its Application to the Well-founded Semantics
Argumentation has proved a useful tool in defining formal semantics for
assumption-based reasoning by viewing a proof as a process in which proponents
and opponents attack each others arguments by undercuts (attack to an
argument's premise) and rebuts (attack to an argument's conclusion). In this
paper, we formulate a variety of notions of attack for extended logic programs
from combinations of undercuts and rebuts and define a general hierarchy of
argumentation semantics parameterised by the notions of attack chosen by
proponent and opponent. We prove the equivalence and subset relationships
between the semantics and examine some essential properties concerning
consistency and the coherence principle, which relates default negation and
explicit negation. Most significantly, we place existing semantics put forward
in the literature in our hierarchy and identify a particular argumentation
semantics for which we prove equivalence to the paraconsistent well-founded
semantics with explicit negation, WFSX. Finally, we present a general proof
theory, based on dialogue trees, and show that it is sound and complete with
respect to the argumentation semantics.Comment: To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programmin
Goal-Driven Query Answering for Existential Rules with Equality
Inspired by the magic sets for Datalog, we present a novel goal-driven
approach for answering queries over terminating existential rules with equality
(aka TGDs and EGDs). Our technique improves the performance of query answering
by pruning the consequences that are not relevant for the query. This is
challenging in our setting because equalities can potentially affect all
predicates in a dataset. We address this problem by combining the existing
singularization technique with two new ingredients: an algorithm for
identifying the rules relevant to a query and a new magic sets algorithm. We
show empirically that our technique can significantly improve the performance
of query answering, and that it can mean the difference between answering a
query in a few seconds or not being able to process the query at all
Low Size-Complexity Inductive Logic Programming: The East-West Challenge Considered as a Problem in Cost-Sensitive Classification
The Inductive Logic Programming community has considered
proof-complexity and model-complexity, but, until recently,
size-complexity has received little attention. Recently a
challenge was issued "to the international computing community"
to discover low size-complexity Prolog programs for classifying
trains. The challenge was based on a problem first proposed by
Ryszard Michalski, 20 years ago. We interpreted the challenge
as a problem in cost-sensitive classification and we applied a
recently developed cost-sensitive classifier to the competition.
Our algorithm was relatively successful (we won a prize). This
paper presents our algorithm and analyzes the results of the
competition
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