14 research outputs found
Decidable Reasoning in Terminological Knowledge Representation Systems
Terminological knowledge representation systems (TKRSs) are tools for
designing and using knowledge bases that make use of terminological languages
(or concept languages). We analyze from a theoretical point of view a TKRS
whose capabilities go beyond the ones of presently available TKRSs. The new
features studied, often required in practical applications, can be summarized
in three main points. First, we consider a highly expressive terminological
language, called ALCNR, including general complements of concepts, number
restrictions and role conjunction. Second, we allow to express inclusion
statements between general concepts, and terminological cycles as a particular
case. Third, we prove the decidability of a number of desirable TKRS-deduction
services (like satisfiability, subsumption and instance checking) through a
sound, complete and terminating calculus for reasoning in ALCNR-knowledge
bases. Our calculus extends the general technique of constraint systems. As a
byproduct of the proof, we get also the result that inclusion statements in
ALCNR can be simulated by terminological cycles, if descriptive semantics is
adopted.Comment: See http://www.jair.org/ for any accompanying file
Metalevel and reflexive extension in mechanical theorem proving
In spite of many years of research into mechanical assistance for mathematics
it is still much more difficult to construct a proof on a machine than on
paper. Of course this is partly because, unlike a proof on paper, a machine
checked proof must be formal in the strictest sense of that word, but it is
also because usually the ways of going about building proofs on a machine
are limited compared to what a mathematician is used to. This thesis looks
at some possible extensions to the range of tools available on a machine
that might lend a user more flexibility in proving theorems, complementing
whatever is already available.In particular, it examines what is possible in a framework theorem
prover. Such a system, if it is configured to prove theorems in a particular
logic T, must have a formal description of the proof theory of T written
in the framework theory F of the system. So it should be possible to use
whatever facilities are available in F not only to prove theorems of T, but
also theorems about T that can then be used in their turn to aid the user
in building theorems of T.The thesis is divided into three parts. The first describes the theory
FSâ‚€, which has been suggested by Feferman as a candidate for a framework
theory suitable for doing meta-theory. The second describes some experiments with FSâ‚€, proving meta-theorems. The third describes an experiment
in extending the theory PRA, declared in FSâ‚€, with a reflection facility.More precisely, in the second section three theories are formalised:
propositional logic, sorted predicate logic, and the lambda calculus (with
a deBruijn style binding). For the first two the deduction theorem and
the prenex normal form theorem are respectively proven. For the third, a
relational definition of beta-reduction is replaced with an explicit function.In the third section, a method is proposed for avoiding the work involved
in building a full Godel style proof predicate for a theory. It is suggested
that the language be extended with quotation and substitution facilities directly, instead of providing them as definitional extensions. With this, it
is possible to exploit an observation of Solovay's that the Lob derivability
conditions are sufficient to capture the schematic behaviour of a proof
predicate. Combining this with a reflection schema is enough to produce
a non-conservative extension of PRA, and this is demonstrated by some
experiments
Coherence and transitivity in coercive subtyping
The aim of this thesis is to study coherence and transitivity in coercive subtyping. Among other things, coherence and transitivity are key aspects for a coercive subtyping system to be consistent and for it to be implemented in a correct way. The thesis consists of three major parts. First, I prove that, for the subtyping rules of some parameterised inductive data types, coherence holds and the normal transitivity rule is admissible. Second, the notion of weak transitivity is introduced. The subtyping rules of a large class of parameterised inductive data types are suitable for weak transitivity, but not compatible with the normal transitivity rule. Third, I present a new formulation of coercive subtyping in order to combine incoherent coercions for the type of dependent pairs. There are two subtyping relations in the system and hence a further understanding of coherence and transitivity is needed. This thesis has the first case study of combining incoherent coercions in a single system. The thesis provides a clearer understanding of the subtyping rules for parameterised inductive data types and explains why the normal transitivity rule is not admissible for some natural subtyping rules. It also demonstrates that coherence and transitivity at type level can sometimes be very difficult issues in coercive subtyping. Besides providing theoretical understanding, the thesis also gives algorithms for implementing the subtyping rules for parameterised inductive data types