6,594 research outputs found
A Typed Language for Truthful One-Dimensional Mechanism Design
We first introduce a very simple typed language for expressing allocation algorithms that allows automatic verification that an algorithm is monotonic and therefore truthful. The analysis of truthfulness is accomplished using a syntax-directed transformation which constructs a proof of monotonicity based on an exhaustive critical-value analysis of the algorithm. We then define a more high-level, general-purpose programming language with typical constructs, such as those for defining recursive functions, along with primitives that match allocation algorithm combinators found in the work of Mu'alem and Nisan [10]. We demonstrate how this language can be used to combine both primitive and user-defined combinators, allowing it to capture a collection of basic truthful allocation algorithms. In addition to demonstrating the value of programming language design techniques in application to a specific domain, this work suggests a blueprint for interactive tools that can be used to teach the simple principles of truthful mechanism desig
Semantics for Probabilistic Inference
A number of writers(Joseph Halpern and Fahiem Bacchus among them) have
offered semantics for formal languages in which inferences concerning
probabilities can be made. Our concern is different. This paper provides a
formalization of nonmonotonic inferences in which the conclusion is supported
only to a certain degree. Such inferences are clearly 'invalid' since they must
allow the falsity of a conclusion even when the premises are true.
Nevertheless, such inferences can be characterized both syntactically and
semantically. The 'premises' of probabilistic arguments are sets of statements
(as in a database or knowledge base), the conclusions categorical statements in
the language. We provide standards for both this form of inference, for which
high probability is required, and for an inference in which the conclusion is
qualified by an intermediate interval of support.Comment: Appears in Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Uncertainty in
Artificial Intelligence (UAI1992
Embedding Defeasible Logic into Logic Programming
Defeasible reasoning is a simple but efficient approach to nonmonotonic
reasoning that has recently attracted considerable interest and that has found
various applications. Defeasible logic and its variants are an important family
of defeasible reasoning methods. So far no relationship has been established
between defeasible logic and mainstream nonmonotonic reasoning approaches.
In this paper we establish close links to known semantics of logic programs.
In particular, we give a translation of a defeasible theory D into a
meta-program P(D). We show that under a condition of decisiveness, the
defeasible consequences of D correspond exactly to the sceptical conclusions of
P(D) under the stable model semantics. Without decisiveness, the result holds
only in one direction (all defeasible consequences of D are included in all
stable models of P(D)). If we wish a complete embedding for the general case,
we need to use the Kunen semantics of P(D), instead.Comment: To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programmin
Super Logic Programs
The Autoepistemic Logic of Knowledge and Belief (AELB) is a powerful
nonmonotic formalism introduced by Teodor Przymusinski in 1994. In this paper,
we specialize it to a class of theories called `super logic programs'. We argue
that these programs form a natural generalization of standard logic programs.
In particular, they allow disjunctions and default negation of arbibrary
positive objective formulas.
Our main results are two new and powerful characterizations of the static
semant ics of these programs, one syntactic, and one model-theoretic. The
syntactic fixed point characterization is much simpler than the fixed point
construction of the static semantics for arbitrary AELB theories. The
model-theoretic characterization via Kripke models allows one to construct
finite representations of the inherently infinite static expansions.
Both characterizations can be used as the basis of algorithms for query
answering under the static semantics. We describe a query-answering interpreter
for super programs which we developed based on the model-theoretic
characterization and which is available on the web.Comment: 47 pages, revised version of the paper submitted 10/200
Semantic Matchmaking as Non-Monotonic Reasoning: A Description Logic Approach
Matchmaking arises when supply and demand meet in an electronic marketplace,
or when agents search for a web service to perform some task, or even when
recruiting agencies match curricula and job profiles. In such open
environments, the objective of a matchmaking process is to discover best
available offers to a given request. We address the problem of matchmaking from
a knowledge representation perspective, with a formalization based on
Description Logics. We devise Concept Abduction and Concept Contraction as
non-monotonic inferences in Description Logics suitable for modeling
matchmaking in a logical framework, and prove some related complexity results.
We also present reasonable algorithms for semantic matchmaking based on the
devised inferences, and prove that they obey to some commonsense properties.
Finally, we report on the implementation of the proposed matchmaking framework,
which has been used both as a mediator in e-marketplaces and for semantic web
services discovery
Smart matching
One of the most annoying aspects in the formalization of mathematics is the
need of transforming notions to match a given, existing result. This kind of
transformations, often based on a conspicuous background knowledge in the given
scientific domain (mostly expressed in the form of equalities or isomorphisms),
are usually implicit in the mathematical discourse, and it would be highly
desirable to obtain a similar behavior in interactive provers. The paper
describes the superposition-based implementation of this feature inside the
Matita interactive theorem prover, focusing in particular on the so called
smart application tactic, supporting smart matching between a goal and a given
result.Comment: To appear in The 9th International Conference on Mathematical
Knowledge Management: MKM 201
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