Loop elimination, a sound optimisation technique for PTTP related theorem proving

In this paper we present loop elimination, an important optimisation technique for first-order theorem proving based on Prolog technology, such as the Prolog Technology Theorem Prover or the DLog Description Logic Reasoner. Although several loop checking techniques exist for logic programs, to the best of our knowledge, we are the first to examine the interaction of loop checking with ancestor resolution. Our main contribution is a rigorous proof of the soundness of loop elimination

leanCoP: lean connection-based theorem proving

AbstractThe Prolog programimplements a theorem prover for classical first-order (clausal) logic which is based on the connection calculus. It is sound and complete (provided that an arbitrarily large I is iteratively given), and demonstrates a comparatively strong performance

Using Extended Logic Programs to Formalize Commonsense Reasoning

In this dissertation, we investigate how commonsense reasoning can be formalized by using extended logic programs. In this investigation, we first use extended logic programs to formalize inheritance hierarchies with exceptions by adopting McCarthy's simple abnormality formalism to express uncertain knowledge. In our representation, not only credulous reasoning can be performed but also the ambiguity-blocking inheritance and the ambiguity-propagating inheritance in skeptical reasoning are simulated. In response to the anomalous extension problem, we explore and discover that the intuition underlying commonsense reasoning is a kind of forward reasoning. The unidirectional nature of this reasoning is applied by many reformulations of the Yale shooting problem to exclude the undesired conclusion. We then identify defeasible conclusions in our representation based on the syntax of extended logic programs. A similar idea is also applied to other formalizations of commonsense reasoning to achieve such a purpose

Implementing semantic tableaux

This report describes implementions of the tableau calculus for first-order logic. First an extremely simple implementation, called leanTAP, is presented, which nonetheless covers the full functionality of the calculus and is also competitive with respect to performance. A second approach uses compilation techniques for proof search. Improvements inculding universal variables and lemmata are considered as well as more efficient data structures using reduced ordered binary decision diagrams. The implementation language is PROLOG. In all cases fully operational PROLOG code is given. For leanTAP a formal proof of the correctness of the implementation is given relying on the operational semantics of PROLOG as given by the SLD-tree model. This report will appear as a chapter in the Handbook of Tableau-based Methods in Automated Deduction edited by: D. Gabbay, M. D\u27Agostino, R. H\"{a}hnle, and J.Posegga published by: KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS Electronic availability will be discontinued after final acceptance for publication is obtained

T-resolution: refinements and model elimination

T-resolution is a binary rule, proposed by Policriti and Schwartz in 1995 for theorem proving in first-order theories (T-theorem proving) that can be seen - at least at the ground level - as a variant of Stickel's theory resolution. In this paper we consider refinements of this rule as well as the model elimination variant of it. After a general discussion concerning our viewpoint on theorem proving in first-order theories and a brief comparison with theory resolution, the power and generality of T-resolution are emphasized by introducing suitable linear and ordered refinements, uniformly and in strict analogy with the standard resolution approach. Then a model elimination variant of T-resolution is introduced and proved to be sound and complete; some experimental results are also reported. In the last part of the paper we present two applications of T-resolution: to constraint logic programming and to modal logic

Modal Hybrid Logic

This is an extended version of the lectures given during the 12-th Conference on Applications of Logic in Philosophy and in the Foundations of Mathematics in Szklarska Poręba (7–11 May 2007). It contains a survey of modal hybrid logic, one of the branches of contemporary modal logic. In the first part a variety of hybrid languages and logics is presented with a discussion of expressivity matters. The second part is devoted to thorough exposition of proof methods for hybrid logics. The main point is to show that application of hybrid logics may remarkably improve the situation in modal proof theory