908 research outputs found
A Backward Analysis for Constraint Logic Programs
One recurring problem in program development is that of understanding how to
re-use code developed by a third party. In the context of (constraint) logic
programming, part of this problem reduces to figuring out how to query a
program. If the logic program does not come with any documentation, then the
programmer is forced to either experiment with queries in an ad hoc fashion or
trace the control-flow of the program (backward) to infer the modes in which a
predicate must be called so as to avoid an instantiation error. This paper
presents an abstract interpretation scheme that automates the latter technique.
The analysis presented in this paper can infer moding properties which if
satisfied by the initial query, come with the guarantee that the program and
query can never generate any moding or instantiation errors. Other applications
of the analysis are discussed. The paper explains how abstract domains with
certain computational properties (they condense) can be used to trace
control-flow backward (right-to-left) to infer useful properties of initial
queries. A correctness argument is presented and an implementation is reported.Comment: 32 page
Translating between Horn Representations and their Characteristic Models
Characteristic models are an alternative, model based, representation for
Horn expressions. It has been shown that these two representations are
incomparable and each has its advantages over the other. It is therefore
natural to ask what is the cost of translating, back and forth, between these
representations. Interestingly, the same translation questions arise in
database theory, where it has applications to the design of relational
databases. This paper studies the computational complexity of these problems.
Our main result is that the two translation problems are equivalent under
polynomial reductions, and that they are equivalent to the corresponding
decision problem. Namely, translating is equivalent to deciding whether a given
set of models is the set of characteristic models for a given Horn expression.
We also relate these problems to the hypergraph transversal problem, a well
known problem which is related to other applications in AI and for which no
polynomial time algorithm is known. It is shown that in general our translation
problems are at least as hard as the hypergraph transversal problem, and in a
special case they are equivalent to it.Comment: See http://www.jair.org/ for any accompanying file
Characterizing downwards closed, strongly first order, relativizable dependencies
In Team Semantics, a dependency notion is strongly first order if every
sentence of the logic obtained by adding the corresponding atoms to First Order
Logic is equivalent to some first order sentence. In this work it is shown that
all nontrivial dependency atoms that are strongly first order, downwards
closed, and relativizable (in the sense that the relativizations of the
corresponding atoms with respect to some unary predicate are expressible in
terms of them) are definable in terms of constancy atoms.
Additionally, it is shown that any strongly first order dependency is safe
for any family of downwards closed dependencies, in the sense that every
sentence of the logic obtained by adding to First Order Logic both the strongly
first order dependency and the downwards closed dependencies is equivalent to
some sentence of the logic obtained by adding only the downwards closed
dependencies
On a new class of Boolean dependencies
 A class of  generalized positive Boolean dependences (GPBD) is introduced. The membership problem, update problem and Armstrong relations for a given set of GPBD are investigated
Boolean difference-making: a modern regularity theory of causation
A regularity theory of causation analyses type-level causation in terms of Boolean difference-making. The essential ingredient that helps this theoretical framework overcome the well-known problems of Hume's and Mill's classical accounts is a principle of non-redundancy: only Boolean dependency structures from which no elements can be eliminated track causation. The first part of this paper argues that the recent regularity theoretic literature has not consistently implemented this principle, for it disregarded an important type of redundancies: structural redundancies. Moreover, it is shown that a regularity theory needs to be underwritten by a hitherto neglected metaphysical background assumption stipulating that the world's causal makeup is not ambiguous. Against that background, the second part then develops a new regularity theory that does justice to all types of redundancies and, thereby, provides the first all-inclusive notion of Boolean difference-making
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