Possibilistic functional dependencies and their relationship to possibility theory

This paper introduces possibilistic functional dependencies. These dependencies are associated with a particular possibility distribution over possible worlds of a classical database. The possibility distribution reflects a layered view of the database. The highest layer of the (classical) database consists of those tuples that certainly belong to it, while the other layers add tuples that only possibly belong to the database, with different levels of possibility. The relation between the confidence levels associated with the tuples and the possibility distribution over possible database worlds is discussed in detail in the setting of possibility theory. A possibilistic functional dependency is a classical functional dependency associated with a certainty level that reflects the highest confidence level where the functional dependency no longer holds in the layered database. Moreover, the relationship between possibilistic functional dependencies and possibilistic logic formulas is established. Related work is reviewed, and the intended use of possibilistic functional dependencies is discussed in the conclusion

Towards Contingent World Descriptions in Description Logics

The philosophical, logical, and terminological junctions between Description Logics (DLs) and Modal Logic (ML) are important because they can support the formal analysis of modal notions of ‘possibility’ and ‘necessity’ through the lens of DLs. This paper introduces functional contingents in order to (i) structurally and terminologically analyse ‘functional possibility’ and ‘functional necessity’ in DL world descriptions and (ii) logically and terminologically annotate DL world descriptions based on functional contingents. The most significant contributions of this research are the logical characterisation and terminological analysis of functional contingents in DL world descriptions. The ultimate goal is to investigate how modal operators can – logically and terminologically – be expressed within DL world descriptions

Possibilistic functional dependencies and their relationship to possibility theory

International audienceThis paper introduces possibilistic functional dependencies. These dependencies are associated with a particular possibility distribution over possible worlds of a classical database. The possibility distribution reflects a layered view of the database. The highest layer of the (classical) database consists of those tuples that certainly belong to it, while the other layers add tuples that only possibly belong to the database, with different levels of possibility. The relation between the confidence levels associated with the tuples and the possibility distribution over possible database worlds is discussed in detail in the setting of possibility theory. A possibilistic functional dependency is a classical functional dependency associated with a certainty level that reflects the highest confidence level where the functional dependency no longer holds in the layered database. Moreover, the relationship between possibilistic functional dependencies and possibilistic logic formulas is established. Related work is reviewed, and the intended use of possibilistic functional dependencies is discussed in the conclusion