4,624 research outputs found
Semantics out of context: nominal absolute denotations for first-order logic and computation
Call a semantics for a language with variables absolute when variables map to
fixed entities in the denotation. That is, a semantics is absolute when the
denotation of a variable a is a copy of itself in the denotation. We give a
trio of lattice-based, sets-based, and algebraic absolute semantics to
first-order logic. Possibly open predicates are directly interpreted as lattice
elements / sets / algebra elements, subject to suitable interpretations of the
connectives and quantifiers. In particular, universal quantification "forall
a.phi" is interpreted using a new notion of "fresh-finite" limit and using a
novel dual to substitution.
The interest of this semantics is partly in the non-trivial and beautiful
technical details, which also offer certain advantages over existing
semantics---but also the fact that such semantics exist at all suggests a new
way of looking at variables and the foundations of logic and computation, which
may be well-suited to the demands of modern computer science
Singly generated quasivarieties and residuated structures
A quasivariety K of algebras has the joint embedding property (JEP) iff it is
generated by a single algebra A. It is structurally complete iff the free
countably generated algebra in K can serve as A. A consequence of this demand,
called "passive structural completeness" (PSC), is that the nontrivial members
of K all satisfy the same existential positive sentences. We prove that if K is
PSC then it still has the JEP, and if it has the JEP and its nontrivial members
lack trivial subalgebras, then its relatively simple members all belong to the
universal class generated by one of them. Under these conditions, if K is
relatively semisimple then it is generated by one K-simple algebra. It is a
minimal quasivariety if, moreover, it is PSC but fails to unify some finite set
of equations. We also prove that a quasivariety of finite type, with a finite
nontrivial member, is PSC iff its nontrivial members have a common retract. The
theory is then applied to the variety of De Morgan monoids, where we isolate
the sub(quasi)varieties that are PSC and those that have the JEP, while
throwing fresh light on those that are structurally complete. The results
illuminate the extension lattices of intuitionistic and relevance logics
A decidable subclass of finitary programs
Answer set programming - the most popular problem solving paradigm based on
logic programs - has been recently extended to support uninterpreted function
symbols. All of these approaches have some limitation. In this paper we propose
a class of programs called FP2 that enjoys a different trade-off between
expressiveness and complexity. FP2 programs enjoy the following unique
combination of properties: (i) the ability of expressing predicates with
infinite extensions; (ii) full support for predicates with arbitrary arity;
(iii) decidability of FP2 membership checking; (iv) decidability of skeptical
and credulous stable model reasoning for call-safe queries. Odd cycles are
supported by composing FP2 programs with argument restricted programs
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