What does a conditional knowledge base entail?

This paper presents a logical approach to nonmonotonic reasoning based on the notion of a nonmonotonic consequence relation. A conditional knowledge base, consisting of a set of conditional assertions of the type "if ... then ...", represents the explicit defeasible knowledge an agent has about the way the world generally behaves. We look for a plausible definition of the set of all conditional assertions entailed by a conditional knowledge base. In a previous paper, S. Kraus and the authors defined and studied "preferential" consequence relations. They noticed that not all preferential relations could be considered as reasonable inference procedures. This paper studies a more restricted class of consequence relations, "rational" relations. It is argued that any reasonable nonmonotonic inference procedure should define a rational relation. It is shown that the rational relations are exactly those that may be represented by a "ranked" preferential model, or by a (non-standard) probabilistic model. The rational closure of a conditional knowledge base is defined and shown to provide an attractive answer to the question of the title. Global properties of this closure operation are proved: it is a cumulative operation. It is also computationally tractable. This paper assumes the underlying language is propositional.Comment: Preliminary version presented at KR'89. Minor corrections of the Journal Versio

Independence of the existence of Pitowsky spin models

In 1982 I. Pitowsky used Continuum Hypothesis to construct hidden variable models for spin-1/2 and spin-1 particles in quantum mechanics. We show that the existence of Pitowsky models is independent from ZFC

Bext^2(G,T) can be nontrivial, even assuming GCH

Using the consistency of some large cardinals we produce a model of Set Theory in which the generalized continuum hypothesis holds and for some torsion-free abelian group G of cardinality aleph_{omega +1} and for some torsion group T, Bext^2(G,T) not =0

Destructibility of the tree property at ℵω+1\aleph_{\omega+1}

We construct a model in which the tree property holds in $\aleph_{\omega + 1}$ and it is destructible under $\text{Col}(\omega, \omega_1)$. On the other hand we discuss some cases in which the tree property is indestructible under small or closed forcings

On properties of compacta that do not reflect in small continuous images

Assuming that there is a stationary set in $\omega_{2}$ of ordinals of countable cofinality that does not reflect, we prove that there exists a compact space which is not Corson compact and whose all continuous images of weight at most $\omega_1$ are Eberlein compacta. This yields an example of a Banach space of density $\omega_{2}$ which is not weakly compactly generated but all its subspaces of density $\omega_{1}$ are weakly compactly generated. We also prove that under Martin's axiom countable functional tightness does not reflect in small continuous images of compacta.Comment: 10 pages, version of Aug 8, 201

On Boolean algebras with strictly positive measures

We investigate reflection-type problems on the class SPM, of Boolean algebras carrying strictly positive finitely additive measures. We show, in particular, that in the constructible universe there is a Boolean algebra $\mathfrak A$ which is not in SPM but every subalgebra of $\mathfrak A$ of cardinality $\mathfrak c$ admits a strictly positive measure. This result is essentially due to Farah and Velickovic.Comment: 8 pages; version of October 5, 201

On supercompactness and the continuum function

Given a cardinal $\kappa$ that is $\lambda$-supercompact for some regular cardinal $\lambda\geq\kappa$ and assuming \GCH, we show that one can force the continuum function to agree with any function F:[\kappa,\lambda]\cap\REG\to\CARD satisfying \forall\alpha,\beta\in\dom(F) \alpha<\cf(F(\alpha)) and $\alpha<\beta$ $\implies$ $F(\alpha)\leq F(\beta)$, while preserving the $\lambda$-supercompactness of $\kappa$ from a hypothesis that is of the weakest possible consistency strength, namely, from the hypothesis that there is an elementary embedding $j:V\to M$ with critical point $\kappa$ such that $M^\lambda\subseteq M$ and $j(\kappa)>F(\lambda)$. Our argument extends Woodin's technique of surgically modifying a generic filter to a new case: Woodin's key lemma applies when modifications are done on the range of $j$, whereas our argument uses a new key lemma to handle modifications done off of the range of $j$ on the ghost coordinates. This work answers a question of Friedman and Honzik [FH2012]. We also discuss several related open questions.Comment: 12 page

Corson reflections

A reflection principle for Corson compacta holds in the forcing extension obtained by Levy-collapsing a supercompact cardinal to~$\aleph_2$. In this model, a compact Hausdorff space is Corson if and only if all of its continuous images of weight~$\aleph_1$ are Corson compact. We use the Gelfand--Naimark duality, and our results are stated in terms of unital abelian \cstar-algebras.Comment: Some corrections, mostly mino

The tree property at successors of singular cardinals

Assuming some large cardinals, a model of ZFC is obtained in which aleph_{omega+1} carries no Aronszajn trees. It is also shown that if lambda is a singular limit of strongly compact cardinals, then lambda^+ carries no Aronszajn trees

Nonmonotonic Reasoning, Preferential Models and Cumulative Logics

Many systems that exhibit nonmonotonic behavior have been described and studied already in the literature. The general notion of nonmonotonic reasoning, though, has almost always been described only negatively, by the property it does not enjoy, i.e. monotonicity. We study here general patterns of nonmonotonic reasoning and try to isolate properties that could help us map the field of nonmonotonic reasoning by reference to positive properties. We concentrate on a number of families of nonmonotonic consequence relations, defined in the style of Gentzen. Both proof-theoretic and semantic points of view are developed in parallel. The former point of view was pioneered by D. Gabbay, while the latter has been advocated by Y. Shoham in. Five such families are defined and characterized by representation theorems, relating the two points of view. One of the families of interest, that of preferential relations, turns out to have been studied by E. Adams. The "preferential" models proposed here are a much stronger tool than Adams' probabilistic semantics. The basic language used in this paper is that of propositional logic. The extension of our results to first order predicate calculi and the study of the computational complexity of the decision problems described in this paper will be treated in another paper.Comment: Presented at JELIA, June 1988. Some misprints in the Journal paper have been correcte