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Journal of Applied Logic [SJR: 1.079] [H-I: 17]
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ISSN (Print) 1570-8683
Published by Elsevier

[2585 journals]

Similarity-based relaxed instance queries
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 19 January 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Andreas Ecke , Rafael Peñaloza , Anni-Yasmin Turhan
  In Description Logics (DL) knowledge bases (KBs), information is typically captured by clear-cut concepts. For many practical applications querying the KB by crisp concepts is too restrictive; a user might be willing to lose some precision in the query, in exchange of a larger selection of answers. Similarity measures can offer a controlled way of gradually relaxing a query concept within a user-specified limit. In this paper we formalize the task of instance query answering for DL KBs using concepts relaxed by concept similarity measures (CSMs). We investigate computation algorithms for this task in the DL EL , their complexity and properties for the CSMs employed regarding whether unfoldable or general TBoxes are used. For the case of general TBoxes we define a family of CSMs that take the full TBox information into account, when assessing the similarity of concepts.
  
  PubDate: 2015-01-23T05:04:29Z
The fallacy of composition: Guiding concepts, historical cases, and
research problems
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 20 January 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Maurice A. Finocchiaro
  Although the fallacy of composition is little studied by theorists and trivially illustrated in textbooks, some view it as ubiquitous and highly significant. Furthermore, although definitions regard the concept as unproblematic, it contains three distinct elements that are often confused, and is often carelessly conflated with the fallacy of division. And although some apparently claim that fallacies are figments of a critic's imagination, they are really proposing to study fallacies in the context of meta-argumentation. Guided by these ideas, I find three important historical examples: Aristotle's geocentric argument from natural motion, as critiqued by Galileo; a step in the theological argument from design, as critiqued by Hume; and Michels's iron law of oligarchy, as critiqued by social scientists Dahl and Lipset. Finally, I formulate some problems for future research on compositional arguments: distinguishing incorrectness from fallaciousness; elaborating general principles of evaluation; clarifying the three distinct subtypes; shifting from the arbitrary pluralism of argument-identification to the normal meta-argumentation of argument-analysis; and further historical-empirical search for such fallacies in various controversies, over holism, over global warming, and over national debts.
  
  PubDate: 2015-01-23T05:04:29Z
A concept for the evolution of relational probabilistic belief states and
the computation of their changes under optimum entropy semantics
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 8 January 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Nico Potyka , Christoph Beierle , Gabriele Kern-Isberner
  Coping with uncertain knowledge and changing beliefs is essential for reasoning in dynamic environments. We generalize an approach to adjust probabilistic belief states by use of the relative entropy in a propositional setting to relational languages, leading to a concept for the evolution of relational probabilistic belief states. As a second contribution of this paper, we present a method to compute the corresponding belief state changes by considering a dual problem and present first application and experimental results. The computed belief state usually factorizes and we explain how the factorization can be exploited to store the belief state more compactly and to simplify its computation by exploiting equivalences of worlds. Finally, we present results on the computational complexity of determining equivalence classes.
  
  PubDate: 2015-01-09T04:03:26Z
Abduction: A categorical characterization
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 7 January 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Fernando Tohmé , Gianluca Caterina , Rocco Gangle
  Scientific knowledge is gained by the informed (on the basis of theoretic ideas and criteria) examination of data. This can be easily seen in the context of quantitative data, handled with statistical methods. Here we are interested in other forms of data analysis, although with the same goal of extracting meaningful information. The idea is that data should guide the construction of suitable models, which later may lead to the development of new theories. This kind of inference is called abduction and constitutes a central procedure called Peircean qualitative induction. In this paper we will present a category-theoretic representation of abduction based on the notion of adjunction, which highlights the fundamental fact that an abduction is the most efficient way of capturing the information obtained from a large body of evidence.
  
  PubDate: 2015-01-09T04:03:26Z
A Dempster–Shafer model of imprecise assertion strategies
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 24 December 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Henrietta Eyre , Jonathan Lawry
  A Dempster–Shafer theory based model of assertion is proposed for multi-agent communications so as to capture both epistemic and strategic uncertainty. Treating assertion as a choice problem, we argue that for complex multi-agent communication systems, individual agents will only tend to have sufficient information to allow them to formulate imprecise strategies for choosing between different possible true assertions. In a propositional logic setting, an imprecise assertion strategy is defined as a functional mapping between a valuation and a set of true sentences, where the latter is assumed to contain the optimal assertion given that particular state of the world. Uncertainty is then quantified in terms of probability distributions defined on the joint space of valuations and strategies, naturally leading to Dempster–Shafer belief and plausibility measures on sets of possible assertions. This model is extended so as to include imprecise valuations and to provide a meta-level treatment of weak and strong assertions. As a case study, we consider the application of our proposed assertion models to the problem of choosing between a number of different vague descriptions, in the context of both epistemic and supervaluationist approaches to vagueness.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-29T03:32:29Z
Special issue SOCO12-JAL
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 15 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Álvaro Herrero , Václav Snášel , Ajith Abraham , Ivan Zelinka , Bruno Baruque , Héctor Quintián , José Luis Calvo-Rolle , Javier Sedano , Andre de Carlvalho , Emilio Corchado
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
A hybrid evolutionary model for supplier assessment and selection in
inbound logistics
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 15 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Dragan Simić , Vasa Svirčević , Svetlana Simić
  Business stability, quality, safety, supply chain flexibility and cost optimization have an increasing role in companies that strive to stay and survive in the market competition. A wise supplier choice becomes ever more important prerequisite for the success of any company. This paper presents a novel hybrid model for supplier assessment and selection, based on hybrid solution including genetic algorithm (GA) and harmony search algorithm (HSA). The chosen data set presents original data which is used for assessment in “Lames” company. The results show that HSA & GA value constraint model is slightly more restricted than other discussed models, and separates, much better and with greater precision, poor companies from the good ones in business environment.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
An efficient Reverse Distribution System for solving sustainable supply
chain network design problem
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 18 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Petrică C. Pop , Camelia-M. Pintea , Corina Pop Sitar , Mara Hajdu-Măcelaru
  This paper deals with a sustainable supply chain network design problem (SSCNDP) arising in the public sector. In the considered SSCNDP, given a manufacturer, a set of m potential distribution centers (DCs) having a given distinct capacity, and a set of n customers, each one with a particular demand, we have to select the number and the location of the DCs necessary to supply demands to all the customers and the allocation of the customers to these DCs such that the installation and transportation costs integrated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are minimized. Due to the complexity of the problem, an efficient Reverse Distribution System (RDS) consisting of several improved classical heuristic algorithms is proposed. The developed approaches were tested and promising results were obtained on benchmark instances based on the literature, involving between 10 and 50 distribution centers and between 10 and 100 customers.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Conventional controller design based on Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy models
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 15 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Jana Nowaková , Miroslav Pokorný , Martin Pieš
  Although it is long since the first PID controller design method was developed, new methods are still being created and no general applicable method has been found. The paper extends the set of designing methods of PID controllers. Design methods can be divided into classic (analytical tuning methods, optimization methods etc.) and not so common fuzzy knowledge based methods. In this case, a conjunction of both methods is presented. The classic design methods (Ziegler–Nichols step response method and Chien, Hrones and Reswick design method) are used for achieving the knowledge of fuzzy knowledge based design methods. The fuzzy knowledge based design methods are based on Takagi–Sugeno model. It is defined as a class of systems for which – using the new proposed method – the settling time is shorter or the settling time is nearly the same but without overshoot, which could be also very useful. The proof of efficiency of the proposed methods and a numerical experiment is presented including a comparison with the conventional methods (simulated in the software environment Matlab-Simulink).
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Recognition of damaged letters based on mathematical fuzzy logic analysis
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 18 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Vilém Novák , Petr Hurtík , Hashim Habiballa , Martin Štepnička
  This paper reports a real application whose task was to recognize characters printed on metal ingots. The problem is that surface of ingots is very uneven — ingots are hot or cold, cut by rough instrument, the printing machine can be worn down, etc. In this paper, we present two original recognition methods: the first one is based on application of mathematical fuzzy logic and the second one is based on representation of an image by a fuzzy-valued function. Results of these methods are compared with a simple neural network classifier and few other common methods.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Investigation on evolutionary predictive control of chemical reactor
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 18 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Ivan Zelinka , Donald David Davendra , Roman Šenkeřík , Michal Pluháček
  This paper discusses predictive control of chemical reactor by means of evolutionary algorithm named SOMA – the Self-Organizing Migrating Algorithm, that can be classified as swarm intelligence or memetic algorithm. The SOMA algorithm was used for multiple input–multiple output control of reactor model after static optimization. The MIMO control was defined for 5 inputs and 2 outputs with total number of 12 unknown variables. This paper is based on simulation results from optimization of static parameters that has been used to set up reactor for its evolutionary control.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Information retrieval from hospital information system: Increasing
effectivity using swarm intelligence
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 18 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Miroslav Bursa , Lenka Lhotska , Vaclav Chudacek , Jiri Spilka , Petr Janku , Lukas Hruban
  This paper details the process of mining information from a hospital information system that has been designed approximately 15 years ago. The information is distributed within database tables in large textual attributes with a free structure. Information retrieval from these information is necessary for complementing cardiotocography signals with additional information that is to be implemented in a decision support system. The basic statistical overview (n-gram analysis) helped with the insight into data structure, however more sophisticated methods have to be used as human (and expert) processing of the whole data were out of consideration: over 620,000 text fields contained text reports in natural language with (many) typographical errors, duplicates, ambiguities, syntax errors and many (nonstandard) abbreviations. There was a strong need to efficiently determine the overall structure of the database and discover information that is important from the clinical point of view. We have used three different methods: k-means, self-organizing map and a self-organizing approach inspired by ant-colonies that performed clustering of the records. The records were visualized and revealed the most prominent information structure(s) that were consulted with medical experts and served for further mining from the database. The outcome of this task is a set of ordered or nominal attributes with a structural information that is available for rule discovery mining and automated processing for the research of asphyxia prediction during delivery. The proposed methodology has significantly reduced the processing time of loosely structured textual records for both IT and medical experts.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 4
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Implementation and testing of a soft computing based model predictive
control on an industrial controller
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 18 November 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): M. Larrea , E. Larzabal , E. Irigoyen , J.J. Valera , M. Dendaluce
  This work presents a real time testing approach of an Intelligent Multiobjective Nonlinear-Model Predictive Control Strategy (iMO-NMPC). The goal is the testing and analysis of the feasibility and reliability of some Soft Computing (SC) techniques running on a real time industrial controller. In this predictive control strategy, a Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm is used together with a Recurrent Artificial Neural Network in order to obtain the control action at each sampling time. The entire development process, from the numeric simulation of the control scheme to its implementation and testing on a PC-based industrial controller, is also presented in this paper. The computational time requirements are discussed as well. The obtained results show that the SC techniques can be considered also to tackle highly nonlinear and coupled complex control problems in real time, thus optimising and enhancing the response of the control loop. Therefore this work is a contribution to spread the SC techniques in on-line control applications, where currently they are relegated mainly to be used off-line, as is the case of optimal tuning of control strategies.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
An approach to abstract argumentation with recursive attack and support
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 17 December 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Andrea Cohen , Sebastian Gottifredi , Alejandro J. García , Guillermo R. Simari
  This work introduces the Attack-Support Argumentation Framework (ASAF), an approach to abstract argumentation that allows for the representation and combination of attack and support relations. This framework extends the Argumentation Framework with Recursive Attacks (AFRA) in two ways. Firstly, it adds a support relation enabling to express support for arguments; this support can also be given to attacks, and to the support relation itself. Secondly, it extends AFRA's attack relation by allowing attacks to the aforementioned support relation. Moreover, since the support relation of the ASAF has a necessity interpretation, the ASAF also extends the Argumentation Framework with Necessities (AFN). Thus, the ASAF provides a unified framework for representing attack and support for arguments, as well as attack and support for the attack and support relations at any level.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Towards a logical belief function theory
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 17 December 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Laurence Cholvy
  This paper presents a version of belief function theory in which masses are assigned to propositional formulas and which allows the modeller to consider integrity constraints. It also provides three combination rules which apply within this framework. It proves that the initial version of belief function theory and its extension to non-exclusive hypotheses are two particular cases of this proposal. It finally shows that, even if this framework is not more expressive than the belief function theory as defined by Dempster and Shafer, its interest resides in the fact that it offers the modeller a rich language to express its beliefs, i.e., the propositional language.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
A logic for diffusion in social networks
- Abstract: Publication date: March 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 13, Issue 1
  Author(s): Zoé Christoff , Jens Ulrik Hansen
  This paper introduces a general logical framework for reasoning about diffusion processes within social networks. The new “Logic for Diffusion in Social Networks” is a dynamic extension of standard hybrid logic, allowing to model complex phenomena involving several properties of agents. We provide a complete axiomatization and a terminating and complete tableau system for this logic and show how to apply the framework to diffusion phenomena documented in social networks analysis.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Simplified method based on an intelligent model to obtain the extinction
angle of the current for a single-phase half wave controlled rectifier
with resistive and inductive load
- Abstract: Publication date: March 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 13, Issue 1
  Author(s): José Luis Calvo-Rolle , Héctor Quintian-Pardo , Emilio Corchado , María del Carmen Meizoso-López , Ramón Ferreiro García
  With the aim of calculating the extinction angle of the current of a single-phase half wave controlled rectifier with resistive and inductive load, present work shows a method to obtain a regression model based on intelligent methods. This type of circuit is a typical non-linear case of study that requires a hard work to solve it by hand. To create the intelligent model, a dataset has been obtained with a computational method for the working range of the circuit. Then, with the dataset, to achieve the final solution, several methods of regression were tested from traditional to intelligent types. The model was verified empirically with electronic circuit software simulation, analytical methods and with a practical implementation. The advantage of the proposed method is its low computational cost. Then, the final solution is very appropriate for applications where high computational requirements are not possible, like low-performance microcontrollers or web applications.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Division by zero in non-involutive meadows
- Abstract: Publication date: March 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 13, Issue 1
  Author(s): J.A. Bergstra , C.A. Middelburg
  Meadows have been proposed as alternatives for fields with a purely equational axiomatization. At the basis of meadows lies the decision to make the multiplicative inverse operation total by imposing that the multiplicative inverse of zero is zero. Thus, the multiplicative inverse operation of a meadow is an involution. In this paper, we study ‘non-involutive meadows’, i.e. variants of meadows in which the multiplicative inverse of zero is not zero, and pay special attention to non-involutive meadows in which the multiplicative inverse of zero is one.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Naturalizing logic Errors of reasoning vindicated: Logic reapproaches
cognitive science
- Abstract: Publication date: March 2015
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 13, Issue 1
  Author(s): Lorenzo Magnani
  A complete revision of mainstream logic is an urgent task to be achieved. This revision will be able to bring logic into a creative rapprochement with cognitive science. This can be achieved by trying to do for logic what over forty years ago Quine and others attempted for epistemology. It is necessary to propose a “naturalization” of the logic of human inference. This paper deals with an examination of how the naturalization process might go, together with some indication of what might be achieved by it. To assist the reader in understanding the naturalization of logic I will take advantage of my own research on the concept of abduction, which vindicates the positive cognitive value of the fallacy of the affirming the consequent thanks to the so-called EC-model (Eco-Cognitive model), and of the recent book Errors of Reasoning: Naturalizing the Logic of Inference (2013) [86], by John Woods. While this paper certainly aims at promoting the research program on the naturalization of logic, it also further advocates the placement of abduction in the research programmes of logic, and stresses to what extent our contemporary philosophical and logical tradition is indebted towards Charles Sanders Peirce, a thinker often praised for his productivity but whose quality and importance are too often overlooked.
  
  PubDate: 2014-12-19T00:33:09Z
Runtime verification using the temporal description logic ALC-LTL
revisited
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 6 September 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Franz Baader , Marcel Lippmann
  Formulae of linear temporal logic (LTL) can be used to specify (wanted or unwanted) properties of a dynamical system. In model checking, the system's behaviour is described by a transition system, and one needs to check whether all possible traces of this transition system satisfy the formula. In runtime verification, one observes the actual system behaviour, which at any point in time yields a finite prefix of a trace. The task is then to check whether all continuations of this prefix to a trace satisfy (violate) the formula. More precisely, one wants to construct a monitor, i.e., a finite automaton that receives the finite prefix as input and then gives the right answer based on the state currently reached. In this paper, we extend the known approaches to LTL runtime verification in two directions. First, instead of propositional LTL we use the more expressive temporal logic ALC -LTL, which can use axioms of the Description Logic (DL) ALC instead of propositional variables to describe properties of single states of the system. Second, instead of assuming that the observed system behaviour provides us with complete information about the states of the system, we assume that states are described in an incomplete way by ALC -knowledge bases. We show that also in this setting monitors can effectively be constructed. The (double-exponential) size of the constructed monitors is in fact optimal, and not higher than in the propositional case. As an auxiliary result, we show how to construct Büchi automata for ALC -LTL-formulae, which yields alternative proofs for the known upper bounds of deciding satisfiability in ALC -LTL.
  
  PubDate: 2014-09-10T07:00:48Z
A logical calculus for controlled monotonicity
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 27 August 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Marcello D'Agostino , Mario Piazza , Gabriele Pulcini
  In this paper we introduce a new deductive framework for analyzing processes displaying a kind of controlled monotonicity. In particular, we prove the cut-elimination theorem for a calculus involving series-parallel structures over preorders which is built up from multi-level sequents, an interesting and promising variant of Gentzen-style sequents. More broadly, our purpose is to provide a general, syntactical tool for grasping the combinatorics of non-monotonic processes.
  
  PubDate: 2014-09-01T06:14:20Z
Products of Modal Logics and Tensor Products of Modal Algebras
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 27 August 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): D. Gabbay , Ilya Shapirovsky , Valentin Shehtman
  One of natural combinations of Kripke complete modal logics is the product, an operation that has been extensively investigated over the last 15 years. In this paper we consider its analogue for arbitrary modal logics: to this end, we use product-like constructions on general frames and modal algebras. This operation was first introduced by Y. Hasimoto in 2000; however, his paper remained unnoticed until recently. In the present paper we quote some important Hasimoto's results, and reconstruct the product operation in an algebraic setting: the Boolean part of the resulting modal algebra is exactly the tensor product of original algebras (regarded as Boolean rings). Also, we propose a filtration technique for Kripke models based on tensor products and obtain some decidability results.
  
  PubDate: 2014-09-01T06:14:20Z
Constraint LTL Satisfiability Checking without Automata
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 28 July 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Marcello M. Bersani , Achille Frigeri , Angelo Morzenti , Matteo Pradella , Matteo Rossi , Pierluigi San Pietro
  This paper introduces a novel technique to decide the satisfiability of formulae written in the language of Linear Temporal Logic with both future and past operators and atomic formulae belonging to constraint system D (CLTLB( D ) for short). The technique is based on the concept of bounded satisfiability, and hinges on an encoding of CLTLB( D ) formulae into QF-EU D , the theory of quantifier-free equality and uninterpreted functions combined with D . Similarly to standard LTL, where bounded model-checking and SAT-solvers can be used as an alternative to automata-theoretic approaches to model-checking, our approach allows users to solve the satisfiability problem for CLTLB( D ) formulae through SMT-solving techniques, rather than by checking the emptiness of the language of a suitable automaton. The technique is effective, and it has been implemented in our Z ot formal verification tool.
  
  PubDate: 2014-08-02T03:26:46Z
Second order inductive logic and Wilmers' principle
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 14 July 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): M.S. Kließ , J.B. Paris
  We extend the framework of Inductive Logic to Second Order languages and introduce Wilmers' Principle, a rational principle for probability functions on Second Order languages. We derive a representation theorem for functions satisfying this principle and investigate its relationship with the first order principles of Regularity and Super Regularity.
  
  PubDate: 2014-07-28T03:10:08Z
A postulate-based analysis of comparative preference statements
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 15 July 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Souhila Kaci , Namrata Patel
  There has been a growing interest in the study of preferences for their utility in solving problems related to decision making. Most of the preference representation languages developed in the literature are based on comparative preference statements since they offer a simple and intuitive way for expressing preferences. They can be further interpreted following different semantics, imparting a greater flexibility on how outcomes can be compared. So far the main objective has been to rank-order the set of outcomes given a set of comparative preference statements and one or several semantics. Tackling this problem from a different angle, we look into the behavioural aspects of the preference semantics and statements by attempting to formalise the intuition behind them using postulates studied in preference logics and non-monotonic reasoning. We select the postulates w.r.t. three criteria: coherence, syntax independence and inference. Thus, our analysis provides a means to determine those properties that are satisfied for a given preference semantics.
  
  PubDate: 2014-07-28T03:10:08Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: Publication date: September 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 3
  
  PubDate: 2014-07-28T03:10:08Z
The categorical imperative: Category theory as a foundation for deontic
logic
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 17 July 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Clayton Peterson
  This article introduces a deontic logic which aims to model the Canadian legal discourse. Category theory is assumed as a foundational framework for logic. A deontic deductive system DDS is defined as two fibrations: the logic for unconditional obligations OL is defined within a Cartesian closed category on the grounds of an intuitionnistic propositional action logic PAL and an action logic AL , while a logic for conditional normative reasoning CNR is defined as a symmetric closed monoidal category. A typed syntax and typed arrows are used to define properly DDS . We show how it can solve the paradoxes of deontic logic and we provide some examples of application to legal reasoning.
  
  PubDate: 2014-07-28T03:10:08Z
The existence of superluminal particles is consistent with relativistic
dynamics
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 15 July 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Judit X. Madarász , Gergely Székely
  Within an axiomatic framework, we prove that the existence of faster than light (FTL) particles is consistent with (does not contradict) the dynamics of Einstein's special relativity. The proof goes by constructing a model of relativistic dynamics where FTL particles can move with arbitrary speeds. To have a complete picture, we not only construct an appropriate model but explicitly list all the basic assumptions (axioms) we use.
  
  PubDate: 2014-07-28T03:10:08Z
An application of Carnapian inductive logic to an argument in the
philosophy of statistics
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 21 May 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Teddy Groves
  I claim that an argument from the philosophy of statistics can be improved by using Carnapian inductive logic. Gelman and Shalizi [9] criticise a philosophical account of how statisticians ought to choose statistical models which they call ‘the received view of Bayesian inference’ and propose a different account inspired by falsificationist philosophy of science. I introduce another philosophical account inspired by Carnapian inductive logic and argue that it is even better than Gelman and Shalizi's falsificationist account.
  
  PubDate: 2014-06-14T16:15:46Z
Temporal logics for concurrent recursive programs: Satisfiability and
model checking
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 14 May 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Benedikt Bollig , Aiswarya Cyriac , Paul Gastin , Marc Zeitoun
  We develop a general framework for the design of temporal logics for concurrent recursive programs. A program execution is modeled as a partial order with multiple nesting relations. To specify properties of executions, we consider any temporal logic whose modalities are definable in monadic second-order logic and which, in addition, allows PDL-like path expressions. This captures, in a unifying framework, a wide range of logics defined for ranked and unranked trees, nested words, and Mazurkiewicz traces that have been studied separately. We show that satisfiability and model checking are decidable in EXPTIME and 2EXPTIME, depending on the precise path modalities.
  
  PubDate: 2014-06-14T16:15:46Z
Editor's note: Special issue on Combining Probability and Logic to Solve
Philosophical Problems
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 26 May 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Niki Pfeifer
  Editor's note: Special Issue on Combining Probability and Logic to Solve Philosophical Problems (Progic 2013).
  
  PubDate: 2014-06-14T16:15:46Z
Information, confirmation, and conditionals
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 26 May 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Peter Milne
  Loosely speaking, a proposition adds the more information to corpus b, the greater the proportion of possibilities left open by b that it rules out. Plausible qualitative constraints lead to the result that any measure of information-added is a strictly decreasing rescaling of a conditional probability function sending 1 to 0. The two commonest rescalings are − log P and 1 − P . In a similar vein, e is favourable evidence for hypothesis h relative to background b if h rules out a smaller proportion of the possibilities left open by b and e jointly, than left open by b alone. In terms of the underlying probability measure, this secures the familiar positive relevance conception of confirmation and that f is more favourable evidence for h than e iff h rules out a smaller proportion of the possibilities left open by b and f jointly than left open by b and e jointly. In these terms, a measure of confirmation should be a function of the information added by h to b ∧ e and to b, decreasing with the first and increasing with the second. When e = h , the possibilities that drop out as we narrow the focus with e are exactly the possibilities left open by b but excluded by h. Thus the extent to which h confirms h relative to b is a measure of the information h adds to b. Given a measure I of information added, we can think of I ( a c , b ) − I ( a , b ) as a measure of the “deductive gap”, relative to b, between a and a ∧ c . When I ( a , b ) = − log P ( a b ) , I ( a c , b ) − I ( a , b ) = − log P ( c a b ) , the amount of information the indicative conditional ‘if a then c’ adds to b on Ernest Adams' account of that conditional. When I ( a , b ) = 1 − P ( a b ) , I ( a c , b ) − I ( a , b ) = I ( a ⊃ c , b ) where a ⊃ c is a material conditional. What, if anything, can be said in general about “information theoretic” conditionals obtained from measures of information-added in this way' We find that, granted a couple of provisos, all satisfy modus ponens and that the conditionals fall victim to Lewis-style triviality results if, and only if, I ( a ∧ ¬ a , b ) = ∞ (as happens with −
  PubDate: 2014-06-14T16:15:46Z
Towards classifying propositional probabilistic logics
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 6 February 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Glauber De Bona , Fabio Gagliardi Cozman , Marcelo Finger
  This paper examines two aspects of propositional probabilistic logics: the nesting of probabilistic operators, and the expressivity of probabilistic assessments. We show that nesting can be eliminated when the semantics is based on a single probability measure over valuations; we then introduce a classification for probabilistic assessments, and present novel results on their expressivity. Logics in the literature are categorized using our results on nesting and on probabilistic expressivity.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Probabilities of counterfactuals and counterfactual probabilities
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 7 February 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Alan Hájek
  Probabilities figure centrally in much of the literature on the semantics of conditionals. I find this surprising: it accords a special status to conditionals that other parts of language apparently do not share. I critically discuss two notable ‘probabilities first’ accounts of counterfactuals, due to Edgington and Leitgeb. According to Edgington, counterfactuals lack truth values but have probabilities. I argue that this combination gives rise to a number of problems. According to Leitgeb, counterfactuals have truth conditions-roughly, a counterfactual is true when the corresponding conditional chance is sufficiently high. I argue that problems arise from the disparity between truth and high chance, between approximate truth and high chance, and from counterfactuals for which the corresponding conditional chances are undefined. However, Edgington, Leitgeb and I can unite in opposition to Stalnaker and Lewis-style ‘similarity’ accounts of counterfactuals.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Reasoning about evidence
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 7 February 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Igor Douven
  Bayesians understand the notion of evidential support in terms of probability raising. Little is known about the logic of the evidential support relation, thus understood. We investigate a number of prima facie plausible candidate logical principles for the evidential support relation and show which of these principles the Bayesian evidential support relation does and which it does not obey. We also consider the question which of these principles hold for a stronger notion of evidential support.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Stochastic λ-calculi: An extended abstract
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 1 April 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Dana S. Scott
  It is shown how the operators in the “graph model” for λ-calculus (which can function as a programming language for Recursive Function Theory) can be expanded to allow for “random combinators”. The result then is a model for a new language for random algorithms.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: Publication date: March 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 1
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
On the logical structure of de Finetti's notion of event
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 12 April 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Tommaso Flaminio , Lluis Godo , Hykel Hosni
  This paper sheds new light on the subtle relation between probability and logic by (i) providing a logical development of Bruno de Finetti's conception of events and (ii) suggesting that the subjective nature of de Finetti's interpretation of probability emerges in a clearer form against such a logical background. By making explicit the epistemic structure which underlies what we call Choice-based probability we show that whilst all rational degrees of belief must be probabilities, the converse doesn't hold: some probability values don't represent decision-relevant quantifications of uncertainty.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Erratum to “Confirmation as partial entailment” [Journal of
Applied Logic 11 (2013) 364–372]
- Abstract: Publication date: June 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 2
  Author(s): Vincenzo Crupi , Katya Tentori
  We provide a correction to the proof of the main result in Crupi and Tentori (2013).
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Propositional dynamic logic for searching games with errors
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 13 April 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Bruno Teheux
  We investigate some finitely-valued generalizations of propositional dynamic logic with tests. We start by introducing the n + 1 -valued Kripke models and a corresponding language based on a modal extension of Łukasiewicz many-valued logic. We illustrate the definitions by providing a framework for an analysis of the Rényi–Ulam searching game with errors. Our main result is the axiomatization of the theory of the n + 1 -valued Kripke models. This result is obtained through filtration of the canonical model of the smallest n + 1 -valued propositional dynamic logic.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Capturing equilibrium models in modal logic
- Abstract: Publication date: June 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 2
  Author(s): Luis Fariñas del Cerro , Andreas Herzig , Ezgi Iraz Su
  Here-and-there models and equilibrium models were investigated as a semantical framework for answer-set programming by Pearce, Valverde, Cabalar, Lifschitz, Ferraris and others. The semantics of equilibrium logic is given in an indirect way: the notion of an equilibrium model is defined in terms of quantification over here-and-there models. We here give a direct semantics of equilibrium logic, stated for a modal language embedding the language of equilibrium logic.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
A propositional linear time logic with time flow isomorphic to ω2
- Abstract: Publication date: June 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 2
  Author(s): Bojan Marinković , Zoran Ognjanović , Dragan Doder , Aleksandar Perović
  Primarily guided with the idea to express zero-time transitions by means of temporal propositional language, we have developed a temporal logic where the time flow is isomorphic to ordinal ω 2 (concatenation of ω copies of ω). If we think of ω 2 as lexicographically ordered ω × ω , then any particular zero-time transition can be represented by states whose indices are all elements of some { n } × ω . In order to express non-infinitesimal transitions, we have introduced a new unary temporal operator [ ω ] (ω-jump), whose effect on the time flow is the same as the effect of α ↦ α + ω in ω 2 . In terms of lexicographically ordered ω × ω , [ ω ] ϕ is satisfied in 〈 i , j 〉 -th time instant iff ϕ is satisfied in 〈 i + 1 , 0 〉 -th time instant. Moreover, in order to formally capture the natural semantics of the until operator U, we have introduced a local variant u of the until operator. More precisely, ϕ u ψ is satisfied in 〈 i , j 〉 -th time instant iff ψ is satisfied in 〈 i , j + k 〉 -th time instant for some nonnegative integer k, and ϕ is satisfied in 〈 i , j + l 〉 -th time instant for all 0 ≤ l < k . As in many of our previous publications, the leitmotif is the usage of infinitary inference rules in order to achieve the strong completeness.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: Publication date: June 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 2
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
JohnWoodsErrors of Reasoning: Naturalizing the Logic of
Inference2013College PublicationsLondon978-1-84890-114-8
- Abstract: Publication date: June 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 2
  Author(s): Matthieu Fontaine
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
The paradoxes of permission an action based solution
- Abstract: Publication date: June 2014
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic, Volume 12, Issue 2
  Author(s): Dov Gabbay , Loïc Gammaitoni , Xin Sun
  The aim of this article is to construct a deontic logic in which the free choice postulate allow (Ross, 1941) [11] would be consistent and all the implausible result mentioned in (Hanson, in press) [5] will be blocked. To achieve this we first developed a new theory of action. Then we build a new deontic logic in which the deontic action operator and the deontic proposition operator are explicitly distinguished.
  
  PubDate: 2014-04-29T07:30:36Z
A logical framework for privacy-preserving social network publication
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 31 December 2013
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Tsan-sheng Hsu , Churn-Jung Liau , Da-Wei Wang
  Social network analysis is an important methodology in sociological research. Although social network data are valuable resources for data analysis, releasing the data to the public may cause an invasion of privacy. In this paper, we consider privacy preservation in the context of publishing social network data. To address privacy concerns, information about a social network can be released in two ways. Either the global structure of the network can be released in an anonymized way; or non-sensitive information about the actors in the network can be accessed via a query-answering process. However, an attacker could re-identify the actors in the network by combining information obtained in these two ways. The resulting privacy risk depends on the amount of detail in the released network structure and expressiveness of the admissible queries. In particular, different sets of admissible queries correspond to different types of attacks. In this paper, we propose a logical framework that can represent different attack models uniformly. Specifically, in the framework, individuals that satisfy the same subset of admissible queries are considered indiscernible by the attacker. By partitioning a social network into equivalence classes (i.e., information granules) based on the indiscernibility relation, we can generalize the privacy criteria developed for tabulated data to social network data. To exemplify the usability of the framework, we consider two instances of the framework, where the sets of admissible queries are the ALCI and ALCQI concept terms respectively; and we exploit social position analysis techniques to compute their indiscernibility relations. We also show how the framework can be extended to deal with the privacy-preserving publication of weighted social network data. The uniformity of the framework provides us with a common ground to compare existing attack models; while its generality could extend the scope of research to meet privacy concerns in the era of social semantic computing.
  
  PubDate: 2014-01-04T04:23:59Z
Empiricism, probability, and knowledge of arithmetic: A preliminary
defense
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 31 December 2013
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Sean Walsh
  The topic of this paper is our knowledge of the natural numbers, and in particular, our knowledge of the basic axioms for the natural numbers, namely the Peano axioms. The thesis defended in this paper is that knowledge of these axioms may be gained by recourse to judgements of probability. While considerations of probability have come to the forefront in recent epistemology, it seems safe to say that the thesis defended here is heterodox from the vantage point of traditional philosophy of mathematics. So this paper focuses on providing a preliminary defense of this thesis, in that it focuses on responding to several objections. Some of these objections are from the classical literature, such as Fregeʼs concern about indiscernibility and circularity (§ 2.1), while other are more recent, such as Bakerʼs concern about the unreliability of small samplings in the setting of arithmetic (§ 2.2). Another family of objections suggests that we simply do not have access to probability assignments in the setting of arithmetic, either due to issues related to the ω-rule (§ 3.1) or to the non-computability and non-continuity of probability assignments (§ 3.2). Articulating these objections and the responses to them involves developing some non-trivial results on probability assignments (Appendix A–Appendix C), such as a forcing argument to establish the existence of continuous probability assignments that may be computably approximated (Theorem 4 Appendix B). In the concluding section, two problems for future work are discussed: developing the source of arithmetical confirmation and responding to the probabilistic liar.
  
  PubDate: 2014-01-04T04:23:59Z
SLAP: Specification Logic of Actions with Probability
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 23 October 2013
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Gavin Rens , Thomas Meyer , Gerhard Lakemeyer
  A logic for specifying probabilistic transition systems is presented. Our perspective is that of agents performing actions. A procedure for deciding whether sentences in this logic are valid is provided. One of the main contributions of the paper is the formulation of the decision procedure: a tableau system which appeals to solving systems of linear equations. The tableau rules eliminate propositional connectives, then, for all open branches of the tableau tree, systems of linear equations are generated and checked for feasibility. Proofs of soundness, completeness and termination of the decision procedure are provided.
  
  PubDate: 2013-10-24T03:34:35Z
A neural cognitive model of argumentation with application to legal
inference and decision making
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 23 October 2013
  Source:Journal of Applied Logic
  Author(s): Artur S. dʼAvila Garcez , Dov M. Gabbay , Luis C. Lamb
  Formal models of argumentation have been investigated in several areas, from multi-agent systems and artificial intelligence (AI) to decision making, philosophy and law. In artificial intelligence, logic-based models have been the standard for the representation of argumentative reasoning. More recently, the standard logic-based models have been shown equivalent to standard connectionist models. This has created a new line of research where (i) neural networks can be used as a parallel computational model for argumentation and (ii) neural networks can be used to combine argumentation, quantitative reasoning and statistical learning. At the same time, non-standard logic models of argumentation started to emerge. In this paper, we propose a connectionist cognitive model of argumentation that accounts for both standard and non-standard forms of argumentation. The model is shown to be an adequate framework for dealing with standard and non-standard argumentation, including joint-attacks, argument support, ordered attacks, disjunctive attacks, metalevel attacks, self-defeating attacks, argument accrual and uncertainty. We show that the neural cognitive approach offers an adequate way of modelling all of these different aspects of argumentation. We have applied the framework to the modelling of a public prosecution charging decision as part of a real legal decision making case study containing many of the above aspects of argumentation. The results show that the model can be a useful tool in the analysis of legal decision making, including the analysis of what-if questions and the analysis of alternative conclusions. The approach opens up two new perspectives in the short-term: the use of neural networks for computing prevailing arguments efficiently through the propagation in parallel of neuronal activations, and the use of the same networks to evolve the structure of the argumentation network through learning (e.g. to learn the strength of arguments from data).
  
  PubDate: 2013-10-24T03:34:35Z