Safe Inductions:
                    
 An Algebraic Study
            
    
        
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                    
                
                
                    
                        Bart Bogaerts, Marc Denecker, Joost Vennekens
                
        
            
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                        
(KU Leuven)
            
    
        
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                    
                
Preliminaries
Preliminaries
- Complete lattice : partially ordered set in which each set S has a greatest lower bound and a least upper bound
 - Lattice operator
 - Approximation space:
 - Approximator
 
Approximation Fixpoint Theory defines various fixpoints:
- (partial) grounded fixpoints of O
 - the A-well-founded fixpoint of O
 - the A-Kripke-Kleene fixpoint of O
 - (partial) A-stable fixpoints of O
 
Context:
Inductive Definitions
The Well-Founded Semantics Is the Principle of Inductive Definition, Revisited. M.Denecker and J.Vennekens (KR 2014)
A Logical Study of Some Common Principles of Inductive Definition M. Denecker, B. Bogaerts and J. Vennekens (Under Review)
Inductive definitions
- Common concept in mathematics
 - Well-understood ...
 - ... or not?
 
Inductive Definitions
- What are the implicit conventions underlying IDs in mathematics?
 - Can the (informal) semantics of IDs be formalized?
 
These questions are (partially) answered in the cited papers
We generalize to an algebraic setting (approximation fixpoint theory)
Inductive definitions
- Our claim: the induction process is central to our understanding of inductive definitions
 - We develop a theory of this induction process
 
Example
The transitive closure R of a graph G is defined as follows:
- If (x,y) is in G, then (x,y) is in R
 - If (x,z) is in G and (z,y) in R, then (x,y) is in R
 
Example
The induction process:
Natural inductions
If D is a definition, a natural induction is a sequence (I i) of interpretations such that- I 0 = ∅
 - I i+1=I i∪ A with A a set of atoms such that for each a∈A There is a rule r in D whose body is satisfied in I i with head a
 
O-inductions
If O is a lattice operator, an O-induction is a sequence of lattice elements (xi) such that:
Monotone operators
If O is monotone, all O-inductions converge to lfp(O)
- They uniquely determine a (good) fixpoint of interest
 - What if O is non-monotone?
 
Example
The even numbers are defined as follows:
- 0 is an even number
 - n+1 is an even number if n is not an even number
 
Example
Non-monotone operator
- No more convergence guaranteed
 - Problem? Some derivations happen too soon.
	
- Before it is safe to derive them.
 - E.g., in the previous, Even(1) is derived based on the absence of Even(0) before the latter is "fixed"
 - I.e., Even(1) does not remain derivable
 
 - Solution? Only derive facts when it is safe to do so. How to formalize this?
 
Safety
- Intuition: only derive something it remains derivable.
 - Formally, a derivation is safe if: for each O-induction (yj)j≤β in xi:
 
Example
Properties
Properties
- All safe O-inductions 
                
                converge to a single lattice point.
	
                
                
- We denote it safe(O)
 
 - If O is monotone, safe(O)=lfp(O)
 - If O is anti-monotone, safe(O)=lfp(O2)
 
Properties
- The Kripke-Kleene fixpoint approximtes safe(O)
 - The well-founded fixpoint approximtes safe(O)
 - If (xi,yi) is a well-founded induction, then (xi) is a safe O-induction.
 - Well-founded inductions provide a cheap (polynomial) approximation of safe(O)
 
Complexity
- In general, the problem "is safe(O) ≥ x" is co-NP hard and in 
(see paper for precise definitions) 
Applications
- Logic programming (this paper)
 - Abstract argumentation (extended version)
 - Autoepistemic logic (this paper)
	
- Here, safe inductions solve a known problem with stratification
 
 - Default logic
 - Active integrity constraints (thanks to previous paper)
 
Application: Autoepistemic Logic
Autoepistemic Logic
"I (an introspective agent) only know the following:"
The safely defined semantics respects stratification
Application: Abstract Argumentation
Dung's argumentation frameworks
- Argumentation framework Θ=⟨A,R⟩
	
                
- A is a set of arguments
 - R is an attack relation
 
 - Two common operators:
	
                
 - The following coincide:
	
                
- The grounded extension of Θ
 
 
Conclusion
- Lift safe inductions to algebraic setting
 - Study relationship with existing types of fixpoints
 - Use them to solve a problem in autoepistemic logic
 - Pave the way to porting them to other fields too
 
Safe Inductions: An Algebraic Study
By krr
Safe Inductions: An Algebraic Study
IJCAI'17
- 2,222