scholarly journals Nominals, Inverses, Counting, and Conjunctive Queries or: Why Infinity is your Friend!

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 429-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Rudolph ◽  
B. Glimm
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Description Logic ◽  
Query Language ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Conjunctive Query ◽  
Conjunctive Queries ◽  
Decidability Result ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Attention

Description Logics are knowledge representation formalisms that provide, for example, the logical underpinning of the W3C OWL standards. Conjunctive queries, the standard query language in databases, have recently gained significant attention as an expressive formalism for querying Description Logic knowledge bases. Several different techniques for deciding conjunctive query entailment are available for a wide range of DLs. Nevertheless, the combination of nominals, inverse roles, and number restrictions in OWL 1 and OWL 2 DL causes unsolvable problems for the techniques hitherto available. We tackle this problem and present a decidability result for entailment of unions of conjunctive queries in the DL ALCHOIQb that contains all three problematic constructors simultaneously. Provided that queries contain only simple roles, our result also shows decidability of entailment of (unions of) conjunctive queries in the logic that underpins OWL 1 DL and we believe that the presented results will pave the way for further progress towards conjunctive query entailment decision procedures for the Description Logics underlying the OWL standards.

scholarly journals Conjunctive Query Answering for the Description Logic SHIQ

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 157-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Glimm ◽  
C. Lutz ◽  
I. Horrocks ◽  
U. Sattler
Keyword(s):  
Description Logic ◽  
Query Language ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Deterministic Algorithm ◽  
Query Answering ◽  
Conjunctive Query ◽  
Conjunctive Queries ◽  
Complexity Bounds ◽  
Double Exponential

Conjunctive queries play an important role as an expressive query language for Description Logics (DLs). Although modern DLs usually provide for transitive roles, conjunctive query answering over DL knowledge bases is only poorly understood if transitive roles are admitted in the query. In this paper, we consider unions of conjunctive queries over knowledge bases formulated in the prominent DL SHIQ and allow transitive roles in both the query and the knowledge base. We show decidability of query answering in this setting and establish two tight complexity bounds: regarding combined complexity, we prove that there is a deterministic algorithm for query answering that needs time single exponential in the size of the KB and double exponential in the size of the query, which is optimal. Regarding data complexity, we prove containment in co-NP.

scholarly journals Query answering in circumscribed OWL2 profiles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piero A. Bonatti
Keyword(s):  
Description Logics ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Query Answering ◽  
Data Complexity ◽  
Conjunctive Query ◽  
Conjunctive Queries

AbstractThis paper partially bridges a gap in the literature on Circumscription in Description Logics by investigating the tractability of conjunctive query answering in OWL2’s profiles. It turns out that the data complexity of conjunctive query answering is coNP-hard in circumscribed $\mathcal {E}{\mathscr{L}}$ E L and DL-lite, while in circumscribed OWL2-RL conjunctive queries retain their classical semantics. In an attempt to capture nonclassical inferences in OWL2-RL, we consider conjunctive queries with safe negation. They can detect some of the nonclassical consequences of circumscribed knowledge bases, but data complexity becomes coNP-hard. In circumscribed $\mathcal {E}{\mathscr{L}}$ E L , answering queries with safe negation is undecidable.

scholarly journals Regular Path Queries in Lightweight Description Logics: Complexity and Algorithms

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 315-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghyn Bienvenu ◽  
Magdalena Ortiz ◽  
Mantas Simkus
Keyword(s):  
Description Logic ◽  
Query Language ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Query Answering ◽  
Complexity Bounds ◽  
Regular Path ◽  
Regular Path Queries ◽  
Path Navigation ◽  
Path Queries

Conjunctive regular path queries are an expressive extension of the well-known class of conjunctive queries. Such queries have been extensively studied in the (graph) database community, since they support a controlled form of recursion and enable sophisticated path navigation. Somewhat surprisingly, there has been little work aimed at using such queries in the context of description logic (DL) knowledge bases, particularly for the lightweight DLs that are considered best suited for data-intensive applications. This paper aims to bridge this gap by providing algorithms and tight complexity bounds for answering two-way conjunctive regular path queries over DL knowledge bases formulated in lightweight DLs of the DL-Lite and EL families. Our results demonstrate that in data complexity, the cost of moving to this richer query language is as low as one could wish for: the problem is NL-complete for DL-Lite and P-complete for EL. The combined complexity of query answering increases from NP- to PSpace-complete, but for two-way regular path queries (without conjunction), we show that query answering is tractable even with respect to combined complexity. Our results reveal two-way conjunctive regular path queries as a promising language for querying data enriched by ontologies formulated in DLs of the DL-Lite and EL families or the corresponding OWL 2 QL and EL profiles.

An Improved Set-based Reasoner for the Description Logic 𝒟ℒD4,׆

2021 ◽  
Vol 178 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-346
Author(s):  
Domenico Cantone ◽  
Marianna Nicolosi-Asmundo ◽  
Daniele Francesco Santamaria
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Web ◽  
Set Theory ◽  
Description Logic ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Query Answering ◽  
Conjunctive Query ◽  
Classification Problems ◽  
Previous Version ◽  
Decidable Fragment ◽  
Stratified Set

We present a KE-tableau-based implementation of a reasoner for a decidable fragment of (stratified) set theory expressing the description logic 𝒟ℒ〈4LQSR,×〉(D) (𝒟ℒD4,×, for short). Our application solves the main TBox and ABox reasoning problems for 𝒟ℒD4,×. In particular, it solves the consistency and the classification problems for 𝒟ℒD4,×-knowledge bases represented in set-theoretic terms, and a generalization of the Conjunctive Query Answering problem in which conjunctive queries with variables of three sorts are admitted. The reasoner, which extends and improves a previous version, is implemented in C++. It supports 𝒟ℒD4,×-knowledge bases serialized in the OWL/XML format and it admits also rules expressed in SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language).

scholarly journals Unifying Class-Based Representation Formalisms

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 199-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Calvanese ◽  
M. Lenzerini ◽  
D. Nardi
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Description Logic ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Finite Model ◽  
Functional Dependencies ◽  
Semantic Data ◽  
Representation Systems ◽  
Frame Systems ◽  
Essential Set

The notion of class is ubiquitous in computer science and is central in many formalisms for the representation of structured knowledge used both in knowledge representation and in databases. In this paper we study the basic issues underlying such representation formalisms and single out both their common characteristics and their distinguishing features. Such investigation leads us to propose a unifying framework in which we are able to capture the fundamental aspects of several representation languages used in different contexts. The proposed formalism is expressed in the style of description logics, which have been introduced in knowledge representation as a means to provide a semantically well-founded basis for the structural aspects of knowledge representation systems. The description logic considered in this paper is a subset of first order logic with nice computational characteristics. It is quite expressive and features a novel combination of constructs that has not been studied before. The distinguishing constructs are number restrictions, which generalize existence and functional dependencies, inverse roles, which allow one to refer to the inverse of a relationship, and possibly cyclic assertions, which are necessary for capturing real world domains. We are able to show that it is precisely such combination of constructs that makes our logic powerful enough to model the essential set of features for defining class structures that are common to frame systems, object-oriented database languages, and semantic data models. As a consequence of the established correspondences, several significant extensions of each of the above formalisms become available. The high expressiveness of the logic we propose and the need for capturing the reasoning in different contexts forces us to distinguish between unrestricted and finite model reasoning. A notable feature of our proposal is that reasoning in both cases is decidable. We argue that, by virtue of the high expressive power and of the associated reasoning capabilities on both unrestricted and finite models, our logic provides a common core for class-based representation formalisms.

scholarly journals Learning Description Logic Concepts: When can Positive and Negative Examples be Separated?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Funk ◽  
Jean Christoph Jung ◽  
Carsten Lutz ◽  
Hadrien Pulcini ◽  
Frank Wolter
Keyword(s):  
Decision Problem ◽  
Description Logic ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Polynomial Hierarchy ◽  
Data Complexity ◽  
Conjunctive Queries ◽  
Complexity Results ◽  
Significant Attention

Learning description logic (DL) concepts from positive and negative examples given in the form of labeled data items in a KB has received significant attention in the literature. We study the fundamental question of when a separating DL concept exists and provide useful model-theoretic characterizations as well as complexity results for the associated decision problem. For expressive DLs such as ALC and ALCQI, our characterizations show a surprising link to the evaluation of ontology-mediated conjunctive queries. We exploit this to determine the combined complexity (between ExpTime and NExpTime) and data complexity (second level of the polynomial hierarchy) of separability. For the Horn DL EL, separability is ExpTime-complete both in combined and in data complexity while for its modest extension ELI it is even undecidable. Separability is also undecidable when the KB is formulated in ALC and the separating concept is required to be in EL or ELI.

scholarly journals A Framework for Reasoning about Dynamic Axioms in Description Logics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Bednarczyk ◽  
Stephane Demri ◽  
Alessio Mansutti
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Data Structures ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Dynamic Data Structures ◽  
Dynamic Data ◽  
Logical Connectives ◽  
Consistency Problem ◽  
Natural Means

Description logics are well-known logical formalisms for knowledge representation. We propose to enrich knowledge bases (KBs) with dynamic axioms that specify how the satisfaction of statements from the KBs evolves when the interpretation is decomposed or recomposed, providing a natural means to predict the evolution of interpretations. Our dynamic axioms borrow logical connectives from separation logics, well-known specification languages to verify programs with dynamic data structures. In the paper, we focus on ALC and EL augmented with dynamic axioms, or to their subclass of positive dynamic axioms. The knowledge base consistency problem in the presence of dynamic axioms is investigated, leading to interesting complexity results, among which the problem for EL with positive dynamic axioms is tractable, whereas EL with dynamic axioms is undecidable.

scholarly journals Pay-As-You-Go Description Logic Reasoning by Coupling Tableau and Saturation Procedures

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 535-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Steigmiller ◽  
Birte Glimm
Keyword(s):  
Description Logic ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Web Ontology Language ◽  
Ontology Language ◽  
Specific Description ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Detailed Evaluation ◽  
Logic Reasoning ◽  
The Web

Nowadays, saturation-based reasoners for the OWL EL profile of the Web Ontology Language are able to handle large ontologies such as SNOMED very efficiently. However, it is currently unclear how saturation-based reasoning procedures can be extended to very expressive Description Logics such as SROIQ--the logical underpinning of the current and second iteration of the Web Ontology Language. Tableau-based procedures, on the other hand, are not limited to specific Description Logic languages or OWL profiles, but even highly optimised tableau-based reasoners might not be efficient enough to handle large ontologies such as SNOMED. In this paper, we present an approach for tightly coupling tableau- and saturation-based procedures that we implement in the OWL DL reasoner Konclude. Our detailed evaluation shows that this combination significantly improves the reasoning performance for a wide range of ontologies.

scholarly journals Guarded hybrid knowledge bases

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
STIJN HEYMANS ◽  
JOS DE BRUIJN ◽  
LIVIA PREDOIU ◽  
CRISTINA FEIER ◽  
DAVY VAN NIEWENBORGH
Keyword(s):  
Description Logic ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Logic Program ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
The Body ◽  
Knowledge Representation And Reasoning ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Hybrid Knowledge ◽  
Satisfiability Checking ◽  
Answer Set Semantics

AbstractRecently, there has been a lot of interest in the integration of Description Logics (DL) and rules on the Semantic Web. We defineguarded hybrid knowledge bases(org-hybrid knowledge bases) as knowledge bases that consist of a Description Logic knowledge base and aguardedlogic program, similar to the$\mathcal{DL}$+logknowledge bases from Rosati (In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, AAAI Press, Menlo Park, CA, 2006, pp. 68–78.). g-Hybrid knowledge bases enable an integration of Description Logics and Logic Programming where, unlike in other approaches, variables in the rules of a guarded program do not need to appear in positive non-DL atoms of the body, i.e., DL atoms can act asguardsas well. Decidability of satisfiability checking of g-hybrid knowledge bases is shown for the particular DL$\mathcal{DLRO}^{\-{le}}$, which is close to OWL DL, by a reduction to guarded programs under the open answer set semantics. Moreover, we show 2-Exptime-completeness for satisfiability checking of such g-hybrid knowledge bases. Finally, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of our approach compared with$\mathcal{DL}$+logknowledge bases.

scholarly journals Formal Ontologies in Biomedical Knowledge Representation

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 132-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Jansen ◽  
S. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Description Logics ◽  
Clinical Decision Support Systems ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Knowledge Representation And Reasoning ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Biomedical Knowledge ◽  
Formal Ontologies

Summary Objectives: Medical decision support and other intelligent applications in the life sciences depend on increasing amounts of digital information. Knowledge bases as well as formal ontologies are being used to organize biomedical knowledge and data. However, these two kinds of artefacts are not always clearly distinguished. Whereas the popular RDF(S) standard provides an intuitive triple-based representation, it is semantically weak. Description logics based ontology languages like OWL-DL carry a clear-cut semantics, but they are computationally expensive, and they are often misinterpreted to encode all kinds of statements, including those which are not ontological. Method: We distinguish four kinds of statements needed to comprehensively represent domain knowledge: universal statements, terminological statements, statements about particulars and contingent statements. We argue that the task of formal ontologies is solely to represent universal statements, while the non-ontological kinds of statements can nevertheless be connected with ontological representations. To illustrate these four types of representations, we use a running example from parasitology. Results: We finally formulate recommendations for semantically adequate ontologies that can efficiently be used as a stable framework for more context-dependent biomedical knowledge representation and reasoning applications like clinical decision support systems.

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