On intuitionistic modal and tense logics and their classical companion logics: Topological semantics and bisimulations

We take the well-known intuitionistic modal logic of Fischer Servi with semantics in bi-relational Kripke frames, and give the natural extension to topological Kripke frames. Fischer Servi’s two interaction conditions relating the intuitionistic pre-order (or partial-order) with the modal accessibility relation generalize to the requirement that the relation and its inverse be lower semi-continuous with respect to the topology. We then investigate the notion of topological bisimulation relations between topological Kripke frames, as introduced by Aiello and van Benthem, and show that their topology-preserving conditions are equivalent to the properties that the inverse relation and the relation are lower semi-continuous with respect to the topologies on the two models. The first main result is that this notion of topological bisimulation yields semantic preservation w.r.t. topological Kripke models for both intuitionistic tense logics, and for their classical companion multi-modal logics in the setting of the Gödel translation. After giving canonical topological Kripke models for the Hilbert-style axiomatizations of the Fischer Servi logic and its classical companion logic, we use the canonical model in a second main result to characterize a Hennessy–Milner class of topological models between any pair of which there is a maximal topological bisimulation that preserve the intuitionistic semantics.     

Modal characterisation theorems over special classes of frames

We investigate model theoretic characterisations of the expressive power of modal logics in terms of bisimulation invariance. The paradigmatic result of this kind is van Benthem’s theorem, which says that a first-order formula is invariant under bisimulation if, and only if, it is equivalent to a formula of basic modal logic. The present investigation primarily concerns ramifications for specific classes of structures. We study in particular model classes defined through conditions on the underlying frames, with a focus on frame classes that play a major role in modal correspondence theory and often correspond to typical application domains of modal logics. Classical model theoretic arguments do not apply to many of the most interesting classes-for instance, rooted frames, finite rooted frames, finite transitive frames, well-founded transitive frames, finite equivalence frames-as these are not elementary. Instead we develop and extend the game-based analysis (first-order Ehrenfeucht-Fraïssé versus bisimulation games) over such classes and provide bisimulation preserving model constructions within these classes. Over most of the classes considered, we obtain finite model theory analogues of the classically expected characterisations, with new proofs also for the classical setting. The class of transitive frames is a notable exception, with a marked difference between the classical and the finite model theory of bisimulation invariant first-order properties. Over the class of all finite transitive frames in particular, we find that monadic second-order logic is no more expressive than first-order as far as bisimulation invariant properties are concerned — though both are more expressive here than basic modal logic. We obtain ramifications of the de Jongh-Sambin theorem and a new and specific analogue of the Janin-Walukiewicz characterisation of bisimulation invariant monadic second-order for finite transitive frames.     

Modal and guarded characterisation theorems over finite transition systems

We explore the finite model theory of the characterisation theorems for modal and guarded fragments of first-order logic over transition systems and relational structures of width two. A new construction of locally acyclic bisimilar covers provides a useful analogue of the well known tree-like unravellings that can be used for the purposes of finite model theory. Together with various other finitary bisimulation respecting model transformations, and Ehrenfeucht–Fraïssé game arguments, these covers allow us to upgrade finite approximations for full bisimulation equivalence towards approximations for elementary equivalence. These techniques are used to prove several ramifications of the van Benthem–Rosen characterisation theorem of basic modal logic for refinements of ordinary bisimulation equivalence, both in the sense of classical and of finite model theory.     

Bisimulations between generalized Veltman models and Veltman models

Interpretability logic is an extension of provability logic. Veltman models and generalized Veltman models are two semantics for interpretability logic. We consider a connection between Veltman semantics and generalized Veltman semantics. We prove that for a complete image‐finite generalized Veltman modelW there is a Veltman model W ′ that is bisimular to W. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the equivalence between logic programming semantics and argumentation semantics

In the current paper, we re-examine the connection between formal argumentation and logic programming from the perspective of semantics. We observe that one particular translation from logic programs to instantiated argumentation (the one described by Wu, Caminada and Gabbay) is able to serve as a basis for describing various equivalences between logic programming semantics and argumentation semantics. In particular, we are able to show equivalence between regular semantics for logic programming and preferred semantics for formal argumentation. We also show that there exist logic programming semantics (L-stable semantics) that cannot be captured by any abstract argumentation semantics.     

Interpretability assessment of fuzzy knowledge bases: A cointension based approach

Computing with words (CWW) relies on linguistic representation of knowledge that is processed by operating at the semantical level defined through fuzzy sets. Linguistic representation of knowledge is a major issue when fuzzy rule based models are acquired from data by some form of empirical learning. Indeed, these models are often requested to exhibit interpretability, which is normally evaluated in terms of structural features, such as rule complexity, properties on fuzzy sets and partitions. In this paper we propose a different approach for evaluating interpretability that is based on the notion of cointension. The interpretability of a fuzzy rule-based model is measured in terms of cointension degree between the explicit semantics, defined by the formal parameter settings of the model, and the implicit semantics conveyed to the reader by the linguistic representation of knowledge. Implicit semantics calls for a representation of user’s knowledge which is difficult to externalise. Nevertheless, we identify a set of properties - which we call “logical view” - that is expected to hold in the implicit semantics and is used in our approach to evaluate the cointension between explicit and implicit semantics. In practice, a new fuzzy rule base is obtained by minimising the fuzzy rule base through logical properties. Semantic comparison is made by evaluating the performances of the two rule bases, which are supposed to be similar when the two semantics are almost equivalent. If this is the case, we deduce that the logical view is applicable to the model, which can be tagged as interpretable from the cointension viewpoint. These ideas are then used to define a strategy for assessing interpretability of fuzzy rule-based classifiers (FRBCs). The strategy has been evaluated on a set of pre-existent FRBCs, acquired by different learning processes from a well-known benchmark dataset. Our analysis highlighted that some of them are not cointensive with user’s knowledge, hence their linguistic representation is not appropriate, even though they can be tagged as interpretable from a structural point of view.     

Abstract Logics, Logic Maps, and Logic Homomorphisms

What is a logic? Which properties are preserved by maps between logics? What is the right notion for equivalence of logics? In order to give satisfactory answers we generalize and further develop the topological approach of [4] and present the foundations of a general theory of abstract logics which is based on the abstract concept of a theory. Each abstract logic determines a topology on the set of theories. We develop a theory of logic maps and show in what way they induce (continuous, open) functions on the corresponding topological spaces. We also establish connections to well-known notions such as translations of logics and the satisfaction axiom of institutions [5]. Logic homomorphisms are maps that behave in some sense like continuous functions and preserve more topological structure than logic maps in general. We introduce the notion of a logic isomorphism as a (not necessarily bijective) function on the sets of formulas that induces a homeomorphism between the respective topological spaces and gives rise to an equivalence relation on abstract logics. Therefore, we propose logic isomorphisms as an adequate and precise notion for equivalence of logics. Finally, we compare this concept with another recent proposal presented in [2]. This research was supported by the grant CNPq/FAPESB 350092/2006-0.     

An Algebraic Approach to Knowledge Base Models Informational Equivalence

In this paper we study the notion of knowledge from the positions of universal algebra and algebraic logic. We consider first order knowledge which is based on first order logic. We define categories of knowledge and knowledge base models. These notions are defined for the fixed subject of knowledge. The key notion of informational equivalence of two knowledge base models is introduced. We use the idea of equivalence of categories in this definition. We prove that for finite models there is a clear way to determine whether the knowledge base models are informationally equivalent.     

An approximate logic for measures

We present a logical framework for formalizing connections between finitary combinatorics and measure theory or ergodic theory that have appeared in various places throughout the literature. We develop the basic syntax and semantics of this logic and give applications, showing that the method can express the classic Furstenberg correspondence and to give short proofs of the Szemerédi Regularity Lemma and the hypergraph removal lemma. We also derive some connections between the modeltheoretic notion of stability and the Gowers uniformity norms from combinatorics.     

Evidence and plausibility in neighborhood structures

The intuitive notion of evidence has both semantic and syntactic features. In this paper, we develop an evidence logic for epistemic agents faced with possibly contradictory evidence from different sources. The logic is based on a neighborhood semantics, where a neighborhood N indicates that the agent has reason to believe that the true state of the world lies in N. Further notions of relative plausibility between worlds and beliefs based on the latter ordering are then defined in terms of this evidence structure, yielding our intended models for evidence-based beliefs. In addition, we also consider a second more general flavor, where belief and plausibility are modeled using additional primitive relations, and we prove a representation theorem showing that each such general model is a p-morphic image of an intended one. This semantics invites a number of natural special cases, depending on how uniform we make the evidence sets, and how coherent their total structure. We give a structural study of the resulting ‘uniform’ and ‘flat’ models. Our main result are sound and complete axiomatizations for the logics of all four major model classes with respect to the modal language of evidence, belief and safe belief. We conclude with an outlook toward logics for the dynamics of changing evidence, and the resulting language extensions and connections with logics of plausibility change.     

Preservativity logic: An analogue of interpretability logic for constructive theories

In this paper we study the modal behavior of Σ‐preservativity, an extension of provability which is equivalent to interpretability for classical superarithmetical theories. We explain the connection between the principles of this logic and some well‐known properties of HA, like the disjunction property and its admissible rules. We show that the intuitionistic modal logic given by the preservativity principles of HA known so far, is complete with respect to a certain class of frames.     

Some Connections between Topological and Modal Logic

We study modal logics based on neighbourhood semantics using methods and theorems having their origin in topological model theory. We thus obtain general results concerning completeness of modal logics based on neighbourhood semantics as well as the relationship between neighbourhood and Kripke semantics. We also give a new proof for a known interpolation result of modal logic using an interpolation theorem of topological model theory.     

Probabilistic stit logic and its decomposition

We define an extension of stit logic that encompasses subjective probabilities representing beliefs about simultaneous choice exertion of other agents. This semantics enables us to express that an agent sees to it that a condition obtains under a minimal chance of success. We first define the fragment of XSTIT where choice exertion is not collective. Then we add lower bounds for the probability of effects to the stit syntax, and define the semantics of the newly formed stit operator in terms of subjective probabilities concerning choice exertion of other agents. We show how the resulting probabilistic stit logic faithfully generalizes the non-probabilistic XSTIT fragment. In a second step we analyze the defined probabilistic stit logic by decomposing it into an XSTIT fragment and a purely epistemic fragment. The resulting epistemic logic for grades of believes is a weak modal logic with a neighborhood semantics combining probabilistic and modal logic theory.     

A Sahlqvist theorem for distributive modal logic

In this paper we consider distributive modal logic, a setting in which we may add modalities, such as classical types of modalities as well as weak forms of negation, to the fragment of classical propositional logic given by conjunction, disjunction, true, and false. For these logics we define both algebraic semantics, in the form of distributive modal algebras, and relational semantics, in the form of ordered Kripke structures. The main contributions of this paper lie in extending the notion of Sahlqvist axioms to our generalized setting and proving both a correspondence and a canonicity result for distributive modal logics axiomatized by Sahlqvist axioms. Our proof of the correspondence result relies on a reduction to the classical case, but our canonicity proof departs from the traditional style and uses the newly extended algebraic theory of canonical extensions.     

Bisimulations for fuzzy automata

Bisimulations have been widely used in many areas of computer science to model equivalence between various systems, and to reduce the number of states of these systems, whereas uniform fuzzy relations have recently been introduced as a means to model the fuzzy equivalence between elements of two possible different sets. Here we use the conjunction of these two concepts as a powerful tool in the study of equivalence between fuzzy automata. We prove that a uniform fuzzy relation between fuzzy automata A and B is a forward bisimulation if and only if its kernel and co-kernel are forward bisimulation fuzzy equivalence relations on A and B and there is a special isomorphism between factor fuzzy automata with respect to these fuzzy equivalence relations. As a consequence we get that fuzzy automata A and B are UFB-equivalent, i.e., there is a uniform forward bisimulation between them, if and only if there is a special isomorphism between the factor fuzzy automata of A and B with respect to their greatest forward bisimulation fuzzy equivalence relations. This result reduces the problem of testing UFB-equivalence to the problem of testing isomorphism of fuzzy automata, which is closely related to the well-known graph isomorphism problem. We prove some similar results for backward-forward bisimulations, and we point to fundamental differences. Because of the duality with the studied concepts, backward and forward-backward bisimulations are not considered separately. Finally, we give a comprehensive overview of various concepts on deterministic, nondeterministic, fuzzy, and weighted automata, which are related to bisimulations.     

A simple logic for reasoning about incomplete knowledge

The semantics of modal logics for reasoning about belief or knowledge is often described in terms of accessibility relations, which is too expressive to account for mere epistemic states of an agent. This paper proposes a simple logic whose atoms express epistemic attitudes about formulae expressed in another basic propositional language, and that allows for conjunctions, disjunctions and negations of belief or knowledge statements. It allows an agent to reason about what is known about the beliefs held by another agent. This simple epistemic logic borrows its syntax and axioms from the modal logic KD. It uses only a fragment of the S5 language, which makes it a two-tiered propositional logic rather than as an extension thereof. Its semantics is given in terms of epistemic states understood as subsets of mutually exclusive propositional interpretations. Our approach offers a logical grounding to uncertainty theories like possibility theory and belief functions. In fact, we define the most basic logic for possibility theory as shown by a completeness proof that does not rely on accessibility relations.     

The Gödel-McKinsey-Tarski embedding for infinitary intuitionistic logic and its extensions

The Gödel-McKinsey-Tarski embedding allows to view intuitionistic logic through the lenses of modal logic. In this work, an extension of the modal embedding to infinitary intuitionistic logic is introduced. First, a neighborhood semantics for a family of axiomatically presented infinitary modal logics is given and soundness and completeness are proved via the method of canonical models. The semantics is then exploited to obtain a labelled sequent calculus with good structural properties. Next, soundness and faithfulness of the embedding are established by transfinite induction on the height of derivations: the proof is obtained directly without resorting to non-constructive principles. Finally, the modal embedding is employed in order to relate classical, intuitionistic and modal derivability in infinitary logic extended with axioms.     

Filtrations of generalized Veltman models

The filtration method is often used to prove the finite model property of modal logics. We adapt this technique to the generalized Veltman semantics for interpretability logics. In order to preserve the defining properties of generalized Veltman models, we use bisimulations to define adequate filtrations. We give an alternative proof of the finite model property of interpretability logic with respect to Veltman models, and we prove the finite model property of the systems and with respect to generalized Veltman models.     

Fuzzy Modal Logics

In the paper we introduce formal calculi which are a generalization of propositional modal logics. These calculi are called fuzzy modal logics. We introduce the concept of a fuzzy Kripke model and consider a semantics of these calculi in the class of fuzzy Kripke models. The main result of the paper is the completeness theorem of a minimal fuzzy modal logic in the class of fuzzy Kripke models.__________Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 201–230, 2003.     

Completeness for μ-calculi: A coalgebraic approach

We set up a generic framework for proving completeness results for variants of the modal mu-calculus, using tools from coalgebraic modal logic. We illustrate the method by proving two new completeness results: for the graded mu-calculus (which is equivalent to monadic second-order logic on the class of unranked tree models), and for the monotone modal mu-calculus.Besides these main applications, our result covers the Kozen–Walukiewicz completeness theorem for the standard modal mu-calculus, as well as the linear-time mu-calculus and modal fixpoint logics on ranked trees. Completeness of the linear-time mu-calculus is known, but the proof we obtain here is different and places the result under a common roof with Walukiewicz' result.Our approach combines insights from the theory of automata operating on potentially infinite objects, with methods from the categorical framework of coalgebra as a general theory of state-based evolving systems. At the interface of these theories lies the notion of a coalgebraic modal one-step language. One of our main contributions here is the introduction of the novel concept of a disjunctive basis for a modal one-step language. Generalizing earlier work, our main general result states that in case a coalgebraic modal logic admits such a disjunctive basis, then soundness and completeness at the one-step level transfer to the level of the full coalgebraic modal mu-calculus.