The generation of formulas held in common knowledge

Common knowledge of a finite set of formulas implies a special relationship between syntactic and semantic common knowledge. If S, a set of formulas held in common knowledge, is implied by the common knowledge of some finite subset of S, and A is a non-redundant semantic model where exactly S is held in common knowledge, then the following are equivalent: (a) S is maximal among the sets of formulas that can be held in common knowledge, (b) A is finite, and (c) the set S determines A uniquely; otherwise there are uncountably many such A. Even if the knowledge of the agents are defined by their knowledge of formulas, 1) there is a continuum of distinct semantic models where only the tautologies are held in common knowledge and, 2) not assuming that S is finitely generated (a) does not imply (c), (c) does not imply (a), and (a) and (c) together do not imply (b). Received November 1999/Revised version January 2000     

Infinite end-devouring sets of rays with prescribed start vertices

We prove that every end of a graph contains either uncountably many disjoint rays or a set of disjoint rays that meet all rays of the end and start at any prescribed feasible set of start vertices. This confirms a conjecture of Georgakopoulos.     

On fixed points of Knaster continua

Aarts and Fokkink [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 126 (1998) 881] have shown that any homeomorphism of the bucket handle has at least two fixed points. Using their methods, we determine the minimum number of fixed points homeomorphisms on generalized one-dimensional Knaster continua can have. We show that there is a class of these continua that admit homeomorphisms with a single fixed point. Among the examples is one that shows that Theorem 15 in [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 126 (1998) 881] is incorrect. We also show that there are generalized Knaster continua on which every homeomorphism has either uncountably many fixed points or uncountably many points of period two.     

How canonical is the canonical model? A comment on Aumann's interactive epistemology

Aumann (1989) argued that the natural partitions on the space of all maximally consistent sets of formulas in multi-player S5 logic are necessarily “commonly known” by the players. We show, however, that there are many other sets of partitions on this space that conform with the formulas that build the states – as many as there are subsets of the continuum! Thus, assuming a set of partitions on this space is “common knowledge” is an informal but meaningful meta-assumption.     

Community repeated interaction and strategic delegation

A large population of fixed-type agents engage in exclusive pairwise relationships in a decentralized setting. At the onset, agents randomly meet in pairs under private information of individual time-invariant types. They play a voluntary contribution game. At the end of the first period, members of each pair either stay together in the second period, in which case reported information is common knowledge, or quit and meet randomly new partners, under private information of individual types. Thus, either long-term or short-term relationships may arise. We show that there are values of the parameters such that information extracted in the first period has a positive effect on social efficiency. We give an interpretation of our results in terms of advantageous delegation of decisions to uninformed agents. Finally, we consider several extensions of the model in which our results still hold.     

Unstable directions and fractal dimension for skew products with overlaps in fibers

A unique feature of smooth hyperbolic non-invertible maps is that of having different unstable directions corresponding to different prehistories of the same point. In this paper we construct a new class of examples of non-invertible hyperbolic skew products with thick fibers for which we prove that there exist uncountably many points in the locally maximal invariant set ?? (actually a Cantor set in each fiber), having different unstable directions corresponding to different prehistories; also we estimate the angle between such unstable directions. We discuss then the Hausdorff dimension of the fibers of ?? for these maps by employing the thickness of Cantor sets, the inverse pressure, and also by use of continuous bounds for the preimage counting function. We prove that in certain examples, there are uncountably many points in ?? with two preimages belonging to ??, as well as uncountably many points having only one preimage in ??. In the end we give examples which, also from the point of view of Hausdorff dimension, are far from being homeomorphisms on ??, as well as far from being constant-to-1 maps on ??.     

Geodetic rays and fibers in periodic graphs

Using the notion of fibers, where two rays belong to the same fiber if and only if they lie within bounded Hausdorff‐distance of one another, we study how many fibers of a graph contain a geodetic ray and how many essentially distinct geodetic rays such “geodetic fibers” must contain. A complete answer is provided in the case of locally finite graphs that admit an almost transitive action by some infinite finitely generated, abelian group. Such graphs turn out to have either finitely many or uncountably many geodetic fibers. Furthermore, with finitely many possible exceptions, each of these fibers contains uncountably many geodetic rays. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 34: 67–88, 2000     

基于综合集成思想的科研联合体研究

本文基于综合集成思想,特别针对国家863、973等重大科研项目中存在的项目成员单位互相独立科研很难达到综合集成思想要求的“1+1>2”的问题,建立了基于综合集成思想的科研联合体数学模型。给出并证明了在各成员单位能够最大程度发挥科研能力的前提下可归属于同一科研联合体可存在充分条件。基于此条件,给出了将重大科研项目成员单位集合划分为尽可能少的子集的方法,确保每个子集的成员单位都可以归属于同一科研联合体,最后通过给出的划分方法案例演示模型。     

Infinitary S5-Epistemic Logic

It is known that a theory in S5-epistemic logic with several agents may have numerous models. This is because each such model specifies also what an agent knows about infinite intersections of events, while the expressive power of the logic is limited to finite conjunctions of formulas. We show that this asymmetry between syntax and semantics persists also when infinite conjunctions (up to some given cardinality) are permitted in the language. We develop a strengthened S5-axiomatic system for such infinitary logics, and prove a strong completeness theorem for them. Then we show that in every such logic there is always a theory with more than one model.     

多值逻辑的古典方法

本文给多值逻辑一个古典逻辑观察方法。通过引入断词，勾通了多值逻辑与古典逻辑的联系，使全部古典理论在多值逻辑中都有直接应用；规定一类多值公式与古典公式的对应，从而建立起一类多值公式的公理系统，得出一些结果。     

Logic of agreement: Foundations,semantic system and proof theory

In this paper a multi-valued propositional logic — logic of agreement — in terms of its model theory and inference system is presented. This formal system is the natural consequence of a new way to approach concepts as commonsense knowledge, uncertainty and approximate reasoning — the point of view of agreement. Particularly, it is discussed a possible extension of the Classical Theory of Sets based on the idea that, instead of trying to conceptualize sets as “fuzzy” or “vague” entities, it is more adequate to define membership as the result of a partial agreement among a group of individual agents. Furthermore, it is shown that the concept of agreement provides a framework for the development of a formal and sound explanation for concepts (e.g. fuzzy sets) which lack formal semantics. According to the definition of agreement, an individual agent agrees or not with the fact that an object possesses a certain property. A clear distinction is then established, between an individual agent — to whom deciding whether an element belongs to a set is just a yes or no matter — and a commonsensical agent — the one who interprets the knowledge shared by a certain group of people. Finally, the logic of agreement is presented and discussed. As it is assumed the existence of several individual agents, the semantic system is based on the perspective that each individual agent defines her/his own conceptualization of reality. So the semantics of the logic of agreement can be seen as being similar to a semantics of possible worlds, one for each individual agent. The proof theory is an extension of a natural deduction system, using supported formulas and incorporating only inference rules. Moreover, the soundness and completeness of the logic of agreement are also presented.     

Generalized resolution and cutting planes

This paper illustrates how the application of integer programming to logic can reveal parallels between logic and mathematics and lead to new algorithms for inference in knowledge-based systems. If logical clauses (stating that at least one of a set of literals is true) are written as inequalities, then the resolvent of two clauses corresponds to a certain cutting plane in integer programming. By properly enlarging the class of cutting planes to cover clauses that state that at least a specified number of literals are true, we obtain a generalization of resolution that involves both cancellation-type and circulant-type sums. We show its completeness by proving that it generates all prime implications, generalizing an early result by Quine. This leads to a cutting-plane algorithm as well as a generalized resolution algorithm for checking whether a set of propositions, perhaps representing a knowledge base, logically implies a given proposition. The paper is intended to be readable by persons with either an operations research or an artificial intelligence background.This report was prepared as part of the activities of the Management Sciences Research Group, Carnegie-Mellon University. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the U.S. Government.     

Stability in coalition formation games

In the context of coalition formation games a player evaluates a partition on the basis of the set she belongs to. For this evaluation to be possible, players are supposed to have preferences over sets to which they could belong. In this paper, we suggest two extensions of preferences over individuals to preferences over sets. For the first one, derived from the most preferred member of a set, it is shown that a strict core partition always exists if the original preferences are strict and a simple algorithm for the computation of one strict core partition is derived. This algorithm turns out to be strategy proof. The second extension, based on the least preferred member of a set, produces solutions very similar to those for the stable roommates problem. Received August 1998/Final version June 20, 2000     

An axiomatization for the linear logic of knowledge and time LTK r with intransitive time relation

We study the problem of the axiomatization of the linear multimodal logic of knowledge and time LTK _r with reflexive intransitive time relation. The logic is defined semantically as the set of formulas true on frames of a special kind. The LTK _r -frames are linear chains of clusters connected by a reflexive intransitive relation R _T which simulates time. Elements inside a cluster are connected by several equivalence relations imitating the knowledge of different agents. The main result of the article is the proof of the fact that the finite set of formulas proposed by the authors is an axiomatization of the logic LTK _r with reflexive intransitive time relation.     

Nilpotent Ranks of Semigroups of Partial Transformations

A subset U of a semigroup S is a generating set for S if every element of S may be written as a finite product of elements of U. The rank of a finite semigroup S is the size of a minimal generating set of S, and the nilpotent rank of S is the size of a minimal generating set of S consisting of nilpotents in S. A partition of a q-element subset of the set X_n = {1,2,..., n} is said to be of type τ if the sizes of its classes form the partition τ of the positive integer q ≤ n. A non-trivial partition τ of q consists of k < q elements. For a non-trivial partition τ of q < n, the semigroup S(τ), generated by all the transformations with kernels of type τ, is nilpotent-generated. We prove that if τ is a non-trivial partition of q < n, then the rank and the nilpotent rank of S(τ) are both equal to the number of partitions X_n of type τ.     

n值Lukasiewicz命题逻辑系统中公式的随机真度及近似推理

利用赋值集的随机化方法,在n值Lukasiewicz命题逻辑系统中引入公式的随机真度,证明了随机真度的MP规则、HS规则及交推理规则;同时引入公式间的随机相似度和随机伪距离,建立了随机逻辑度量空间,推导出随机相似度的若干性质,证明了随机逻辑度量空间中逻辑运算的连续性;并在随机逻辑度量空间中提出了三种不同类型的近似推理模式,证明了三种近似推理模式的等价性.     

Sharing beliefs about actions

We consider a strategic situation in which each player may not know the probability distribution governing the information structures of his opponents, and consequently his beliefs about opponents' action choices are represented by a set of probability measures. Suppose that beliefs of all the players are common knowledge. Then for any subset of players, the marginal beliefs of those players (about the action choices of their common opponents) must share at least one probability measure.     

An efficient algorithm for the “stable roommates” problem

The stable marriage problem is that of matching n men and n women, each of whom has ranked the members of the opposite sex in order of preference, so that no unmatched couple both prefer each other to their partners under the matching. At least one stable matching exists for every stable marriage instance, and efficient algorithms for finding such a matching are well known. The stable roommates problem involves a single set of even cardinality n, each member of which ranks all the others in order of preference. A stable matching is now a partition of this single set into n/2 pairs so that no two unmatched members both prefer each other to their partners under the matching. In this case, there are problem instances for which no stable matching exists. However, the present paper describes an O(n²) algorithm that will determine, for any instance of the problem, whether a stable matching exists, and if so, will find such a matching.     

An efficient randomized group testing procedure to determine the number of defectives

In many fault detection problems, we want to detect or identify defective items in a sample set by using the minimum number of tests. Group testing is for the scenario where each test is on a subset of items, and tells whether the subset contains at least one defective item or not. In this paper, we present an efficient randomized group testing procedure that determines the exact number of defectives in a sample set with high success probability.     

A Banach space with,up to equivalence,precisely two symmetric bases

It is well know that the classical sequence spaces c_o andl _p (1≦p<∞) have, up to equivalence, just one symmetric basis. On the other hand, there are examples of Orlicz sequence spaces which have uncountably many mutually non-equivalent symmetric bases. Thus in [4], p. 130, the question is asked whether there is a Banach space with, up to equivalence, more than one symmetric basis, but not uncountably many. In this paper we answer the question positively, by exhibiting a Banach space with, up to equivalence, precisely two symmetric bases.