Predicate Calculus

First-order logic
Whereas propositional logic assumes the
world contains facts,
first-order logic (like natural language)
assumes the world contains
Objects: people, houses, numbers, colors,
baseball games, wars,
Relations: red, round, prime, brother of,
bigger than, part of, comes between,
 And
Functions: father of, best friend, one more than,
plus,

 Syntax of FOL: Basic elements

Constants TaoiseachJohn, 2, DIT,...
Predicates Brother, >,...
Functions Sqrt, LeftLegOf,...
Variables x, y, a, b,...
Connectives , , , ,
Equality =
Quantifiers ,
 Atomic sentences
Atomic sentence = predicate (term1,...,termn)
or term1 = term2

Term = function (term1,...,termn)

or constant or variable

E.g., Brother(TaoiseachJohn,RichardTheLionheart) >

(Length(LeftLegOf(Richard)),
Length(LeftLegOf(TaoiseachJohn)))
 Complex sentences
Complex sentences are made from atomic
sentences using connectives

S, S1 S2, S1 S2, S1 S2, S1 S2,

E.g. Sibling(TaoiseachJohn,Richard)
Sibling(Richard,TaoiseachJohn)
>(1,2) (1,2)
>(1,2) >(1,2)
 Truth in first-order logic
Sentences are true with respect to a model and an interpretation

Model contains objects (domain elements) and relations among

them

Interpretation specifies referents for

constant symbols objects

predicate symbols relations

function symbols functional relations

An atomic sentence predicate(term1,...,termn) is true

iff the objects referred to by term1,...,termn
are in the relation referred to by predicate
 Universal quantification
<variables> <sentence>

Everyone at DIT is smart:

x At(x,DIT) Smart(x)

x P is true in a model m iff P is true with x being each

possible object in the model

 Roughly speaTaoiseach, equivalent to the conjunction of

instantiations of P

At(TaoiseachJohn,DIT) Smart(TaoiseachJohn)
At(Richard,DIT) Smart(Richard)
At(DIT,DIT) Smart(DIT)
...
 A common mistake to avoid
Typically, is the main connective with

Common mistake: using as the main

connective with :
x At(x,DIT) Smart(x)
means Everyone is at DIT and everyone is smart
 Existential quantification
<variables> <sentence>

Someone at DIT is smart:

x At(x,DIT) Smart(x)$

x P is true in a model m iff P is true with x being some

possible object in the model

 Roughly speaTaoiseach, equivalent to the disjunction of

instantiations of P

At(TaoiseachJohn,DIT) Smart(TaoiseachJohn)
At(Richard,DIT) Smart(Richard)
At(DIT,DIT) Smart(DIT)
...
 Another common mistake to
avoid
Typically, is the main connective with

Common mistake: using as the main

connective with :

x At(x,DIT) Smart(x)

is true if there is anyone who is not at DIT!

 Properties of quantifiers
x y is the same as y x

x y is the same as y x

x y is not the same as y x

x y Loves(x,y)
There is a person who loves everyone in the world

y x Loves(x,y)
Everyone in the world is loved by at least one person

Quantifier duality: each can be expressed using the other

x Likes(x,IceCream) x Likes(x,IceCream)
 Equality
term1 = term2 is true under a given interpretation
if and only if term1 and term2 refer to the same
object

E.g., definition of Sibling in terms of Parent:

x,y Sibling(x,y) [(x = y) m,f (m = f)

Parent(m,x) Parent(f,x) Parent(m,y) Parent(f,y)]
 Using FOL
The kinship domain:

Brothers are siblings

x,y Brother(x,y) Sibling(x,y)

 One's mother is one's female parent

m,c Mother(c) = m (Female(m) Parent(m,c))

Sibling is symmetric

x,y Sibling(x,y) Sibling(y,x)

 Knowledge engineering in FOL
1. Identify the task
2. Assemble the relevant knowledge
3. Decide on a vocabulary of predicates,
functions, and constants
4. Encode general knowledge about the domain
5. Encode a description of the specific problem
instance
6. Pose queries to the inference procedure and
get answers
7. Debug the knowledge base
 Summary
First-order logic:

objects and relations are semantic primitives

syntax: constants, functions, predicates,
equality, quantifiers

 Semantics for Predicate Calculus
An interpretation over D is an assignment
of the entities of D to each of the constant,
variable, predicate and function symbols of
a predicate calculus expression such that:
 1: Each constant is assigned an element of D
2: Each variable is assigned a non-empty subset
of D;(these are the allowable substitutions for
that variable)
3: Each predicate of arity n is defined on n
arguments from D and defines a mapping from
Dn into {T,F}
4: Each function of arity n is defined on n
arguments from D and defines a mapping from
Dn into D
 The meaning of an expression
Given an interpretation, the meaning of an
expression is a truth value assignment
over the interpretation.
 Truth Value of Predicate Calculus
expressions
Assume an expression E and an
interpretation I for E over a non empty
domain D. The truth value for E is
determined by:
The value of a constant is the element of
D assigned to by I
The value of a variable is the set of
elements assigned to it by I
 More truth values
The value of a function expression is that
element of D obtained by evaluating the
function for the argument values assigned
by the interpretation
The value of the truth symbol true is T
The value of the symbol false is F
The value of an atomic sentence is either
T or F as determined by the interpretation I
 Similarity with Propositional logic
truth values
The value of the negation of a sentence is
F if the value of the sentence is T and F
otherwise
The values for conjunction, disjunction
,implication and equivalence are
analogous to their propositional logic
counterparts
 Universal Quantifier
The value for

Is T if S is T for all assignments to X under

I, and F otherwise
 Existential Quantifier
The value for

Is T if S is T for any assignment to X under

I, and F otherwise
 Some Definitions
A predicate calculus expressions S1 is
satisfied.
Definition If there exists an Interpretation I
and a variable assignment under I which
returns a value T for S1 then S1 is said to be
satisfied under I.

S is Satisfiable if there exists an interpretation

and variable assignment that satisfies it:
Otherwise it is unsatisfiable
 Some Definitions

A set of predicate calculus expressions

S is satisfied.
Definition For any interpretation I and
variable assignment where a value T is
returned for every element in S the the
set S is said to be satisfied,
 A set of expressions is satisfiable if and
only if there exist an intrepretation and
variable assignment that satisfy every
element
If a set of expressions is not satisfiable, it
is said to be inconsistent

If S has a value T for all possible

interpretations , it is said to be valid
 Some Definitions
A predicate calculus expressions S1 is satisfied.
Definition If there exists an Interpretation I and a variable
assignment under I which returns a value T for S1 then S1 is
said to be satisfied under I.
A set of predicate calculus expressions S is satisfied.

Definition For any interpretation I and variable assignment

where a value T is returned for every element in S the the set
S is said to be satisfied,

An inference rule is complete.

Definition If all predicate calculus expressions X that logically
follow from a set of expressions, S can be produced using the
inference rule , then the inference rule is said to be complete.
 A predicate calculus expression X logically
follows from a set S of predicate calculus
expressions .
For any interpretation I and variable
assignment where S is satisfied, if X is also
satisfied under the same interpretation and
variable assignment then X logically follows
from S.
Logically follows is sometimes called
entailment
 Soundness
An inference rule is sound.
If all predicate calculus expressions X
produced using the inference rule from a
set of expressions, S logically follow from
S then the inference rule is said to be
sound.
 Completeness
An inference Rule is complete if given a
set S of predicate calculus expressions, it
can infer every expression that logically
follows from S
 Equivalence
Recall that :
See attached word
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