{"id":{"repo_id":"ttu","oai_identifier":"oai:ttu-ir.tdl.org:2346/58710"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/ttu/oai:ttu-ir.tdl.org:2346/58710","repository":{"repo_id":"ttu","name":"Texas Technology University","base_url":"https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Refining the semantics for epistemic logic programs","abstract":"The primary goal of this dissertation is to present a new semantics for the language of Epistemic Specifications that accurately defines those models of associated programs that are to be considered as world views from the standpoint of a rational agent. Epistemic Specifications is a declarative programming language that is an extension of answer set programming (ASP) through the addition of modal operators K and M. Programs written in this language are called epistemic logic programs. Previously proposed semantics did not satisfy our intuition for certain programs. In order to achieve the stated goal, the semantics should reflect the principles of a rational agent, as well as our intuition regarding the notion of support for a literal. Toward that goal, the focus here is on the following items. First, a new definition is proposed for the modal reduct of a program with respect to a collection of sets of literals. This is used to define models of a program that are accepted as its world views. Among other things, the new definition adds insight into a preference held by a rational agent when deciding between models that are based on different forms of extended literals. Second, an algorithm is proposed for finding the world views of an epistemic logic program under the proposed semantics. The algorithm was designed to take advantage of current state-of-the-art ASP solvers. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates its effectiveness. Finally, a framework for a conformant planner written in the language of Epistemic Specifications is introduced. Combined, these show real promise for the practical use of epistemic logic programs. Included in this dissertation is a history of Epistemic Specifications and an account of many failed attempts to "fix" the semantics. Also included is a list of example programs and their associated world views. These programs represent some of the more challenging problems and are believed useful in verifying the correctness of any proposed semantics as well as algorithms and their implementations. Many of these example programs come as a result of experience gained from failed attempts to find a solution to the so-called "unintended world views" problem.","abstract_html":"The primary goal of this dissertation is to present a new semantics for the language of Epistemic Specifications that accurately defines those models of associated programs that are to be considered as world views from the standpoint of a rational agent. Epistemic Specifications is a declarative programming language that is an extension of answer set programming (ASP) through the addition of modal operators K and M. Programs written in this language are called epistemic logic programs. Previously proposed semantics did not satisfy our intuition for certain programs. In order to achieve the stated goal, the semantics should reflect the principles of a rational agent, as well as our intuition regarding the notion of support for a literal. Toward that goal, the focus here is on the following items. First, a new definition is proposed for the modal reduct of a program with respect to a collection of sets of literals. This is used to define models of a program that are accepted as its world views. Among other things, the new definition adds insight into a preference held by a rational agent when deciding between models that are based on different forms of extended literals. Second, an algorithm is proposed for finding the world views of an epistemic logic program under the proposed semantics. The algorithm was designed to take advantage of current state-of-the-art ASP solvers. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates its effectiveness. Finally, a framework for a conformant planner written in the language of Epistemic Specifications is introduced. Combined, these show real promise for the practical use of epistemic logic programs. Included in this dissertation is a history of Epistemic Specifications and an account of many failed attempts to "fix" the semantics. Also included is a list of example programs and their associated world views. These programs represent some of the more challenging problems and are believed useful in verifying the correctness of any proposed semantics as well as algorithms and their implementations. Many of these example programs come as a result of experience gained from failed attempts to find a solution to the so-called "unintended world views" problem.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kahl, Patrick T."],"institution":"Texas Tech University","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Watson, Richard"],"committee_members":["Gelfond, Michael","Zhang, Yuanlin"],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-05","date_published":"2014-05","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:04:53Z","subjects":["Epistemic specifications","Epistemic logic programs","Logic programming","Introspective reasoning","Non-monotonic reasoning","Knowledge representation","Answer set programming (ASP)","Answer set programming (ASP) extensions","Conformant planning"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2346/58710","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Watson, Richard"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Gelfond, Michael","Zhang, Yuanlin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kahl, Patrick T."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-06-30T21:55:50Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Texas Tech University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Epistemic specifications","Epistemic logic programs","Logic programming","Introspective reasoning","Non-monotonic reasoning","Knowledge representation","Answer set programming (ASP)","Answer set programming (ASP) extensions","Conformant planning"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2346/58710"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The primary goal of this dissertation is to present a new semantics for the language of Epistemic Specifications that accurately defines those models of associated programs that are to be considered as world views from the standpoint of a rational agent. Epistemic Specifications is a declarative programming language that is an extension of answer set programming (ASP) through the addition of modal operators K and M. Programs written in this language are called epistemic logic programs. Previously proposed semantics did not satisfy our intuition for certain programs. In order to achieve the stated goal, the semantics should reflect the principles of a rational agent, as well as our intuition regarding the notion of support for a literal. Toward that goal, the focus here is on the following items. First, a new definition is proposed for the modal reduct of a program with respect to a collection of sets of literals. This is used to define models of a program that are accepted as its world views. Among other things, the new definition adds insight into a preference held by a rational agent when deciding between models that are based on different forms of extended literals. Second, an algorithm is proposed for finding the world views of an epistemic logic program under the proposed semantics. The algorithm was designed to take advantage of current state-of-the-art ASP solvers. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates its effectiveness. Finally, a framework for a conformant planner written in the language of Epistemic Specifications is introduced. Combined, these show real promise for the practical use of epistemic logic programs. Included in this dissertation is a history of Epistemic Specifications and an account of many failed attempts to "fix" the semantics. Also included is a list of example programs and their associated world views. These programs represent some of the more challenging problems and are believed useful in verifying the correctness of any proposed semantics as well as algorithms and their implementations. Many of these example programs come as a result of experience gained from failed attempts to find a solution to the so-called "unintended world views" problem."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Refining the semantics for epistemic logic programs"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Watson, Richard"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Gelfond, Michael","Zhang, Yuanlin"],"dc:creator":["Kahl, Patrick T."],"dc:date.available":["2014-06-30T21:55:50Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["The primary goal of this dissertation is to present a new semantics for the language of Epistemic Specifications that accurately defines those models of associated programs that are to be considered as world views from the standpoint of a rational agent. Epistemic Specifications is a declarative programming language that is an extension of answer set programming (ASP) through the addition of modal operators K and M. Programs written in this language are called epistemic logic programs. Previously proposed semantics did not satisfy our intuition for certain programs. In order to achieve the stated goal, the semantics should reflect the principles of a rational agent, as well as our intuition regarding the notion of support for a literal. Toward that goal, the focus here is on the following items. First, a new definition is proposed for the modal reduct of a program with respect to a collection of sets of literals. This is used to define models of a program that are accepted as its world views. Among other things, the new definition adds insight into a preference held by a rational agent when deciding between models that are based on different forms of extended literals. Second, an algorithm is proposed for finding the world views of an epistemic logic program under the proposed semantics. The algorithm was designed to take advantage of current state-of-the-art ASP solvers. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates its effectiveness. Finally, a framework for a conformant planner written in the language of Epistemic Specifications is introduced. Combined, these show real promise for the practical use of epistemic logic programs. Included in this dissertation is a history of Epistemic Specifications and an account of many failed attempts to "fix" the semantics. Also included is a list of example programs and their associated world views. These programs represent some of the more challenging problems and are believed useful in verifying the correctness of any proposed semantics as well as algorithms and their implementations. Many of these example programs come as a result of experience gained from failed attempts to find a solution to the so-called "unintended world views" problem."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/2346/58710"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:subject":["Epistemic specifications","Epistemic logic programs","Logic programming","Introspective reasoning","Non-monotonic reasoning","Knowledge representation","Answer set programming (ASP)","Answer set programming (ASP) extensions","Conformant planning"],"dc:title":["Refining the semantics for epistemic logic programs"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["Texas Tech University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:04:53Z"}