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Reasoning about temporal relations: a maximal tractable subclass of Allen's interval algebra

Authors:

Bernhard Nebel,

Hans-Jürgen BürckertAuthors Info & Claims

Journal of the ACM (JACM), Volume 42, Issue 1

Pages 43 - 66

https://doi.org/10.1145/200836.200848

Published: 03 January 1995 Publication History

Abstract

We introduce a new subclass of Allen's interval algebra we call “ORD-Horn subclass,” which is a strict superset of the “pointisable subclass.” We prove that reasoning in the ORD-Horn subclass is a polynomial-time problem and show that the path-consistency method is sufficient for deciding satisfiability. Further, using an extensive machine-generated case analysis, we show that the ORD-Horn subclass is a maximal tractable subclass of the full algebra (assuming P ≠ NP). In fact, it is the unique greatest tractable subclass amongst the subclasses that contain all basic relations.

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cover image Journal of the ACM

Journal of the ACM Volume 42, Issue 1

Jan. 1995

289 pages

ISSN:0004-5411

EISSN:1557-735X

DOI:10.1145/200836

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 1995 ACM.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 03 January 1995

Published in JACM Volume 42, Issue 1

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