Introduction to first order logic for

knowledge representation
Part 1 - Introduction to Logic
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini
FBK-IRST, Trento, Italy

July 16, 2012

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

What is Logic?
The main objective of a logic (there is not a unique logic but
many) is to express by means of a formal language the
knowledge about a he certain phenomena or a certain portion
of the world.
encode with a precise set of deterministic rules, called
inference rules, the basic reasoning steps which are
considered to be correct by everybody.
a correct reasoning allows to show that a certain knowledge is
a logical consequence of a given set of facts, and in logic
correct reasoning chains are constructed by concatenating
applications of simple inference rules, that allow to transform
the initial knowledge into the conclusion one wants to derive.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

What is Logic?
The main objective of a logic (there is not a unique logic but
many) is to express by means of a formal language the
knowledge about a he certain phenomena or a certain portion
of the world.
encode with a precise set of deterministic rules, called
inference rules, the basic reasoning steps which are
considered to be correct by everybody.
a correct reasoning allows to show that a certain knowledge is
a logical consequence of a given set of facts, and in logic
correct reasoning chains are constructed by concatenating
applications of simple inference rules, that allow to transform
the initial knowledge into the conclusion one wants to derive.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

What is Logic?
The main objective of a logic (there is not a unique logic but
many) is to express by means of a formal language the
knowledge about a he certain phenomena or a certain portion
of the world.
encode with a precise set of deterministic rules, called
inference rules, the basic reasoning steps which are
considered to be correct by everybody.
a correct reasoning allows to show that a certain knowledge is
a logical consequence of a given set of facts, and in logic
correct reasoning chains are constructed by concatenating
applications of simple inference rules, that allow to transform
the initial knowledge into the conclusion one wants to derive.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Language, real world and mathematical struture

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Re

al

wo
rld

Language
al
tic
ma
t h e ure
M a t ruct
s

When we want to describe and

reason about some phenomena of
the real world, we use sentences
of a Language, and, If we are also
interested in a more regorous description of the phenomena, we
also provide a matematical model
that is an abstraction of the portion of the real world we are interested in.

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Language, real world and mathematical structure

Language
In describing a phenomena or a portion of the world, we adopt a language. The
phrases of this language are used to describe objects of the real worlds, their
properties, and facts that holds. This language can be informal (natural language,
graphical language, icons, etc...) or a formal (logical language, programming language,
mathematical language, . . . ) It is also possible to have mixed language, i.e. languages
with parts which are formal, and other that are informal (e.g., class diagrams in UML)
Real world
Provide a coplete description of the real world is clearly impossible, and maybe also
useless. However, typically one is interested on a portion of the world, e.g., a
particular physical phenomena, or a social aspect, or modeling rationality of people, or
simply logical circuits, . . . .
Mathematical model
The mathematical model constitute an abstraction of a portion of the world. It
represents under the shape of mathematical objects, such that sets, relations,
functions, . . . . real world entities. In everyday communication, we are not referring to
such mathematical models, but, especially in science, in order to show that a certain
argumentation is correct, people provide mathematical models that describes in an
abstract and concise manner the specific aspect of the real world.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Example of Lan., World., MatMod.

Facts about euclidean geometry
can be expressed in terms of natural language, and they can refer
to one or more real world situation.
(in the picture it refers to the composition of the forces in free climbing). However, the importance of
the theorem lays in the fact that
it describes a general property that
holds in many different situations.
All these different situations can
be abstracted in the mathematical
structure which is the euclidean geometry. So indeed the sentence can
be interpreted directly in the mathematical structure. In this example
the language is informal but it has
an interpretation in a mathematical
structure

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

In any right triangle, the area of

the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the
right angle) is equal to the sum
of the areas of the squares whose
sides are the two legs (the two
sides that meet at a right angle)

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Example of Lan., World., MatMod.

! is right,
In a triangle ABC , if BAC
2
2
2
then AB + AC = BC
This example is obtained by the
previous one by taking a language
which is more formal. Indeed
the language mixes informal statements e.g.
if. . . then. . . is
right with some formal notation
! is an unambiguous and comBAC
pact way to denote an angle, and
2
2
2
similarly AB + AC = BC is a
rigorous description of an equation
that holds between the lengths of
the triangle sides.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Connections between language, world and model

Intuitive interpretation (or informal semantics)
When you propose a new language (or when you have to learn a new language) it is important to associate to any
element of the language an interpretation in the real world. This is called the intuitive interpretation (or informal
semantics). For instance in learning a new programming language, you need to understand what is the effect in
terms of execution of all the languages construct. For this reason the manual, typically, reports in natural language
and with examples, the behavior of the language primitives. This is far to be a formal interpretation into a
mathematical model. Therefore it is an informal interpretation

Formal interpretation (or formal semantics)

The formal semantics of a language is a function that allow to transform the elements of the language, as symbols,
words, complex sentences, . . . into one or more elements of the mathematical structure. It is indeed the
fromalization of the intuitive interpretation (or the intuitive semantics)

Abstraction
Is the link that connects the real world with its matematical and abstract representation into a mathematical
structure. If a certain situation is supposed to be abstractly described by a given structure, then the abstraction
connects the elements that participats to the situation, with the components of the mathematical structure, and
the properties that holds in the situation with the mathematical properties that holds in the structure.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Logic
Logic is a special case of the framework we have seen before,
where the following important component are defined
The language is a Logical language
The formal interpretation allows to define a notion of truth
It is possibel to define a notion of logical consequence between
formulas I.e., if a set of formulas are true then also is true

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formal language
Formal language
Given a non empty set of symbols called alphabet a formal
language is a subset L , i.e., a set of finite strings of symbols
in . The elements of L are called well formed phrases. Formal
languages can be specified by means of a grammar, i.e., a set of
formation rules that allow to build complex well formed phrases.
starting from simpler ones.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Logical language
Logical languages
A language of a logic, i.e., a logical language is a formal language, which has
the following characteristics:
The alphabet of a logical languages typically contains basic symbols that
are used to indicate the basic (atomic) components of the (part of the)
world the logic is supposed to describe. The alphabet is composed of two
subsets: the logical symbols and the non logical symbols. Examples of
such atomic objects are, individuals, functions, operators, truth-values,
propositions, . . .
The grammar of logical language define all the possible ways to construct
complex phrases starting from simpler one. Logical grammar always
define a grammar for building formulas which are phrases that denotes
propositions, i.e., objects that can assume some truth value (as e.g., true,
false, true in certain situation, true with probability of 3%, true/false in a
period of time . . . ) . Another important family of phrases which are
usually defined in logic are terms which usually denotes objects of the
world (e.g., cats, dogs, time points, quantities,

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Alphabet
Alphabet
The alphabet of a logical language is composed of two classes
of symbols:
logical constants, whose formal interpretation is constant and
fixed by the logic (e.g., , , =, . . .
non logical symbols, whose formal interpretation is not fixed
and can vary within a given range. They are not fixed by the
logic and they must be defined by the user.

Making an analogy with programming languages (say C ,

C + +, python) logical constant are reserved words (their
meaning is fixed by the interpreter/compiler); the non logical
symbols are the identifiers that are introduced by the
programmer for defining functions, variables, procedure,
classes, attributes, methods, . . . . The meaning of these
symbols is fixed by the programmer.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Alphabet - example
Logical Constant
Propositional logic: , , , , and , that stand for
conjunction, disjunction, negation, implication, equivalence,
and falsity. They are usually called propositional connectives
Predicate logic (or first order logic): in addition to the
propositional connectives we have and , that stand for,
every object is such that . . . , and there is some object
such that . . . . They are usually called universal and
existential quantifier
Modal logic: in addition to the propositional connectives, we
have ! and that stand for it is necessarily true that . . .
and it is possibly true that . . . . They are usually called
modal operators

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Alphabet - example
Non logical symbols
In propositional logic, non logical symbols are called
propositional variables which represent (= has intuitive
interpretation) proposition. The proposition associated to
each propositional variable is not fixed by the logic.
In predicate logic. there are four families of non logical
symbols
Variable symbols which represent any object
Constant symbols which represent specific objects
Function symbols which represent transformations on objects
Predicate symbols which represent relations between objects

In modal logic, non logical symbols are the same as in

propositional logic, i.e., propositional variables.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Intuitive interpretation of a logical language

Intuitive interpretation
While, non logical symbols do not have a fixed formal interpretation, they usually have
a fixed intuitive interpretation. Consider for instance:
type
propositional variable
constant symbol
function symbol
predicate symbol

symbol
rain
Moby Dick
Color (x)
Friends(x, y )

intuitive interpretation
its raining
The whale of a novel by Melville
the color of the object x
x and y are friends

Intuitive interpretation does not affect logic

The intuitive interpretation of the non logical symbols does not affect the logic itself.
In other words, changing the intuitive interpretation does not affect the properties that
will be proved in the logic. Similarly, replacing these logical symbols with less
evocative symbols like r , m, C (x) and F (x, y ) will not affect the logic.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Grammar - Example
Propositional logic
The grammar of propositional logic allow to define the unique class of phrases, called
formulas (or well formed formulas), which denotes propositions.
FORMULA

:=

P
|
|
|
|

(P is a propositional variable)
"("FORMULA "" FORMULA")"
"("FORMULA "" FORMULA")"
"("FORMULA "" FORMULA")"
"(" "" FORMULA ")"

Example (Well formed formulas)

P (Q R)

(P (Q R)) P

The above formulas are well formed, because there is a sequence of application of
grammar rules that allow to generate them. (Exercise: list the rules that allow to
generate the above formulas).
Example (Non well formed formulas)
P(Q R)
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

(P P)
Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Grammar - Example
Language of first order logic
TERM

FORMULA

:=
|
|
:=
|
|
|
|
|
|

x (x is a variable symbol)
c (c is a constant symbol)
f (TERM . . . TERM) (f is a function symbol)
P(TERM . . . TERMINE) (P is a predicate symbol)
FORMULA FORMULA
FORMULA FORMULA
FORMULA FORMULA
FORMULA
x FORMULA (x is a variable symbol)
x FORMULA (x is a variable symbol)

The rules defines two types of phrases, the terms and the formulas. Terms denote
object (they are like noun phrases in natural language) while formulas denote
propositions (they are like sentences in natural language).
Exercise
Give some examples of terms and formulas, and some examples of phrases which are
neither terms nor formulas
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Grammar - Example
The grammar for Description logics ALC
FORMULA

CONCEPT

ROLE
INDIVIDUAL

:=
|
|
:=
|
|
|
|
|
:=
:=

CONCEPT ' CONCEPT

CONCEPT ( INDIVIDUAL )
ROLE ( INDIVIDUAL, INDIVIDUAL )
A (A is a concept symbol)
CONCEPT ( CONCEPT
CONCEPT ) CONCEPT
CONCEPT
ROLE.CONCEPT
ROLE.CONCEPT
R (R is a role symbol)
a (a is a individual symbol)

Example (Concepts and formulas of DL)

CONCEPTS:
FORMULAS:

A ) B, A ( R.C , S(C ( R.D) ) A

A ' B, A ' R.B, A(a), R(a, b), R.C (a),

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Interpretation of complex formulas

Interpretation of complex formulas
The intuitive interpretation of complex formulas is done by combining the intuitive interpretation of the
components of the formulas.

Example
The intuitive interpretation of the propositional formula
(raining snowing ) go to the beach
is obtained by composing the intuitive interpretations of the symbols that occurs in this formula. If the intuitive
interpretation of the symbols are:
symbol

intuitive meaning

raining
snowing
go to the beach

it is raining
it is snowing
we go to the beach
either it is the case of . . . or . . .
if . . . then . . .
it is not the case that . . .

then the above formula intuitively represent the proposition:

if (it is raining or it is snowing) then it is not the case that (we go to the beach)

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formal model
Class of models: The models in which a logic is formally interpreted are
the member of a class of algebraic structures each of which is an abstract
representation of the relevant aspects of the (portion of the) world we
want to formalize with this logic.
What do models represent? Models represent only the components and
aspects of the worlds with are relevant to a certain analysis, and abstract
away from irrelecant facts. For instance, if we are interested in the
everage temperature of each day, we can represent time with the natural
numbers and a function that associates to each natural number a floating
point number (the average temperature of the day corresponding to the
point)
Applicability of a model Since the (real) world is quite complex, in the
construction of the formal model, we usually make a number of
simplifying assumptions that bound the usability of the logic to the cases
in which these assumptions are verified. For instance if we take integers
as a formal model of time, then we cannot use this model to represent
continuos change.
What represents a single model Each element of the class represent a
single possible (or impossible) state of the world. The class of models of
a logic will represent all the (im)possible states of the world.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formal interpretation
Given a structure S, the formal interpretation of a logical
language in S is a function that associates an element of S to
any non logical symbol of the alphabet.
the formal interpretation on the algebraic structure is the
parallel (or better is the formalization) of the intuitive
interpretation in the real world.
The formal interpretation is specified only for the non logical
symbols, while the formal interpretation of the logical symbols
is fixed by the logic.
The formal interpretation of complex expressions e obtained
by a combination of the sub-expressions e1 , . . . en ) is
unequivocally determined as a function of the formal
interpretations of the sub-components e1 , . . . , en .

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Truth in a model (= satisfiable in a mode)

As clarified at the beginning, the goal of logic is the formalization
of what is true/false on a particular world. The main objective of
the formal interpretation is that it allows to define when a formula
is true in model (model = structure + interpretation).
Every logic therefore define the satisfiability relation, denoted by |=
between models and formulas

Model

|=

Formula

If M is a model and a formula, tehn

M |=
stands for the fact that M satisfies , or equivalently that is true
in M
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

(Un)-Satisfiability and Validity

On the basis of truth in a model (|=) the following concepts are
defined in any logic
is satisfiable if there is a model in which it is true i.e. if
there is an M such that M |=
is un-satisfiable if it is not satisfiable, i.e., there are no
models that makes true
is valid if is true in all the models.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Logical consequence
The notion of logical consequence is defined on the basis of the
notion of truth in a model. Intuitively, a formula is a logical
consequence of a set of formulas (sometime called assumptions)
if such a formula is true under this set of assumptions.

|=

Set of
formulas

formula

Notice that the two relations, truth in a model and logical

consequence are denoted by the same symbol (this should remind
you that they are tightly connected). Formally |= holds when
For all M, if M |= then M |=
In words: is true in all the possible situations in which all the
formulas in are true.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Checking logical consequence

Problem
Does exist an algorithm that checks if a formula is a logical
consequence of a set of formulas ?
Solution (1)
If is finite and the set of models of the logic is finite, then it is
possible to directly apply the definition by checking for every model
M, that if M |= then, M |= .
Solution (2)
When is infinite or the set of models is infinite, then solution (1)
is not applicable as it would run infinitely. An alternative solution
could be to generate, starting from , all its logical consequences
by applying a set of rules.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Checking logical consequence

Propositional logic The method based on truth tables can be
used to check logical consequence by enumerating all the models
of and and checking if every time all the formulas in are true
then is also true. This is possible because, when is finite then
there are a finite number of models.
First order logic A first order language in general has an infinite
number of interpretations. Therefore, to check logical
consequence, it is not possible to apply a method that enumerates
all the possible models, as in truth tables.
Modal logic present the same problem of first order logic. In
general for a set of formulas there are infinite number of models,
which implies that a method that enumerates all the models is not
effective.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Checking logical consequence

Deductive methods
An alternative method for determining if a formula is a logical
consequence of a set of formulas is based on inference rules.
An inference rule is a rewriting rules that takes a set of formulas
and transform it in another formulas. The following are examples
of inference rules.

x.(x)
(c)

x.(x)
(d)

Differently from truth table, which apply a brute force exhaustive

analysis not interpretable by humans, the deductive method
simulates human argumentation and provides also an
understandable explanation (i.e., a deduction) of the reason why a
formula is a logical consequence of a set of formulas.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Checking logical consequence

Deductive methods - Example
Example
Let = {r , (r s) b}. The following is a deduction (an
explanation of) the fact that b is a logical consequence of , i.e.,
that |= b that uses the following inference rules:

(1)
(2)
(3)
(5)

(MP)

r
r s
(r s) b
b

(OR intro)

Belongs to
by applying (OR-intro) to (1)
Belongs to
By applying (MP) to (2) and (3)

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Introduction to first order logic for

knowledge representation
Part 2 - Introduction to Propositional Logic
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini
FBK-IRST, Trento, Italy

July 16, 2012

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Propositional logic - Intuition

Propositional logic is the logic of propositions
a proposition can be true or false in the state of the world.
the same proposition can be expressed in different ways. E.g.
B. Obama is drinking a bier, The U.S.A. president is
drinking a bier and B. Obama si sta facendo una birra
express the same proposition.
The language of propositional logic allows us to express
propositions.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Propositional logic language

Definition (Propositional alphabet)
Logical symbols , , , and
Non logical symbols A set P of symbols called propositional
variables
Separator symbols ( and )
Definition (Well formed formulas or simply formulas)
every P P is an atomic formula
every atomic formula is a formula
if A and B are formulas then A, A B, A B A B, and
A B are formulas

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formulas contd
Example ((non) formulas)
Formulas
PQ
P (Q R)
P Q R

Non formulas
PQ
(P ((Q R)
P Q R

Problem
The formula P Q R can be read in two ways:
1

(P Q) R

P (Q R)

Symbol priority
has higher priority, then , , and . Parenthesis can be used
around formulas to stress or change the priority.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formulas as trees
Tree form of a formula
A formula can be seen as a tree. Leaf nodes are associated to
propositional variables, while intermediate (non-leaf) nodes are
associated to connectives.
For instance the formula (A B) (B C ) can be represented
as the tree

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Subformulas
Definition
(Proper) Subformula
A is a subformula of itself
A and B are subformulas of A B, A B A B, e A B
A is a subformula of A
if A is a subformula of B and B is a subformula of C , then A
is a subformula of C .
A is a proper subformula of B if A is a subformula of B and A
is different from B.
Remark
The subformulas of a formula represented as a tree correspond to
all the different subtrees of the tree associated to the formula, one
for each node.
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Subformulas
Example
The subformulas of (p (q r )) (p p) are
(p (q r )) (p p)
(p (q r ))
p p
p
p
qr
q
r

p
q

p
r

Proposition
Every formula has a finite number of subformulas

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Interpretation of Propositional Logic

Definition (Interpretation)
A Propositional interpretation is a function I : P {True, False}
Remark
If |P| is the cardinality of P, then there are 2|P| different
interpretations, i.e. all the different subsets of P. If |P| is finite
then there is a finite number of interpretations.
Remark
A propositional interpretation can be thought as a subset S of P,
and I is the characteristic function of S, i.e., A S iff
I(A) = True.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Interpretation of Propositional Logic

Example
I1
I2
I3
I4
I5
I6
I7
I8

p
True
True
True
True
False
False
False
False

q
True
True
False
False
True
True
False
False

r
Set theoretic representation
True
{p, q, r }
False
{p, q}
True
{p, r }
False
{p}
True
{q, r }
False
{q}
True
{r }
False
{}

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Satisfiability of a propositional formula

Definition (I satisfies a formula, I |= A)
A formula A is true in/satisfied by an interpretation I, in symbols
I |= A, according to the following inductive definition:
If P P, I |= P if I(P) = True.
I |= A if not I |= A (also written I "|= A
I |= A B if, I |= A and I |= B
I |= A B if, I |= A or I |= B
I |= A B if, when I |= A then I |= B
I |= A B if, I |= A iff I |= B

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Satisfiability of a propositional formula

Example (interpretation)
P = {P, Q}, I (P) = True and I(Q) = False can be also expressed
with I = {P}.
Example (Satisfiability)
Let I = {P}. Check if I |= (P Q) (R S):
Replace each occurrence of each primitive propositions of the
formula with the truth value assigned by I, and apply the
definition for connectives.
(True False) (False False)

(1)

False True

(2)

True

(3)

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Satisfiability of a propositional formula

Proposition
If for any propositional variable P appearing in a formula A,
I(P) = I ! (P), then I |= A iff I ! |= A

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Valid, Satisfiable, and Unsatisfiable formulas

Definition
A formula A is
Valid if for all interpretations I, I |= A
Satisfiable if there is an interpretations I s.t., I |= A
Unsatisfiable if for no interpretations I, I |= A
Proposition
A Valid A satisfiable A not unsatisfiable
A unsatisfiable A not satisfiable A not Valid

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Valid, Satisfiable, and Unsatisfiable formulas - II

Proposition
if A is
Valid
Satisfiable
not Valid
Unsatisfiable

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

then A is
Unsatisfiable
not Valid
Satisfiable
Valid

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Chesking Validity and (un)satisfiability of a formula

Truth Table
Checking (un)satisfiability and validity of a formula A can be done
by enumerating all the interpretations which are relevant for S, and
for each interpretation I check if I |= A.
Example (of truth table)
A
true
true
true
true
false
false
false
false

B
true
true
false
false
true
true
false
false

C
true
false
true
false
true
false
true
false

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

A (B C )
true
true
false
true
true
true
true
true
Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Valid, Satisfiable, and Unsatisfiable formulas

Example (Excercise)

AA

Valid

(A A)

AB A
Satisfiable

AB

(A

B)

A
Non Valid

(A A)

Uatisfiable

(A A)
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Prove that the blue formulas are valid, that the

magenta formulas are
satisfiable but not valid,
and that the red formulas are unsatisfiable.

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Valid, Satisfiable, and Unsatisfiable sets of formulas

Definition
A set of formulas is
Valid if for all interpretations I, I |= A for all formulas
A
Satisfiable if there is an interpretations I, I |= A for all A
Unsatisfiable if for no interpretations I,, s.t. I |= A for all A
Proposition
For any finite set of formulas , (i.e., = {A1 , . . . , An } for some
n 1), is valid (resp. satisfiable and unsatisfiable) if and only if
A1 An is valid (resp, satisfiable and unsatisfiable).

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formalization in Propositional Logic

Example (The colored blanket)
P = {B, R, Y , G }
the intuitive interpretation of B (R, Y , and
G ) is that the blanket is completely blue
(red, yellow and green)
Exercise
Find all the interpretations that, according to the intuitive interpretation
given above, represent a possible situation. Consider the two cases in
which
1

the blanket is either completely yellow, red, blue or green (i.e,

yellow, red, blue or green are the only allowed colors);

the blanket is composed of an arbitrary of colors;

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Formalization in Propositional Logic

Exercise (Solution)
I1 = {B} corrisponding to

I2 = {Y } corrisponding to

I3 = {R} corrisponding to

I4 = {G } corrisponding to

I5 = corrisponding to any blanket that is not monochrome,

e.g. ,
...
I6 = {R, B} does not correspond to any blanket, since a
blanket cannot be both completely blue and red. More in
general all the interpretations that satisfies more than one
proposition do not correspond to any real situation.

Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Logical consequence
Definition (Logical consequence)
A formula A is a logical consequence of a set of formulas , in
symbols
|= A
Iff for any interpretation I that satisfies all the formulas in , I
satisfies A,
Example (Logical consequence)
p |= p q
q p |= p q
p q, p r , q r |= r
p q, p |= q
p, p |= q
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Logical consequence
Example
Proof of p |= p q Suppose that I |= p, then by definition I |= p q.
Proof of q p |= p q Suppose that I |= q p, then either I |= q or
I |= p. In both cases we have that I |= p q.
Proof of p q, p r , q r |= r Suppose that I |= p q and
I |= p r and I |= q r . Then either I |= p or I |= q.
In the first case, since I |= p r , then I |= r , In the
second case, since I |= q r , then I |= r .
Proof of p, p |= q Suppose that I |= p, then not I |= p, which
implies that there is no I such that I |= p and I |= p.
This implies that all the interpretations that satisfy p and
p (actually none) satisfy also p.
Proof of (p q) (p q) |= p q) Left by exercise
Proof of (p q) |= p q Left by exercise
Chiara Ghidini and Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge

representation
Part 3 - Introduction to First order logic
Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini
FBK-irst, Trento, Italy

July 16, 2012

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Outline
Why First Order Logic (FOL)?
Syntax and Semantics of FOL;
First Order Theories;
Fun with sentences...

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic - I

Question
Try to express in Propositional Logic the following statements:
Mary is a person
John is a person
Mary is mortal
Mary and John are siblings

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic - I

Question
Try to express in Propositional Logic the following statements:
Mary is a person
John is a person
Mary is mortal
Mary and John are siblings
A solution
Through atomic propositions:
Mary-is-a-person
John-is-a-person
Mary-is-mortal
Mary-and-John-are-siblings
Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

Mary-is-a-person
John-is-a-person
Mary-is-mortal
Mary-and-John-are-siblings

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

Mary-is-a-person
John-is-a-person
Mary-is-mortal
Mary-and-John-are-siblings
How do we link Mary of the first sentence to Mary of the third
sentence? Same with John. How do we link Mary and
Mary-and-John?

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic - II

Question
Try to express in Propositional Logic the following statements:
All persons are mortal;
There is a person who is a spy.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic - II

Question
Try to express in Propositional Logic the following statements:
All persons are mortal;
There is a person who is a spy.
A solution
We can give all people a name and express this fact through
atomic propositions:
Mary-is-mortal John-is-mortal Chris-is-mortal
. . . Michael-is-mortal
Mary-is-a-spy John-is-a-spy Chris-is-a-spy
. . . Michael-is-a-spy

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

Mary-is-mortal John-is-mortal Chris-is-mortal
. . . Michael-is-mortal
Mary-is-a-spy John-is-a-spy Chris-is-a-spy
. . . Michael-is-a-spy

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

Mary-is-mortal John-is-mortal Chris-is-mortal
. . . Michael-is-mortal
Mary-is-a-spy John-is-a-spy Chris-is-a-spy
. . . Michael-is-a-spy

The representation is not compact and generalization patterns are

dicult to express.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

Mary-is-mortal John-is-mortal Chris-is-mortal
. . . Michael-is-mortal
Mary-is-a-spy John-is-a-spy Chris-is-a-spy
. . . Michael-is-a-spy

The representation is not compact and generalization patterns are

dicult to express.
What is we do not know all the people in our universe? How can
we express the statement independently from the people in the
universe?

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic - III

Question
Try to express in Propositional Logic the following statements:
Every natural number is either even or odd

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic - III

Question
Try to express in Propositional Logic the following statements:
Every natural number is either even or odd
A solution
We can use two families of propositions eveni and oddi for every
i 1, and use the set of formulas
{oddi eveni |i 1}

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

{oddi eveni |i 1}
What happens if we want to state this in one single formula? To
do this we would need to write an infinite formula like:
(odd1 even1 ) (odd2 even2 ) . . .
and this cannot be done in propositional logic.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressivity of propositional logic -IV

Question
Express the statements:
the father of Luca is Italian
Solution (Partial)
mario-is-father-of-luca mario-is-italian

michele-is-father-of-luca michele-is-italian
...

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Problem with previous solution

mario-is-father-of-luca mario-is-italian

michele-is-father-of-luca michele-is-italian
...

This statement strictly depend from a fixed set of people. What

happens if we want to make this statement independently of the
set of persons we have in our universe?

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Why first order logic?

Because it provides a way of representing information like the
following one:
1

Mary is a person;

John is a person;

Mary is mortal;

Mary and John are siblings

Every person is mortal;

There is a person who is a spy;

Every natural number is either even or odd;

The father of Luca is Italian

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Why first order logic?

Because it provides a way of representing information like the
following one:
1

Mary is a person;

John is a person;

Mary is mortal;

Mary and John are siblings

Every person is mortal;

There is a person who is a spy;

Every natural number is either even or odd;

The father of Luca is Italian

and also to infer the third one from the first one and the fifth one.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

First order logic

Whereas propositional logic assumes world contains facts,
first-order logic (like natural language) assumes the world contains:
Constants: mary, john, 1, 2, 3, red, blue, world war 1, world
war 2, 18th Century. . .
Predicates: Mortal, Round, Prime, Brother of, Bigger than,
Inside, Part of, Has color, Occurred after, Owns, Comes
between, . . .
Functions: Father of, Best friend, Third inning of, One more
than, End of, . . .

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Constants and Predicates

Mary is a person
John is a person
Mary is mortal
Mary and John are siblings
In FOL it is possible to build an atomic propositions by applying a
predicate to constants
Person(mary )
Person(john)
Mortal(mary )
Siblings(mary , john)

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Quantifiers and variables

Every person is mortal;
There is a person who is a spy;
Every natural number is either even or odd;
In FOL it is possible to build propositions by applying universal
(existential) quantifiers to variables. This allows to quantify to
arbitrary objects of the universe.
x.Person(x) Mortal(x);
x.Person(x) Spy (x);
x.(Odd(x) Even(x))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Functions
The father of Luca is Italian.
In FOL it is possible to build propositions by applying a function to
a constant, and then a predicate to the resulting object.
Italian(fatherOf (Mario))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Syntax of FOL
Logical symbols
the logical constant

propositional logical connectives , , , ,

the quantifiers ,

an infinite set of variable symbols x1 , x2 , . . .

the equality symbol =. (optional)
Non Logical symbols
a set c1 , c2 , . . . of constant symbols
a set f1 , f2 , . . . of functional symbols each of which is
associated with its arity (i.e., number of arguments)
a set P1 , P2 , . . . of relational symbols each of which is
associated with its arity (i.e., number of arguments)
Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Terms and formulas of FOL

Terms
every constant ci and every variable xi is a term;
if t1 , . . . , tn are terms and fi is a functional symbol of arity
equal to n, then f (t1 , . . . , tn ) is a term
Well formed formulas
if t1 and t2 are terms then t1 = t2 is a formula
If t1 , . . . , tn are terms and Pi is relational symbol of arity
equal to n, then Pi (t1 , . . . , tn ) is formula
if A and B are formulas then , A B, A B, A B A are
formulas
if A is a formula and x a variable, then x.A and x.A are
formulas.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Examples of terms and formulas

Example (Terms)
xi ,
ci ,
fi (xj , ck ), and
f (g (x, y ), h(x, y , z), y )
Example (formulas)
f (a, b) = c,
P(c1 ),
x(A(x) B(y )), and
P(x) y .Q(x, y ).

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

An example of representation in FOL

Example (Language)
constants
Aldo
Bruno
Carlo
MathLogic
DataBase
0, 1, . . . , 10

functions (arity)
mark (2)
best-friend (1)

Predicate (arity)
attend (2)
friend (2)
student (1)
course (1)
less-than (2)

Example (Terms)
Intuitive meaning
an individual named Aldo
the mark 1
Brunos best friend
anything
Brunos mark in MathLogic
somebodys mark in DataBase
Brunos best friend mark in MathLogic

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

An example of representation in FOL

Example (Language)
constants
Aldo
Bruno
Carlo
MathLogic
DataBase
0, 1, . . . , 10

functions (arity)
mark (2)
best-friend (1)

Predicate (arity)
attend (2)
friend (2)
student (1)
course (1)
less-than (2)

Example (Terms)
Intuitive meaning
an individual named Aldo
the mark 1
Brunos best friend
anything
Brunos mark in MathLogic
somebodys mark in DataBase
Brunos best friend mark in MathLogic

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

term
Aldo
1
best-friend(Bruno)
x
mark(Bruno,MathLogic)
mark(x,DataBase)
mark(best-friend(Bruno),MathLogic)

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

An example of representation in FOL (contd)

Example (Formulas)

Intuitive meaning
Aldo and Bruno are the same person
Carlo is a person and MathLogic is a course
Aldo attends MathLogic
Courses are attended only by students
every course is attended by somebody
every student attends something
a student who attends all the courses
every course has at least two attenders
Aldos best friend attend the same courses
attended by Aldo
best-friend is symmetric
Aldo and his best friend have the same mark
in MathLogic
A student can attend at most two courses

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

An example of representation in FOL (contd)

Example (Formulas)

Intuitive meaning

Formula

Aldo and Bruno are the same person

Carlo is a person and MathLogic is a course
Aldo attends MathLogic
Courses are attended only by students
every course is attended by somebody
every student attends something
a student who attends all the courses
every course has at least two attenders
Aldos best friend attend the same courses
attended by Aldo
best-friend is symmetric
Aldo and his best friend have the same mark
in MathLogic
A student can attend at most two courses

Aldo = Bruno
person(Carlo) course(MathLogic)
attend(Aldo, MathLogic)
x(attend(x, y ) course(y ) student(x))
x(course(x) y attend(y , x))
x(student(x) y attend(x, y ))
x(student(x) y (course(y ) attend(x, y )))
x(course(x) y z(attend(y , x) attend(z, x) y = z))
x(attend(Aldo, x) attend(best-friend(Aldo), x))
x(best-friend(best-friend(x)) = x)
mark(best-friend(Aldo), MathLogic) = mark(Aldo, MathLogic)
xy zw (attend(x, y ) attend(x, z) attend(x, w )
(y = z z = w y = w ))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Common Mistakes
Use of with
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Common Mistakes
Use of with
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) means Everyone works at
FBK and everyone is smart

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Common Mistakes
Use of with
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) means Everyone works at
FBK and everyone is smart
Everyone working at FBK is smart is formalized as
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Common Mistakes
Use of with
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) means Everyone works at
FBK and everyone is smart
Everyone working at FBK is smart is formalized as
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))
Use of with

x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Common Mistakes
Use of with
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) means Everyone works at
FBK and everyone is smart
Everyone working at FBK is smart is formalized as
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))
Use of with

x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) mans There is a person

so that if (s)he works at FBK then (s)he is smart and this is
true as soon as there is at last an x who does not work at FBK

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Common Mistakes
Use of with
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) means Everyone works at
FBK and everyone is smart
Everyone working at FBK is smart is formalized as
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))
Use of with

x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x)) mans There is a person

so that if (s)he works at FBK then (s)he is smart and this is
true as soon as there is at last an x who does not work at FBK
There is an FBK-working smart person is formalized as
x (WorksAt(FBK , x) Smart(x))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Representing variations of quantifiers in FOL

Example
Represent the statement at most 2 students attend the KR course
x1 x2 x3 (attend(x1 , KR) attend(x2 , KR) attend(x2 , KR)
x 1 = x 2 x2 = x3 x1 = x3 )
At most n . . .

x1 . . . xn+1

n+1

i=1

(xi )

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

n+1

i=j=1

xi = xj

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Representing variations quantifiers in FOL

Example
Represent the statement at least 2 students attend the KR course
x1 x2 (attend(x1 , KR) attend(x2 , KR) x1 = x2 )
At least n . . .

x1 . . . xn

i=1

(xi )

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

i=j=1

xi = xj

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Semantics of FOL
FOL interpretation for a language L
A first order interpretation for the language
L = c1 , c2 , . . . , f1 , f2 , . . . , P1 , P2 , . . . is a pair , I where
is a non empty set called interpretation domain
I is is a function, called interpretation function
I(ci ) (elements of the domain)
I(fi ) : n (n-ary function on the domain)
I(Pi ) n (n-ary relation on the domain)

where n is the arity of fi and Pi .

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Example of interpretation
Example (Of interpretation)
Symbols

Constants: alice, bob, carol, robert

Function: mother-of (with arity equal to 1)
Predicate: friends (with arity equal to 2)

Domain

= {1, 2, 3, 4, . . . }

Interpretation

I(alice) = 1, I(bob) = 2, I(carol) = 3,

I(robert) = 2
M(1) = 3
M(2) = 1
I(mother-of) = M
M(3) = 4
M(n) = n + 1 for n 4
1, 2 , 2, 1 , 3, 4 ,
4, 3 , 4, 2 , 2, 4 ,
I(friends) = F =

4, 1 , 1, 4 , 4, 4

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Example (contd)
Alice

Bob

Carol

Mother

Robert
Friend

Syntax
Semantics
M

F
M

1
M

M
F

F
2

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

F
4

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Interpretation of terms
Definition (Assignment)
An assignment a is a function from the set of variables to .
a[x/d] denotes the assignment that coincides with a on all the
variables but x, which is associated to d.
Definition (Interpretation of terms)
The interpretation of a term t w.r.t. the assignment a, in symbols
I(t)[a] is recursively defined as follows:
I(xi )[a] = a(xi )

I(ci )[a] = I(ci )

I(f (t1 , . . . , tn ))[a] = I(f )(I(t1 )[a], . . . , I(tn )[a])

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

FOL Satisfiability of formulas

Definition (Satisfiability of a formula w.r.t. an assignment)
An interpretation I satisfies a formula w.r.t. the assignment a
according to the following rules:
I |= t1 = t2 [a] i I(t1 )[a] = I(t2 )[a]

I |= P(t1 , . . . , tn )[a] i I(t1 )[a], . . . , I(tn )[a] I(P)

I |= [a] i I |= [a] and I |= [a]
I |= [a] i I |= [a] or I |= [a]

I |= [a] i I |= [a] or I |= [a]

I |= [a] i I |= [a]

I |= [a] i I |= [a] i I |= [a]

I |= x[a] i there is a d such that I |= [a[x/d]]

I |= x[a] i for all d , I |= [a[x/d]]
Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Example (contd)
Exercise
Check the satisfiability of the following statements, considering the
interpretation defined few slides ago:
1
2
3

I |= Alice = Bob[a]

I |= Robert = Bob[a]
I |= x = Bob[a[x/2]

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Example (cont.).
I(mother-of(alice))[a]

I(mother-of(x))[a[x/4]]

I(friends(x, y ))

x :=
1
2
4
1
4
2
4
3
4

y :=
2
1
1
4
2
4
3
4
4

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

I(friends(x, x))

x :=
4

I(friends(x, y ) x = y )

x :=
4

I(xfriends(x, y ))

y :=
2
1
4
3

I(xfriends(x, y ))

y :=
4

y :=
4

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Free variable and free terms

Intuition
A free occurrence of a variable x is an occurrence of x which is not
bounded by a (universal or existential) quantifier.
Definition (Free occurrence)
any occurrence of x in tk is free in P(t1 , . . . , tk , . . . , tn )
any free occurrence of x in or in is also fee in ,
, , and

any free occurrence of x in , is free in y . and y . if y is

distinct from x.
Definition (Ground/Closed Formula)
A formula is ground if it does not contain any variable. A
formula is closed if it does not contain free occurrences of variables.
Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Free variable and free terms

A variable x is free in (denote by (x)) if there is at least a free
occurrence of x in .
Free variables represents individuals which must be instantiated to
make the formula a meaningful proposition.
x is free in friends(alice, x).
x is free in P(x) x.Q(x) (the occurrence of x in red is free
the one in green is not free.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Free variable and free terms - example

Definition (Term free for a variable)
A term is free for x in , if all the occurrences of x in are not in
the scope of a quantifier for a variable occurring in t.
An occurrence of a variable x can be safely instantiated by a term
free for x in a formula ,
If you replace x with a terms which is not free for x in , you can
have unexpected eects:
E.g., replacing x with mother-of(y ) in the formula y .friends(x, y )
you obtain the formula
y .friends(mother-of(y ), y )

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Satisfiability and Validity

Definition (Model, satisfiability and validity)
An interpretation I is a model of under the assignment a, if
I |= [a]
A formula is satisfiable if there is some I and some assignment a such that
I |= [a].
A formula is unsatisfiable if it is not satisfiable.
A formula is valid if every I and every assignment a I |= [a]
Definition (Logical Consequence)
A formula is a logical consequence of a set of formulas , in symbols |= ,
if for all interpretations I and for all assignment a
I |= [a]

I |= [a]

where I |= [a] means that I satisfies all the formulas in under a.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Logical Consequence and reasoning

The notion of logical consequence enables us to determine if
Mary is mortal is a consequence of the facts that Mary is a
person and All persons are mortal.
What we need to do is to determine if
Person(mary ), xPerson(x) Mortal(x) |= Mortal(mary )

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressing properties in FOL

What is the meaning of the following FOL formulas?
1

bought(Frank, dvd)

x.bought(Frank, x)

3
4
5
6

x.(bought(Frank, x) bought(Susan, x))

(x.bought(Frank, x)) (x.bought(Susan, x))

xy .bought(x, y )
xy .bought(x, y )

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressing properties in FOL

What is the meaning of the following FOL formulas?
1

bought(Frank, dvd)

x.bought(Frank, x)

3
4
5
6

x.(bought(Frank, x) bought(Susan, x))

(x.bought(Frank, x)) (x.bought(Susan, x))

xy .bought(x, y )
xy .bought(x, y )

Frank bought a dvd.

Frank bought something.

Susan bought everything that Frank bought.

If Frank bought everything, so did Susan.

Everyone bought something.

Someone bought everything.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressing properties in FOL

Define an appropriate language and formalize the following
sentences using FOL formulas.
1

All Students are smart.

There exists a student.

There exists a smart student.

Every student loves some student.

Every student loves some other student.

There is a student who is loved by every other student.

Bill is a student.

Bill takes either Analysis or Geometry (but not both).

Bill takes Analysis and Geometry.

10

Bill doesnt take Analysis.

11

No students love Bill.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressing properties in FOL

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

x.(Student(x) Smart(x))
x.Student(x)

x.(Student(x) Smart(x))

x.(Student(x) y .(Student(y ) Loves(x, y )))

x.(Student(x) y .(Student(y ) (x = y ) Loves(x, y )))

x.(Student(x) y .(Student(y ) (x = y ) Loves(y , x)))
Student(Bill)

Takes(Bill, Analysis) Takes(Bill, Geometry )

Takes(Bill, Analysis) Takes(Bill, Geometry )
Takes(Bill, Analysis)

x.(Student(x) Loves(x, Bill))

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressing properties in FOL

For each property write a formula expressing the property, and for
each formula writhe the property it formalises.
Every Man is Mortal
Every Dog has a Tail
There are two dogs
Not every dog is white
x.Dog (x) y .Dog (y )
x, y (Dog (x) Dog (y ) x = y )

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Expressing properties in FOL

For each property write a formula expressing the property, and for
each formula writhe the property it formalises.
Every Man is Mortal
x.Man(x) Mortal(x)

Every Dog has a Tail

x.Dog (x) y (PartOf (x, y ) Tail(y ))
There are two dogs
x, y (Dog (x) Dog (y ) x = y )
Not every dog is white
x.Dog (x) White(x)
x.Dog (x) y .Dog (y )
There is a dog

x, y (Dog (x) Dog (y ) x = y )

There is at most one dog
Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

First order theories

Mathematics focuses on the study of properties of certain
structures. E.g. Natural/Rational/Real/Complex numbers,
Algebras, Monoids, Lattices, Partially-ordered sets,
Topological spaces, fields, . . .
In knowledge representation, mathematical structures can be
used as a reference abstract model for a real world feature.
e.g.,
natural/rational/real numbers can be used to represent linear
time;
trees can be used to represent possible future evolutions;
graphs can be used to represent maps;
...

Logics provides a rigorous way to describe certain classes of

mathematical structures.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

First order theory

Definition (First order theory)
A first order theory is a set of formulas of the FOL language closed
under the logical consequence relation. That is, T is a theory i
T |= A implies that A T
Remark
A FOL theory always contains an infinite set of formulas. Indeed
any theory T contains at least all the valid formulas (which are
infinite).
Definition (Set of axioms for a theory)
A set of formulas is a set of axioms for a theory T if for all
T , |= .

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

First order theory (contd)

Definition
Finitely axiomatizable theory A theory T is finitely axiomatizable if
it has a finite set of axioms.
Definition (Axiomatizable structure)
Given a class of mathematical structures C for a language L, we
say that a theory T is a sound and complete axiomatization of C if
and only if
T |=

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

I |= for all I C

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation

Examples of first order theories

Number theory (or Peano Arithmetic) PA L contains the constant symbol 0, the
1-nary function symbol s, (for successor) and two 2-nary function symbol + and
1
2
3

0 = s(x)

s(x) = s(y ) x = y
x +0=x

x + s(y ) = s(x + y )

x 0=0

6
7

x s(y ) = (x y ) + x

the Induction axiom schema: (0) x.((x) (s(x))) x.(x), for every
formula (x) with at least one free variable

K. G
odel 1931 Its false that I |= PA if and only if I is isomorphic to the standard
models for natural numbers.

Chiara Ghidini, Luciano Serafini

Introduction to first order logic for knowledge representation