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Krzysztof R. Apt

Publications and source records attributed to Krzysztof R. Apt.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2005

CP-nets and Nash equilibria

We relate here two formalisms that are used for different purposes in reasoning about multi-agent systems. One of them are strategic games that are used to capture the idea that agents interact with each other while pursuing their own interest. The other are CP-nets that were introduced to express qualitative and conditional preferences of the users and which aim at facilitating the process of preference elicitation. To relate these two formalisms we introduce a natural, qualitative, extension of the notion of a strategic game. We show then that the optimal outcomes of a CP-net are exactly the Nash equilibria of an appropriately defined strategic game in the above sense. This allows us to use the techniques of game theory to search for optimal outcomes of CP-nets and vice-versa, to use techniques developed for CP-nets to search for Nash equilibria of the considered games.

cs.GT↗
arXiv2005

Order Independence and Rationalizability

Two natural strategy elimination procedures have been studied for strategic games. The first one involves the notion of (strict, weak, etc) dominance and the second the notion of rationalizability. In the case of dominance the criterion of order independence allowed us to clarify which notions and under what circumstances are robust. In the case of rationalizability this criterion has not been considered. In this paper we investigate the problem of order independence for rationalizability by focusing on three naturally entailed reduction relations on games. These reduction relations are distinguished by the adopted reference point for the notion of a better response. Additionally, they are parametrized by the adopted system of beliefs. We show that for one reduction relation the outcome of its (possibly transfinite) iterations does not depend on the order of elimination of the strategies. This result does not hold for the other two reduction relations. However, under a natural assumption the iterations of all three reduction relations yield the same outcome. The obtained order independence results apply to the frameworks considered in Bernheim 84 and Pearce 84. For finite games the iterations of all three reduction relations coincide and the order independence holds for three natural systems of beliefs considered in the literature.

cs.GT↗
arXiv2005

Constraint-Based Qualitative Simulation

We consider qualitative simulation involving a finite set of qualitative relations in presence of complete knowledge about their interrelationship. We show how it can be naturally captured by means of constraints expressed in temporal logic and constraint satisfaction problems. The constraints relate at each stage the 'past' of a simulation with its 'future'. The benefit of this approach is that it readily leads to an implementation based on constraint technology that can be used to generate simulations and to answer queries about them.

cs.AI↗
arXiv2004

Schedulers and Redundancy for a Class of Constraint Propagation Rules

We study here schedulers for a class of rules that naturally arise in the context of rule-based constraint programming. We systematically derive a scheduler for them from a generic iteration algorithm of [Apt 2000]. We apply this study to so-called membership rules of [Apt and Monfroy 2001]. This leads to an implementation that yields a considerably better performance for these rules than their execution as standard CHR rules. Finally, we show how redundant rules can be identified and how appropriately reduced sets of rules can be computed.

cs.DS↗
arXiv2004

Uniform Proofs of Order Independence for Various Strategy Elimination Procedures

We provide elementary and uniform proofs of order independence for various strategy elimination procedures for finite strategic games, both for dominance by pure and by mixed strategies. The proofs follow the same pattern and focus on the structural properties of the dominance relations. They rely on Newman's Lemma established in 1942 and related results on the abstract reduction systems.

cs.GT↗
arXiv2004

A Comparative Study of Arithmetic Constraints on Integer Intervals

We propose here a number of approaches to implement constraint propagation for arithmetic constraints on integer intervals. To this end we introduce integer interval arithmetic. Each approach is explained using appropriate proof rules that reduce the variable domains. We compare these approaches using a set of benchmarks.

cs.PL↗
arXiv2002

Schedulers for Rule-based Constraint Programming

We study here schedulers for a class of rules that naturally arise in the context of rule-based constraint programming. We systematically derive a scheduler for them from a generic iteration algorithm of Apt [2000]. We apply this study to so-called membership rules of Apt and Monfroy [2001]. This leads to an implementation that yields for these rules a considerably better performance than their execution as standard CHR rules.

cs.DS↗
arXiv2001

Constraint Programming viewed as Rule-based Programming

We study here a natural situation when constraint programming can be entirely reduced to rule-based programming. To this end we explain first how one can compute on constraint satisfaction problems using rules represented by simple first-order formulas. Then we consider constraint satisfaction problems that are based on predefined, explicitly given constraints. To solve them we first derive rules from these explicitly given constraints and limit the computation process to a repeated application of these rules, combined with labeling.We consider here two types of rules. The first type, that we call equality rules, leads to a new notion of local consistency, called {\em rule consistency} that turns out to be weaker than arc consistency for constraints of arbitrary arity (called hyper-arc consistency in \cite{MS98b}). For Boolean constraints rule consistency coincides with the closure under the well-known propagation rules for Boolean constraints. The second type of rules, that we call membership rules, yields a rule-based characterization of arc consistency. To show feasibility of this rule-based approach to constraint programming we show how both types of rules can be automatically generated, as {\tt CHR} rules of \cite{fruhwirth-constraint-95}. This yields an implementation of this approach to programming by means of constraint logic programming. We illustrate the usefulness of this approach to constraint programming by discussing various examples, including Boolean constraints, two typical examples of many valued logics, constraints dealing with Waltz's language for describing polyhedral scenes, and Allen's qualitative approach to temporal logic.

cs.AI↗
arXiv2000

The Role of Commutativity in Constraint Propagation Algorithms

Constraint propagation algorithms form an important part of most of the constraint programming systems. We provide here a simple, yet very general framework that allows us to explain several constraint propagation algorithms in a systematic way. In this framework we proceed in two steps. First, we introduce a generic iteration algorithm on partial orderings and prove its correctness in an abstract setting. Then we instantiate this algorithm with specific partial orderings and functions to obtain specific constraint propagation algorithms. In particular, using the notions commutativity and semi-commutativity, we show that the {\tt AC-3}, {\tt PC-2}, {\tt DAC} and {\tt DPC} algorithms for achieving (directional) arc consistency and (directional) path consistency are instances of a single generic algorithm. The work reported here extends and simplifies that of Apt \citeyear{Apt99b}.

cs.PF↗
arXiv2000

A Denotational Semantics for First-Order Logic

In Apt and Bezem [AB99] (see cs.LO/9811017) we provided a computational interpretation of first-order formulas over arbitrary interpretations. Here we complement this work by introducing a denotational semantics for first-order logic. Additionally, by allowing an assignment of a non-ground term to a variable we introduce in this framework logical variables. The semantics combines a number of well-known ideas from the areas of semantics of imperative programming languages and logic programming. In the resulting computational view conjunction corresponds to sequential composition, disjunction to ``don't know'' nondeterminism, existential quantification to declaration of a local variable, and negation to the ``negation as finite failure'' rule. The soundness result shows correctness of the semantics with respect to the notion of truth. The proof resembles in some aspects the proof of the soundness of the SLDNF-resolution.

cs.PL↗
arXiv2000

Programming in Alma-0, or Imperative and Declarative Programming Reconciled

In (Apt et al, TOPLAS 1998) we introduced the imperative programming language Alma-0 that supports declarative programming. In this paper we illustrate the hybrid programming style of Alma-0 by means of various examples that complement those presented in (Apt et al, TOPLAS 1998). The presented Alma-0 programs illustrate the versatility of the language and show that ``don't know'' nondeterminism can be naturally combined with assignment.

cs.LO↗
arXiv2000

Some Remarks on Boolean Constraint Propagation

We study here the well-known propagation rules for Boolean constraints. First we propose a simple notion of completeness for sets of such rules and establish a completeness result. Then we show an equivalence in an appropriate sense between Boolean constraint propagation and unit propagation, a form of resolution for propositional logic. Subsequently we characterize one set of such rules by means of the notion of hyper-arc consistency introduced in (Mohr and Masini 1988). Also, we clarify the status of a similar, though different, set of rules introduced in (Simonis 1989a) and more fully in (Codognet and Diaz 1996).

cs.AI↗
arXiv1999

The Rough Guide to Constraint Propagation

We provide here a simple, yet very general framework that allows us to explain several constraint propagation algorithms in a systematic way. In particular, using the notions commutativity and semi-commutativity, we show how the well-known AC-3, PC-2, DAC and DPC algorithms are instances of a single generic algorithm. The work reported here extends and simplifies that of Apt, cs.AI/9811024.

cs.AI↗
arXiv1999

Automatic Generation of Constraint Propagation Algorithms for Small Finite Domains

We study here constraint satisfaction problems that are based on predefined, explicitly given finite constraints. To solve them we propose a notion of rule consistency that can be expressed in terms of rules derived from the explicit representation of the initial constraints. This notion of local consistency is weaker than arc consistency for constraints of arbitrary arity but coincides with it when all domains are unary or binary. For Boolean constraints rule consistency coincides with the closure under the well-known propagation rules for Boolean constraints. By generalizing the format of the rules we obtain a characterization of arc consistency in terms of so-called inclusion rules. The advantage of rule consistency and this rule based characterization of the arc consistency is that the algorithms that enforce both notions can be automatically generated, as CHR rules. So these algorithms could be integrated into constraint logic programming systems such as Eclipse. We illustrate the usefulness of this approach to constraint propagation by discussing the implementations of both algorithms and their use on various examples, including Boolean constraints, three valued logic of Kleene, constraints dealing with Waltz's language for describing polyhedreal scenes, and Allen's qualitative approach to temporal logic.

cs.AI↗