First-order logicFirst-order logic—also known as predicate logic, quantificational logic, and first-order predicate calculus—is a collection of formal systems used in mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. First-order logic uses quantified variables over non-logical objects, and allows the use of sentences that contain variables, so that rather than propositions such as "Socrates is a man", one can have expressions in the form "there exists x such that x is Socrates and x is a man", where "there exists" is a quantifier, while x is a variable.
SatisfiabilityIn mathematical logic, a formula is satisfiable if it is true under some assignment of values to its variables. For example, the formula is satisfiable because it is true when and , while the formula is not satisfiable over the integers. The dual concept to satisfiability is validity; a formula is valid if every assignment of values to its variables makes the formula true. For example, is valid over the integers, but is not.
Decidability (logic)In logic, a true/false decision problem is decidable if there exists an effective method for deriving the correct answer. Zeroth-order logic (propositional logic) is decidable, whereas first-order and higher-order logic are not. Logical systems are decidable if membership in their set of logically valid formulas (or theorems) can be effectively determined. A theory (set of sentences closed under logical consequence) in a fixed logical system is decidable if there is an effective method for determining whether arbitrary formulas are included in the theory.
Relational modelThe relational model (RM) is an approach to managing data using a structure and language consistent with first-order predicate logic, first described in 1969 by English computer scientist Edgar F. Codd, where all data is represented in terms of tuples, grouped into relations. A database organized in terms of the relational model is a relational database.
Fragment (logic)In mathematical logic, a fragment of a logical language or theory is a subset of this logical language obtained by imposing syntactical restrictions on the language. Hence, the well-formed formulae of the fragment are a subset of those in the original logic. However, the semantics of the formulae in the fragment and in the logic coincide, and any formula of the fragment can be expressed in the original logic.
Relational databaseA relational database is a (most commonly digital) database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A system used to maintain relational databases is a relational database management system (RDBMS). Many relational database systems are equipped with the option of using SQL (Structured Query Language) for querying and updating the database. The term "relational database" was first defined by E. F. Codd at IBM in 1970. Codd introduced the term in his research paper "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks".
Boolean satisfiability problemIn logic and computer science, the Boolean satisfiability problem (sometimes called propositional satisfiability problem and abbreviated SATISFIABILITY, SAT or B-SAT) is the problem of determining if there exists an interpretation that satisfies a given Boolean formula. In other words, it asks whether the variables of a given Boolean formula can be consistently replaced by the values TRUE or FALSE in such a way that the formula evaluates to TRUE. If this is the case, the formula is called satisfiable.
Dependence logicDependence logic is a logical formalism, created by Jouko Väänänen, which adds dependence atoms to the language of first-order logic. A dependence atom is an expression of the form , where are terms, and corresponds to the statement that the value of is functionally dependent on the values of . Dependence logic is a logic of imperfect information, like branching quantifier logic or independence-friendly logic (IF logic): in other words, its game-theoretic semantics can be obtained from that of first-order logic by restricting the availability of information to the players, thus allowing for non-linearly ordered patterns of dependence and independence between variables.
Modal logicModal logic is a kind of logic used to represent statements about necessity and possibility. It plays a major role in philosophy and related fields as a tool for understanding concepts such as knowledge, obligation, and causation. For instance, in epistemic modal logic, the formula can be used to represent the statement that is known. In deontic modal logic, that same formula can represent that is a moral obligation. Modal logic considers the inferences that modal statements give rise to.
Second-order arithmeticIn mathematical logic, second-order arithmetic is a collection of axiomatic systems that formalize the natural numbers and their subsets. It is an alternative to axiomatic set theory as a foundation for much, but not all, of mathematics. A precursor to second-order arithmetic that involves third-order parameters was introduced by David Hilbert and Paul Bernays in their book Grundlagen der Mathematik. The standard axiomatization of second-order arithmetic is denoted by Z2.
Maximum satisfiability problemIn computational complexity theory, the maximum satisfiability problem (MAX-SAT) is the problem of determining the maximum number of clauses, of a given Boolean formula in conjunctive normal form, that can be made true by an assignment of truth values to the variables of the formula. It is a generalization of the Boolean satisfiability problem, which asks whether there exists a truth assignment that makes all clauses true. The conjunctive normal form formula is not satisfiable: no matter which truth values are assigned to its two variables, at least one of its four clauses will be false.
Polynomial hierarchyIn computational complexity theory, the polynomial hierarchy (sometimes called the polynomial-time hierarchy) is a hierarchy of complexity classes that generalize the classes NP and co-NP. Each class in the hierarchy is contained within PSPACE. The hierarchy can be defined using oracle machines or alternating Turing machines. It is a resource-bounded counterpart to the arithmetical hierarchy and analytical hierarchy from mathematical logic. The union of the classes in the hierarchy is denoted PH.
Robinson arithmeticIn mathematics, Robinson arithmetic is a finitely axiomatized fragment of first-order Peano arithmetic (PA), first set out by R. M. Robinson in 1950. It is usually denoted Q. Q is almost PA without the axiom schema of mathematical induction. Q is weaker than PA but it has the same language, and both theories are incomplete. Q is important and interesting because it is a finitely axiomatized fragment of PA that is recursively incompletable and essentially undecidable.
Independence-friendly logicIndependence-friendly logic (IF logic; proposed by Jaakko Hintikka and Gabriel Sandu in 1989) is an extension of classical first-order logic (FOL) by means of slashed quantifiers of the form and , where is a finite set of variables. The intended reading of is "there is a which is functionally independent from the variables in ". IF logic allows one to express more general patterns of dependence between variables than those which are implicit in first-order logic.
2-satisfiabilityIn computer science, 2-satisfiability, 2-SAT or just 2SAT is a computational problem of assigning values to variables, each of which has two possible values, in order to satisfy a system of constraints on pairs of variables. It is a special case of the general Boolean satisfiability problem, which can involve constraints on more than two variables, and of constraint satisfaction problems, which can allow more than two choices for the value of each variable.
Relational algebraIn database theory, relational algebra is a theory that uses algebraic structures for modeling data, and defining queries on it with a well founded semantics. The theory was introduced by Edgar F. Codd. The main application of relational algebra is to provide a theoretical foundation for relational databases, particularly query languages for such databases, chief among which is SQL. Relational databases store tabular data represented as relations. Queries over relational databases often likewise return tabular data represented as relations.
Nondeterministic Turing machineIn theoretical computer science, a nondeterministic Turing machine (NTM) is a theoretical model of computation whose governing rules specify more than one possible action when in some given situations. That is, an NTM's next state is not completely determined by its action and the current symbol it sees, unlike a deterministic Turing machine. NTMs are sometimes used in thought experiments to examine the abilities and limits of computers.
Relational calculusThe relational calculus consists of two calculi, the tuple relational calculus and the domain relational calculus, that is part of the relational model for databases and provide a declarative way to specify database queries. The raison d'être of relational calculus is the formalization of query optimization, which is finding more efficient manners to execute the same query in a database.
Horn-satisfiabilityIn formal logic, Horn-satisfiability, or HORNSAT, is the problem of deciding whether a given set of propositional Horn clauses is satisfiable or not. Horn-satisfiability and Horn clauses are named after Alfred Horn. A Horn clause is a clause with at most one positive literal, called the head of the clause, and any number of negative literals, forming the body of the clause. A Horn formula is a propositional formula formed by conjunction of Horn clauses. The problem of Horn satisfiability is solvable in linear time.
Quantifier eliminationQuantifier elimination is a concept of simplification used in mathematical logic, model theory, and theoretical computer science. Informally, a quantified statement " such that " can be viewed as a question "When is there an such that ?", and the statement without quantifiers can be viewed as the answer to that question. One way of classifying formulas is by the amount of quantification. Formulas with less depth of quantifier alternation are thought of as being simpler, with the quantifier-free formulas as the simplest.
