Paracoherent answer set programming

Abstract

We study the problem of reasoning from incoherent answer set programs, i.e., from logic programs that do not have an answer set due to cyclic dependencies of an atom from its default negation. As a starting point we consider so-called semi-stable models which have been developed for this purpose building on a program transformation, called epistemic transformation. We give a model-theoretic characterization of this semantics, considering pairs of two-valued interpretations of the original program, rather than resorting to its epistemic transformation. Moreover, we show some anomalies of semi-stable semantics with respect to basic epistemic properties and propose an alternative semantics satisfying these properties. In addition to a model-theoretic and a transformational characterization of the alternative semantics, we prove precise complexity results for main reasoning tasks under both semantics. Copyright © 2010, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.