Joining implications in formal contexts and inductive learning in a horn description logic

Abstract

A joining implication is a restricted form of an implication where it is explicitly specified which attributes may occur in the premise and in the conclusion, respectively. A technique for sound and complete axiomatization of joining implications valid in a given formal context is provided. In particular, a canonical base for the joining implications valid in a given formal context is proposed, which enjoys the property of being of minimal cardinality among all such bases. Background knowledge in form of a set of valid joining implications can be incorporated. Furthermore, an application to inductive learning in a Horn description logic is proposed, that is, a procedure for sound and complete axiomatization of Horn-M concept inclusions from a given interpretation is developed. A complexity analysis shows that this procedure runs in deterministic exponential time.