Modelling structured domains using description graphs and logic programming

Abstract

Although OWL 2 is widely used to describe complex objects such as chemical molecules, it cannot represent 'structural' features of chemical entities (e.g., having a ring). A combination of rules and description graphs (DGs) has been proposed as a possible solution, but it still exhibits several drawbacks. In this paper we present a radically different approach that we call Description Graph Logic Programs. Syntactically, our approach combines DGs, rules, and OWL 2 RL axioms, but its semantics is defined via a translation into logic programs under stable model semantics. The result is an expressive OWL 2 RL-compatible formalism that is well suited for modelling objects with complex structure. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.