Willem Conradie ; Salih Durhan ; Guido Sciavicco - An Integrated First-Order Theory of Points and Intervals over Linear Orders (Part I)

lmcs:4532 - Logical Methods in Computer Science, June 19, 2018, Volume 14, Issue 2 - https://doi.org/10.23638/LMCS-14(2:15)2018
An Integrated First-Order Theory of Points and Intervals over Linear Orders (Part I)Article

Authors: Willem Conradie ; Salih Durhan ; Guido Sciavicco

    There are two natural and well-studied approaches to temporal ontology and reasoning: point-based and interval-based. Usually, interval-based temporal reasoning deals with points as a particular case of duration-less intervals. A recent result by Balbiani, Goranko, and Sciavicco presented an explicit two-sorted point-interval temporal framework in which time instants (points) and time periods (intervals) are considered on a par, allowing the perspective to shift between these within the formal discourse. We consider here two-sorted first-order languages based on the same principle, and therefore including relations, as first studied by Reich, among others, between points, between intervals, and inter-sort. We give complete classifications of its sub-languages in terms of relative expressive power, thus determining how many, and which, are the intrinsically different extensions of two-sorted first-order logic with one or more such relations. This approach roots out the classical problem of whether or not points should be included in a interval-based semantics.


    Volume: Volume 14, Issue 2
    Published on: June 19, 2018
    Accepted on: May 30, 2018
    Submitted on: May 23, 2018
    Keywords: Computer Science - Logic in Computer Science,03B44,F.4.1,I.2.4

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