Course Objectives and Outcomes

The goal of this course is to provide motivations, definitions, and techniques in support of the usefulness of logic in the effective and efficient modeling of data and knowledge. We aim to motivate students to continue their career with higher interest into logic-based modelling for data and knowledge representation in their own field of expertise, and to produce computer-processable solutions of relevant problems.

 

General Description

The use of logic in computer science is very well-documented. The exponential increase of literature on every area of computer science has forced both definition and use of logical formalisms for knowledge representation and reasoning into greater complexity, and this complexity has in turn necessitated a deeper study of the principles by which logical models may be constucted. It has become more and more apparent, say since the 1989' First International Conference on the Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR-89), that knowledge representation models and reasoning models are only different views of the same common problem. Different logic-based approaches to data and knowledge representation and reasoning are beginning to converge. It seems therefore useful to try to accelerate this process by trying to provide a survey, as uniform as possible presentation of the whole problem of logic-based modeling of data and knowlege, treating the subject on general theoretical lines, yet filled in with practical examples from real-world scenarios, problems and applications, with a particular attention paid to the borderlines and inter-relationships among all logics presented. There is as yet no unified theory of logic-based models for data and knowledge representation, and a good deal of practical systems and working devices are not logic-based in their design foundation and unsullied by any logical model. There is nevertheless a real need for the subject to be looked at as a whole.

 

Course modality

Slides will be shown during lectures. They will constitute the main material of the course. Lectures will NOT be recordered. There will be the possibility to pass the course via two midterm exams. Students need to book the exams on a sheet that will be circulated (see the Calendar).

The course runs from September 10th, 2024 till December 19th, 2024 with the following schedule

 

• Thursdays, 13:30 - 15:30, Room A104

 

• Fridays, 13:30 - 15:30, Room A104

 

• Tuesdays, 16:30 - 18:30, Room A101

 

Notice that the titles and structure of the lessons yet to be delivered might change slightly. The rule of the thumb is: if there are links with materials, things won’t change; if there are no links to the materials, titles and content are in draft and may change.

 

Lesson Number	Date	Time	HP2T	T2MP	Content of Material	Handouts	Lecturer(s)	Notes
1	Tue 10 Sep, 2024	16:30	Slides			Introduction	Giunchiglia	Room A101
2	Thu 12 Sep, 2024	13:30	Slides		Handout Solutions	Mental representations	Giunchiglia	Room A104
3	Fri 13 Sep, 2024	13:30				World Models (Informal to Formal)	Giunchiglia	Room A104
4	Fri 20 Sep, 2024	13:30		Slides 1 Slides 2		Exercises on representation and reference formalism	Malcotti	Room A104
5	Thu 26 Sep, 2024	13:30		Slides		Reference Models	Malcotti	Room A104
6	Thu 3 Oct, 2024	13:30	Slides		Handout Solutions	Model theory	Giunchiglia	Room A104
7	Fri 4 Oct, 2024	13:30	Slides			From models to theories	Giunchiglia	Room A104
8	Tue 8 Oct, 2024	16:30	Slides		Handout Solutions	World representations	Giunchiglia	Room A101
9	Thu 10 Oct, 2024	13:30	Slides			LOE	Giunchiglia	Room A104
10	Fri 11 Oct, 2024	13:30			Handout Solutions	LOE	Giunchiglia	Room A104
11	Thu 17 Oct, 2024	13:30	Slides			LOD	Giunchiglia	Room A104
12	Fri 18 Oct, 2024	13:30		Slides Slides		World models + LOE exercises	Giunchiglia Malcotti	Room A104
13	Thu 24 Oct, 2024	13:30				LOD exercises	Malcotti	Room A104
14	Fri 25 Oct, 2024	13:30				LOD	Giunchiglia	Room A104
14	Thu 31 Oct, 2024	13:30			Handout Solutions	LOD KG Theories	Giunchiglia	Room A104
15	Tue 5 Nov, 2024	16:30		Slides		LoD exercises	Malcotti	Room A101
16	Thu 7 Nov, 2024	13:30	Slides			LOD KG Theories	Giunchiglia	Room A104
17	Fri 8 Nov, 2024	13:30				Q&A	Giunchiglia Malcotti	Room A104
18	Mon 11 Nov, 2024	16:30			Solutions Marks	Midterm		Room A201 - B106
18	Thu 14 Nov, 2024	13:30	Slides			LoDE	Giunchiglia	Room A104
19	Fri 15 Nov, 2024	13:30						Room A104
20	Thu 21 Nov, 2024	13:30						Room A104
21	Fri 22 Nov, 2024	13:30						Room A104
22	Thu 28 Nov, 2024	13:30						Room A104
23	Fri 29 Nov, 2024	13:30						Room A104
24	Thu 5 Dic, 2024	13:30						Room A104
25	Fri 6 Dic, 2024	13:30						Room A104
26	Thu 12 Dic, 2024	13:30						Room A104
27	Fri 13 Dic, 2024	13:30						Room A104
28	Thu 19 Dic, 2024	13:30						Room A104
29	Fri 20 Dic, 2024	15:30					Finalterm	Room A201 - B106