Uli Sattler and Thomas Schneider
- Area: LoCo
- Level: F
- Week: 1
- Time: 09:00 – 10:30
- Room: D1.03
Abstract
Description Logics (DLs) form the logical underpinning of state-of-the-art ontology languages such as OWL, and have a long history in knowledge representation. OWL is used to describe the meaning of terms used, e.g., in electronic health records, in a machine-processable way. In order to engineer large ontologies such as the NCI Thesaurus, suitable tool support is required, an interesting part of which is based on DL reasoning problems and the corresponding algorithms. Both classical reasoning problems – e.g., consistency and satisfiability – and more exotic reasoning problems – e.g., explanation and module extraction – play a central role, and are well-understood both in theory and in practice. We will introduce DLs and the role they play in OWL. Starting with a basic DL, ALC, we will
- discuss the relevant standard reasoning problems
- describe algorithms for these problems that perform very well in practice,
- outline the computational complexity of ALC and extensions,
- and review two non-standard reasoning services, namely those related to explanation and modularity.
Along the way we will connect the theoretical foundations with practical aspects by
- giving an overview of OWL and the ontology editor Protégé,
- reviewing applications from NLP,
- demonstrating how to use reasoners via the OWL API.
The course is on a foundational level and requires no previous knowledge (although familiarity with classical and/or modal logic would be an advantage).
Slides
- First Day:
- Day 1: Intro (Part 1), also available with 4 per page
- Day 1: Intro (Part 2), also available with 4 per page
- The OWL ontology around Bodyparts and Diseases as used a running example
- Second Day:
- Day 2: Relation with other logics, also available with 4 per page
- Day2: ALC Tableau, also available with 4 per page
- Third Day:
- Day3: Tableau (ctd), also available with 4 per page
- Day 3: Complexity Intro, also available with 4 per page
- Fourth Day:
- Day 4: Complexity, also available with 4 per page
- Day4: Complexity & Undecidability also available with 4 per page
- Fifth Day:
- Day5: Complexity & Justifications, also available with 4 per page
- Day5: Modularity & Overview, also available with 4 per page
The remaining slides will be made available during the week. Feel free to have a look at the material from previous versions of the course:
Additional References
For more information, have a look at
- proceedings of past Description Logic workshops
- proceedings of KR, Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
- The Description Logic Handbook, Cambridge University Press
- for stuff on OWL, visit
- the official OWL site or
- the new OWL community group or
- our OWL in Manchester site
- Halpern and Moses’ “guide” paper on complexity (among others) of modal logics if you want to learn a little more about computational complexity.
To use the Protégé OWL editor, visit their web site and install Protégé Desktop (currently version 5). Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions!
