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Elsevier

North Holland

  • Many-Dimensional Modal Logics: Theory and Applications

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 148
    • A. Kurucz + 3 more
    • English
    Modal logics, originally conceived in philosophy, have recently found many applications in computer science, artificial intelligence, the foundations of mathematics, linguistics and other disciplines. Celebrated for their good computational behaviour, modal logics are used as effective formalisms for talking about time, space, knowledge, beliefs, actions, obligations, provability, etc. However, the nice computational properties can drastically change if we combine some of these formalisms into a many-dimensional system, say, to reason about knowledge bases developing in time or moving objects.To study the computational behaviour of many-dimensional modal logics is the main aim of this book. On the one hand, it is concerned with providing a solid mathematical foundation for this discipline, while on the other hand, it shows that many seemingly different applied many-dimensional systems (e.g., multi-agent systems, description logics with epistemic, temporal and dynamic operators, spatio-temporal logics, etc.) fit in perfectly with this theoretical framework, and so their computational behaviour can be analyzed using the developed machinery.We start with concrete examples of applied one- and many-dimensional modal logics such as temporal, epistemic, dynamic, description, spatial logics, and various combinations of these. Then we develop a mathematical theory for handling a spectrum of 'abstract' combinations of modal logics - fusions and products of modal logics, fragments of first-order modal and temporal logics - focusing on three major problems: decidability, axiomatizability, and computational complexity. Besides the standard methods of modal logic, the technical toolkit includes the method of quasimodels, mosaics, tilings, reductions to monadic second-order logic, algebraic logic techniques. Finally, we apply the developed machinery and obtained results to three case studies from the field of knowledge representation and reasoning: temporal epistemic logics for reasoning about multi-agent systems, modalized description logics for dynamic ontologies, and spatio-temporal logics.The genre of the book can be defined as a research monograph. It brings the reader to the front line of current research in the field by showing both recent achievements and directions of future investigations (in particular, multiple open problems). On the other hand, well-known results from modal and first-order logic are formulated without proofs and supplied with references to accessible sources.The intended audience of this book is logicians as well as those researchers who use logic in computer science and artificial intelligence. More specific application areas are, e.g., knowledge representation and reasoning, in particular, terminological, temporal and spatial reasoning, or reasoning about agents. And we also believe that researchers from certain other disciplines, say, temporal and spatial databases or geographical information systems, will benefit from this book as well.Key Features:• Integrated approach to modern modal and temporal logics and their applications in artificial intelligence and computer science• Written by internationally leading researchers in the field of pure and applied logic• Combines mathematical theory of modal logic and applications in artificial intelligence and computer science• Numerous open problems for further research• Well illustrated with pictures and tables

  • Handbook of Algebra

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • English

  • Progress in Optics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 45
    • English
    A volume in the Progress in Optics series, the papers in this book cover a range of topics, including: anamorphic beam shaping for laser and diffuse light; ultra-fast all-optical switching in optical networks; generation of dark hollow beams and their application; and two-photon lasers.

  • Non-Self-Adjoint Boundary Eigenvalue Problems

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 192
    • R. Mennicken + 1 more
    • English
    This monograph provides a comprehensive treatment of expansion theorems for regular systems of first order differential equations and n-th order ordinary differential equations.In 10 chapters and one appendix, it provides a comprehensive treatment from abstract foundations to applications in physics and engineering. The focus is on non-self-adjoint problems. Bounded operators are associated to these problems, and Chapter 1 provides an in depth investigation of eigenfunctions and associated functions for bounded Fredholm valued operators in Banach spaces. Since every n-th order differential equation is equivalentto a first order system, the main techniques are developed for systems. Asymptotic fundamentalsystems are derived for a large class of systems of differential equations. Together with boundaryconditions, which may depend polynomially on the eigenvalue parameter, this leads to the definition of Birkhoff and Stone regular eigenvalue problems. An effort is made to make the conditions relatively easy verifiable; this is illustrated with several applications in chapter 10.The contour integral method and estimates of the resolvent are used to prove expansion theorems.For Stone regular problems, not all functions are expandable, and again relatively easy verifiableconditions are given, in terms of auxiliary boundary conditions, for functions to be expandable.Chapter 10 deals exclusively with applications; in nine sections, various concrete problems such asthe Orr-Sommerfeld equation, control of multiple beams, and an example from meteorology are investigated.Key features:• Expansion Theorems for Ordinary Differential Equations• Discusses Applications to Problems from Physics and Engineering• Thorough Investigation of Asymptotic Fundamental Matrices and Systems• Provides a Comprehensive Treatment• Uses the Contour Integral Method• Represents the Problems as Bounded Operators• Investigates Canonical Systems of Eigen- and Associated Vectors for Operator Functions

  • Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 33
    • English
    This volume of the Handbook illustrates the rich variety of topics covered by rare earth science. Three chapters are devoted to the description of solid state compounds: skutterudites (Chapter 211), rare earth -antimony systems (Chapter 212), and rare earth-manganese perovskites (Chapter 214). Two other reviews deal with solid state properties: one contribution includes information on existing thermodynamic data of lanthanide trihalides (Chapter 213) while the other one describes optical properties of rare earth compounds under pressure (Chapter 217). Finally, two chapters focus on solution chemistry. The state of the art in unraveling solution structure of lanthanide-containin... coordination compounds by paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance is outlined in Chapter 215. The potential of time-resolved, laser-induced emission spectroscopy for the analysis of lanthanide and actinide solutions is presented and critically discussed in Chapter 216.

  • The Mind's Eye

    Cognitive and Applied Aspects of Eye Movement Research
    • 1st Edition
    • Ralph Radach + 2 more
    • English
    The book provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of current research on cognitive and applied aspects of eye movements. The contents include peer-reviewed chapters based on a selection of papers presented at the 11th European Conference on Eye Movements (Turku, Finland 2001), supplemented by invited contributions. The ECEM conference series brings together researchers from various disciplines with an interest to use eye-tracking to study perceptual and higher order cognitive functions. The contents of the book faithfully reflect the scope and diversity of interest in eye-tracking as a fruitful tool both in basic and applied research. It consists of five sections: visual information processing and saccadic eye movements; empirical studies of reading and language production; computational models of eye movements in reading; eye-tracking as a tool to study human-computer interaction; and eye movement applications in media and communication research. Each section is concluded by a commentary chapter by one of the leading authorities in the field. These commentaries discuss and integrate the contributions in the section and provide an expert view on the most significant present and future developments in the respective areas. The book is a reference volume including a large body of new empirical work but also principal theoretical viewpoints of leading research groups in the field.

  • Agenda Relevance: A Study in Formal Pragmatics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1
    • English
    Agenda Relevance is the first volume in the authors' omnibus investigation ofthe logic of practical reasoning, under the collective title, A Practical Logicof Cognitive Systems. In this highly original approach, practical reasoning isidentified as reasoning performed with comparatively few cognitive assets,including resources such as information, time and computational capacity. Unlikewhat is proposed in optimization models of human cognition, a practical reasonerlacks perfect information, boundless time and unconstrained access tocomputational complexity. The practical reasoner is therefore obliged to be acognitive economizer and to achieve his cognitive ends with considerableefficien... Accordingly, the practical reasoner avails himself of variousscarce-resour... compensation strategies. He also possesses neurocognitivetraits that abet him in his reasoning tasks. Prominent among these is thepractical agent's striking (though not perfect) adeptness at evading irrelevantinformatio... and staying on task. On the approach taken here, irrelevancies areimpediments to the attainment of cognitive ends. Thus, in its most basic sense,relevant information is cognitively helpful information. Information can then besaid to be relevant for a practical reasoner to the extent that it advances orcloses some cognitive agenda of his. The book explores this idea with aconceptual detail and nuance not seen the standard semantic, probabilistic andpragmatic approaches to relevance; but wherever possible, the authors seek tointegrate alternative conceptions rather than reject them outright. A furtherattraction of the agenda-relevance approach is the extent to which its principalconceptual findings lend themselves to technically sophisticated re-expressionin formal models that marshal the resources of time and action logics andlabel led deductive systems. Agenda Relevance is necessary reading for researchers in logic, beliefdynamics, computer science, AI, psychology and neuroscience, linguistics,argument... theory, and legal reasoning and forensic science, and will repaystudy by graduate students and senior undergraduates in these same fields.Key features:• relevance• action and agendas• practical reasoning• belief dynamics• non-classical logics• labelled deductive systems

  • Handbook of Environmental Economics

    Environmental Degradation and Institutional Responses
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1
    • Karl-Goran Maler + 1 more
    • English
    The Handbook of Environmental Economics focuses on the economics of environmental externalities and environmental public goods. Volume I examines environmental degradation and policy responses from a microeconomic, institutional standpoint. Its perspective is dynamic, including a consideration of the dynamics of natural systems, and global, with attention paid to issues in both rich and poor nations. In addition to chapters on well-established topics such as the theory and practice of pollution regulation, it includes chapters on new areas of environmental economics research related to common property management regimes; population and poverty; mechanism design; political economy of regulation; experimental evaluations of policy instruments; and technological change.

  • Handbook of the Geometry of Banach Spaces

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 2
    • English

  • Handbook of Mathematical Fluid Dynamics

    • 1st Edition
    • S. Friedlander + 1 more
    • English
    The Handbook of Mathematical Fluid Dynamics is a compendium of essays that provides a survey of the major topics in the subject. Each article traces developments, surveys the results of the past decade, discusses the current state of knowledge and presents major future directions and open problems. Extensive bibliographic material is provided. The book is intended to be useful both to experts in the field and to mathematicians and other scientists who wish to learn about or begin research in mathematical fluid dynamics. The Handbook illuminates an exciting subject that involves rigorous mathematical theory applied to an important physical problem, namely the motion of fluids.

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