Efficient Algorithms on the Family Associated to an Implicational System

Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science, Vol 6, No 2 (2004)

DMTCS vol 6 no 2 (2004), pp. 315-338

Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science

Volume 6 n° 2 (2004), pp. 315-338

author:	Karell Bertet and Mirabelle Nebut
title:	Efficient Algorithms on the Family Associated to an Implicational System
keywords:	lattice, ordered set, Moore family, implicational system, closure operator, algorithm
abstract:	An implication system (IS) on a finite set S is a set of rules called Σ-implications of the kind A→_ΣB , with A,B ⊆ S. A subset X ⊆ S satisfies A →_Σ B when ``A ⊆ X implies B ⊆ X'' holds, so ISs can be used to describe constraints on sets of elements, such as dependency or causality. ISs are formally closely linked to the well known notions of closure operators and Moore families. This paper focuses on their algorithmic aspects. A number of problems issued from an IS Σ (e.g. is it minimal, is a given implication entailed by the system) can be reduced to the computation of closures φ_Σ(X), where φ_Σ is the closure operator associated to Σ. We propose a new approach to compute such closures, based on the characterization of the direct-optimal IS Σ_do which has the following properties: it is equivalent to Σ φ_{Σ_do}(X) (thus φ_Σ(X)) can be computed by a single scanning of Σ_do-implications it is of minimal size with respect to ISs satisfying 1. and 2. We give algorithms that compute Σ_do, and from Σ_do closures φ_Σ(X) and the Moore family associated to φ_Σ. If your browser does not display the abstract correctly (because of the different mathematical symbols) you can look it up in the PostScript or PDF files.
reference:	Karell Bertet and Mirabelle Nebut (2004), Efficient Algorithms on the Family Associated to an Implicational System, Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science 6, pp. 315-338
bibtex:	For a corresponding BibTeX entry, please consider our BibTeX-file.
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