Title	Reasoning about Complex Actions with Incomplete Knowledge: a Modal Approach
Authors	Matteo Baldoni, Dipartimento di Informatica, Universita` degli Studi di Torino Laura Giordano, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Avanzate, Universita` degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale Alberto Martelli, Dipartimento di Informatica, Universita` degli Studi di Torino Viviana Patti, Dipartimento di Informatica, Universita` degli Studi di Torino
Main Fields	8. formal languages 19. theory of robotics 23. languages
Other Main Fields	reasoning about actions modal logic
Abstract + Keywords	In this paper we propose a modal approach for reasoning about dynamic domains in a logic programming setting. We present a logical framework for reasoning about actions in which modal inclusion axioms of the form <p_0> \varphi \subset <p_1><p_2> ...<p_n> \varphi allows procedures to be defined for building complex actions from elementary actions. The language is able to handle knowledge producing actions as well as actions which remove information. Incomplete states are represented by means of epistemic operators and test actions can be used to check whether a fluent is true, false or undefined in a state. We give a non-monotonic solution for the frame problem by making use of persistency assumptions in the context of an  abductive characterization. A goal directed proof procedure is defined, which allows to reason about complex actions and to generate conditional plans.