Abstract
This paper addresses two problems concerning the issue of redundant information in resolution based reasoning systems. The first one deals with the question how the derivation of redundant clauses, such as duplicates or instances of already retained clauses, can be substantially reduced. The second one asks for a criterion to decide, which clauses need not be tested for redundancy. We consider a particular kind of redundancy, which we call ancestor subsumption, that is the subsumption of a resolvent by one of its ancestors. It will be shown that the occurrence of cyclic clause sets, which roughly correspond to sets of logical equivalences, accounts for ancestor subsumed resolvents. Moreover, two techniques will be given to cope with the problems caused by such cyclic structures. The first technique, called literal demodulation, uses logical equivalences as rewrite rules, the second one employs a particular kind of theory resolution.
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Socher-Ambrosius, R. How to avoid the derivation of redundant clauses in reasoning systems. J Autom Reasoning 9, 77–97 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247827
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247827