STORY%MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP (09/20/84)
From: Kenneth Byrd Story <STORY @ MIT-MC>
[Forwarded from the MIT bboard by SASW@MIT-MC.]
DATE: Wednesday, September 26, 1984
TIME: Refreshments, 3:45pm
Lecture, 4:00pm
PLACE: NE43-453
TITLE: ``A MODEL-THEORETIC ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE''
SPEAKER: Dr. Joseph Y. Halpern, IBM, San Jose
Understanding knowledge is a fundamental issue in many disciplines. In
computer science, knowledge arises not only in the obvious contexts (such as
knowledge-based systems), but also in distributed systems (where the goal is to
have each processor know something, as in Byzantine agreement). A general
semantic model of knowledge is introduced, to allow reasoning about statements
such as "He knows that I know whether or not she knows whether or not it is
raining." This approach more naturally models a state of knowledge than
previous proposals (including Kripke structures). Using this notion of model,
a model theory for knowledge is developed. This theory enables one to
interpret such notions as a "finite amount of information" and "common
knowledge" in different contexts. This is joint work with Ron Fagin and Moshe
Vardi.
HOST: Professor Silvio Micali