A modal logic framework for reasoning about comparative distances and topology

We propose and investigate a uniform modal logic framework for reasoning about topology and relative distance in metric and more general distance spaces, thus enabling the comparison and combination of logics from distinct research traditions such as Tarski's S4 for topological closure and interior, conditional logics, and logics of comparative similarity. This framework is obtained by decomposing the underlying modal-like operators into first-order quantifier patterns. We then show that quite a powerful and natural fragment of the resulting first-order logic can be captured by one binary operator comparing distances between sets and one unary operator distinguishing between realised and limit distances (i.e., between minimum and infimum). Due to its greater expressive power, this logic turns out to behave quite differently from both S4 and conditional logics. We provide finite (Hilbert-style) axiomatisations and ExpTime-completeness proofs for the logics of various classes of di...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: APAL
• Authors: Mikhail Sheremet, Frank Wolter, Michael Zakharyaschev
• Keywords: APAL 2010, Conditional Logics, Logics, Metric Spaces