Bridge and Bound: A Logic-Based Framework for Abstracting (Extended Report)

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Szalas, Andrzej
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915706141933568
author Szalas, Andrzej
author_facet Szalas, Andrzej
contents At its core, abstraction is the process of generalizing from specific instances to broader concepts or models, with the primary objective of reducing complexity while preserving properties essential to the intended purpose. It is a~fundamental, often implicit, principle that structures the understanding, communication, and development of both scientific knowledge and everyday beliefs. Studies on abstraction have evolved from its origins in Ancient Greek philosophy through methodological approaches in psychological and philosophical theories to modern computational frameworks. This paper presents a novel logic-based framework for modeling abstraction processes in which all components are expressed within logic. The framework extends beyond the traditional focus on the entailment of necessary conditions by making sufficient conditions first-class citizens as well. We define approximate abstractions, study their tightest and exact forms, and extend the approach to layered abstractions, enabling hierarchical simplification of complex systems and models. The computational complexity of the related reasoning tasks is also discussed. For clarity, our framework is developed within classical logic, chosen for its simplicity, expressiveness, and computational friendliness.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_26654
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bridge and Bound: A Logic-Based Framework for Abstracting (Extended Report)
Szalas, Andrzej
Logic in Computer Science
At its core, abstraction is the process of generalizing from specific instances to broader concepts or models, with the primary objective of reducing complexity while preserving properties essential to the intended purpose. It is a~fundamental, often implicit, principle that structures the understanding, communication, and development of both scientific knowledge and everyday beliefs. Studies on abstraction have evolved from its origins in Ancient Greek philosophy through methodological approaches in psychological and philosophical theories to modern computational frameworks. This paper presents a novel logic-based framework for modeling abstraction processes in which all components are expressed within logic. The framework extends beyond the traditional focus on the entailment of necessary conditions by making sufficient conditions first-class citizens as well. We define approximate abstractions, study their tightest and exact forms, and extend the approach to layered abstractions, enabling hierarchical simplification of complex systems and models. The computational complexity of the related reasoning tasks is also discussed. For clarity, our framework is developed within classical logic, chosen for its simplicity, expressiveness, and computational friendliness.
title Bridge and Bound: A Logic-Based Framework for Abstracting (Extended Report)
topic Logic in Computer Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.26654