Conceptual graph

Conceptual graphs (CGs) are a formalism for knowledge representation. In the first published paper on CGs, John F. Sowa (Sowa 1976) used them to represent the conceptual schemas used in database systems. The first book on CGs (Sowa 1984) applied them to a wide range of topics in artificial intelligence, computer science, and cognitive science.

Since 1984, the model has been developed along three main directions.

A graphical interface for first-order logic

In this approach, a formula in first-order logic (Predicate Calculus) is represented by a labeled graph.

A linear notation, called the Conceptual Graph Interchange Format (CGIF), has been standardized in the ISO standard for Common Logic.

Elsie the cat is sitting on a mat

The diagram on the right is an example of the display form for a conceptual graph. Each box is called a concept node, and each oval is called a relation node. In CGIF, this CG would be represented by the following statement:

   [Cat Elsie] [Sitting *x] [Mat *y] (agent ?x Elsie) (location ?x ?y)

In CGIF, brackets enclose the information inside the concept nodes, and parentheses enclose the information inside the relation nodes. The letters x and y, which are called coreference labels, show how the concept and relation nodes are connected. In the Common Logic Interchange Format (CLIF), those letters are mapped to variables, as in the following statement:

   (exists ((x Sitting) (y Mat)) (and (Cat Elsie) (agent x Elsie) (location x y)))

As this example shows, the asterisks on the coreference labels *x and *y in CGIF map to existentially quantified variables in CLIF, and the question marks on ?x and ?y map to bound variables in CLIF. A universal quantifier, represented @every*z in CGIF, would be represented forall (z) in CLIF.

Reasoning can be done by translating graphs into logical formulas, then applying a logical inference engine.

A diagrammatic calculus of logics

Another research branch continues the work on existential graphs of Charles Sanders Peirce, which were one of the origins of conceptual graphs as proposed by Sowa. In this approach, developed in particular by Dau (Dau 2003), conceptual graphs are conceptual diagrams rather than graphs in the sense of graph theory, and reasoning operations are performed by operations on these diagrams.

A graph-based knowledge representation and reasoning model

Key features of GBKR, the graph-based knowledge representation and reasoning model developed by Chein and Mugnier and the Montpellier group (Chein and Mugnier 2009), can be summarized as follows:

• all kinds of knowledge (ontology, rules, constraints and facts) are labeled graphs, which provide an intuitive and easily understandable means to represent knowledge,

• reasoning mechanisms are based on graph notions, basically the classical notion of graph homomorphism; this allows, in particular, to link basic reasoning problems to other fundamental problems in computer science (problems on conjunctive queries in relational databases, constraint satisfaction problem, ...),

• the formalism is logically founded, i.e., it has a semantics in first-order logic and the inference mechanisms are sound and complete with respect to deduction in first-order logic,

• from a computational viewpoint, the graph homomorphism notion was recognized in the 90's as a central notion, and complexity results and efficient algorithm have been obtained in several domains.

COGITANT and COGUI are tools that implement the GBKR model. COGITANT [1] is a library of C++ classes that implement most of the GBKR notions and reasoning mechanisms. COGUI [2] is a graphical user interface dedicated to the construction of a GBKR knowledge base (it integrates COGITANT and, among numerous functionalities, it contains a translator from GBKR to RDF/S and conversely).

See also

• Resource Description Framework (RDF)
• semantic network
• knowledge representation
• Concept map
• conceptual schema

References

• Chein, M., Mugnier, M.-L. (2009),Graph-based Knowledge Representation: Computational Foundations of Conceptual Graphs, Springer, 2009. [3].
• Dau,F. - The Logic System of Concept Graphs with Negation and Its Relationship to Predicate Logic, volume 2892 of LNCS, Springer, 2003.
• Sowa, John F. (1984), Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1984.
• Sowa, John F. (1976), "Conceptual Graphs for a Data Base Interface", IBM Journal of Research and Development 20(4), 336–357, July 1976. PDF file.

External links

People

There is a lively worldwide conceptual graphs research community, which began with a series of seven annual workshops that met from 1986 to 1992. In 1993, the workshops were upgraded to the International Conferences on Conceptual Structures (ICCS), which have been held annually in Europe, Australia, North America and Asia (in 2010). Since the mid 1990s, the ICCS community has broadened its scope to include formal concept analysis (FCA) and other tools and languages for representing and reasoning about concepts. Following is a sample of some currently active researchers on conceptual graphs, many of whom combine CGs with FCA and other notations for logic.

Galia Angelova – Bulgaria Jean-François Baget – France Tru Cao – Vietnam Michel Chein – France Madalina Croitoru – France Dan Corbett – USA Harry Delugach – USA David Genest – France Ollivier Haemmerle – France Adil Kabbaj – Morocco Pavel Kocura – UK Michel Leclère – France Robert Levinson – USA Philippe Martin – Australia Guy Mineau – Canada

Aldo de Moor – The Netherlands Bernard Moulin – Canada Mehdi Mekni – Canada Marie-Laure Mugnier – France Ulrik Petersen – Denmark Heather Pfeiffer – USA Simon Polovina – UK Henrik Schaerfe – Denmark John Sowa – USA Albena Strupchanska – Bulgaria Gerd Stumme – Germany

Resources

• Conceptual Structures Home Page. Yearly international conferences. Old site: Conceptual Graphs Home Page
• Graph-Based Knowledge Representation (book)
• John F. Sowa
• Sowa, John F., "Laws, Facts, and Contexts: Foundations for Multimodal Reasoning"
• University of Aalborg Online Course
• CoGui
• Cogitant
• Formal Concept Analysis, Uta Priss, Napier University, UK.