A Description Logic Primer

From korrekt.org


Markus Krötzsch, František Simančík, Ian Horrocks

A Description Logic Primer



Abstract. This paper provides a self-contained first introduction to description logics (DLs). The main concepts and features are explained with examples before syntax and semantics of the DL SROIQ are defined in detail. Additional sections review light-weight DL languages, discuss the relationship to the Web Ontology Language OWL and give pointers to further reading.

Published at CoRR (Technical report)

Download PDF (last update: Jan 19 2012)

Citation details

Remarks

The text is meant as a very first reading on description logics that does not require a formal logic background. Yet, there are exact definitions for SROIQ (in essence, "OWL 2 DL"), so maybe the text can also replace the repetitive DL preliminary section in one or the other paper (it is guaranteed to be permanent under the address http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.4089).

A peer-reviewed version of this content has appeared as the IEEE Intelligent Systems article "Description Logics". It might be preferred for citations. The free "Primer" contains the same material.

The text was originally written as an introductory chapter for the book Perspectives on Ontology Learning, edited by Jens Lehmann and Johanna Völker. We are happy to authorise reprints in similar collections; but please contact us first.

We might release updates of this document in the future; comments and suggestions are welcome. The text is meant to stay short though, giving pointers to further introductory literature rather than incorporating all that material.

Topics

Description logics