Constructing and Extending Description Logic Ontologies using Methods of Formal Concept Analysis

Abstract

My thesis describes how methods from Formal Concept Analysis can be used for constructing and extending description logic ontologies. In particular, it is shown how concept inclusions can be axiomatized from data in the description logics $$\mathcal {E}\mathcal {L}$$ E L , $$\mathcal {M}$$ M , $$\textsf {Horn}$$ Horn - $$\mathcal {M}$$ M , and $$\textsf{Prob}\text{-}\mathcal {E}\mathcal {L}$$ Prob - E L . All proposed methods are not only sound but also complete, i.e., the result not only consists of valid concept inclusions but also entails each valid concept inclusion. Moreover, a lattice-theoretic view on the description logic $$\mathcal {E}\mathcal {L}$$ E L is provided. For instance, it is shown how upper and lower neighbors of $$\mathcal {E}\mathcal {L}$$ E L concept descriptions can be computed and further it is proven that the set of $$\mathcal {E}\mathcal {L}$$ E L concept descriptions forms a graded lattice with a non-elementary rank function.