A tractable algorithm for the wellfounded model

Abstract

In the area of general logic programming (negated atoms allowed in the bodies of rules) and reason maintenance systems, the wellfounded model (first defined by Van Gelder, Ross and Schlipf in 1988) is generally considered to be the declarative semantics of the program. In this paper we present the concise mathematical development of a quadratic-time algorithm for the wellfounded model of propositional general logic programs. This algorithm has essentially been developed by Witteveen in 1990, based on ideas and material by Goodwin (1982).