The superposition calculus is a calculus for reasoning in equational logic. It was developed in the early 1990s and combines concepts from first-order resolution with ordering-based equality handling as developed in the context of (unfailing) Knuth–Bendix completion. It can be seen as a generalization of either resolution (to equational logic) or unfailing completion (to full clausal logic). Like most first-order calculi, superposition tries to show the unsatisfiability of a set of first-order clauses, i.e. it performs proofs by refutation. Superposition is refutation complete—given unlimited resources and a fair derivation strategy, from any unsatisfiable clause set a contradiction will eventually be derived.
most of the (state-of-the-art) theorem provers for first-order logic are based on superposition (e.g. the E equational theorem prover), although only a few implement the pure calculus.
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The superposition calculus is a calculus for reasoning in equational logic. It was developed in the early 1990s and combines concepts from first-order resolution with ordering-based equality handling as developed in the context of (unfailing) Knuth–Bendix completion. It can be seen as a generalization of either resolution (to equational logic) or unfailing completion (to full clausal logic). Like most first-order calculi, superposition tries to show the unsatisfiability of a set of first-order clauses, i.e.
In mathematical logic and automated theorem proving, resolution is a rule of inference leading to a refutation complete theorem-proving technique for sentences in propositional logic and first-order logic. For propositional logic, systematically applying the resolution rule acts as a decision procedure for formula unsatisfiability, solving the (complement of the) Boolean satisfiability problem. For first-order logic, resolution can be used as the basis for a semi-algorithm for the unsatisfiability problem of first-order logic, providing a more practical method than one following from Gödel's completeness theorem.
Automated theorem proving (also known as ATP or automated deduction) is a subfield of automated reasoning and mathematical logic dealing with proving mathematical theorems by computer programs. Automated reasoning over mathematical proof was a major impetus for the development of computer science. While the roots of formalised logic go back to Aristotle, the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries saw the development of modern logic and formalised mathematics.