Positive first-order logic is NP-complete

  • Authors:
  • Dexter Kozen

  • Affiliations:
  • IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York

  • Venue:
  • IBM Journal of Research and Development
  • Year:
  • 1981

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Abstract

The decision problem for positive first-order logic with equality is NP-complete. More generally, if Σ is a finite set of atomic sentences (i.e., atomic formulas of the form t1 = t2, or Rt1... tn containing no variables) and negations of atomic sentences and if φ is a positive first-order sentence, then the problem of determining whether φ is true in all models of Σ is NP-complete.