Group Knowledge of Hypothetical Values

In recent years, epistemic logics have been extended with operators K_ax for knowledge of (the value of) a variable x (by an agent a). We study dynamic versions of these logics, enriched with modalities for semi-public data-exchange events (e.g., public announcements, data-sharing within a subgroup, or changing the value of a variable). To obtain a complete axiomatization of data-exchange events, in the presence of equality x = y and K_ax, one needs to extend the logic further: first, with an operator for distributed knowledge K_Ax of the value (by a group of agents A); next, with a conditional version of this: distributed knowledge K^P_A x (of the value by a group) given some hypothetical condition (expressed by some proposition P); then, with definite descriptions x^P_A , denoting the 'hypothetical' value of x according to A's (distributed) knowledge given condition P. In order to deal with common knowledge in the presence of semi-public data exchanges, we also need to add a novel conditional version of the recent concept of common distributed knowledge. We investigate the resulting logic, giving examples and presenting a complete axiomatization and a decidability proof.

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Publication Details

Journal
Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science
Published
2025-11-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4204/eptcs.437.15
Primary Topic
Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge
Type
article
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article

Group Knowledge of Hypothetical Values

Alexandru Baltag, Sonja Smets
Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science
Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge
article

Group Knowledge of Hypothetical Values

Alexandru Baltag, Sonja Smets
article en

Abstract

In recent years, epistemic logics have been extended with operators K_ax for knowledge of (the value of) a variable x (by an agent a). We study dynamic versions of these logics, enriched with modalities for semi-public data-exchange events (e.g., public announcements, data-sharing within a subgroup, or changing the value of a variable). To obtain a complete axiomatization of data-exchange events, in the presence of equality x = y and K_ax, one needs to extend the logic further: first, with an operator for distributed knowledge K_Ax of the value (by a group of agents A); next, with a conditional version of this: distributed knowledge K^P_A x (of the value by a group) given some hypothetical condition (expressed by some proposition P); then, with definite descriptions x^P_A , denoting the 'hypothetical' value of x according to A's (distributed) knowledge given condition P. In order to deal with common knowledge in the presence of semi-public data exchanges, we also need to add a novel conditional version of the recent concept of common distributed knowledge. We investigate the resulting logic, giving examples and presenting a complete axiomatization and a decidability proof.

Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer ScienceVol. 437
University of Amsterdam (NL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 81%
Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge
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Group Knowledge of Hypothetical Values — Alexandru Baltag, Sonja Smets · Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS