In this paper we attempt to develop a problem representation technique which enables the decomposition of a problem into subproblems
such that their solution in sequence constitutes a strategy for solving the problem. An important issue here is that the subproblems
generated should be easier than the main problem. We propose to represent a set of problem states by a statement which is
true for all the members of the set. A statement itself is just a set of atomic statements which are binary predicates on
state variables. Then, the statement representing the set of goal states can be partitioned into its subsets each of which
becomes a subgoal of the resulting strategy. The techniques involved in partitioning a goal into its subgoals are presented
with examples.
Key words Problem-solving - strategy - problem representation - refinement - machine learning - mechanical discovery