Volume 62, Numbers 1-2, 107-136, DOI: 10.1007/s10994-006-5833-1

Markov logic networks

Matthew Richardson and Pedro Domingos

From the issue entitled "Special Issue: Multi-Relational Data Mining and Statistical Relational Learning"

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Abstract

We propose a simple approach to combining first-order logic and probabilistic graphical models in a single representation. A Markov logic network (MLN) is a first-order knowledge base with a weight attached to each formula (or clause). Together with a set of constants representing objects in the domain, it specifies a ground Markov network containing one feature for each possible grounding of a first-order formula in the KB, with the corresponding weight. Inference in MLNs is performed by MCMC over the minimal subset of the ground network required for answering the query. Weights are efficiently learned from relational databases by iteratively optimizing a pseudo-likelihood measure. Optionally, additional clauses are learned using inductive logic programming techniques. Experiments with a real-world database and knowledge base in a university domain illustrate the promise of this approach.

Keywords  Statistical relational learning - Markov networks - Markov random fields - Log-linear models - Graphical models - First-order logic - Satisfiability - Inductive logic programming - Knowledge-based model construction - Markov chain Monte Carlo - Pseudo-likelihood - Link prediction

Editors: Hendrik Blockeel, David Jensen and Stefan Kramer
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10994-006-8633-8.

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