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UNIT II REPRESENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE

PART A

1. What is informed search?

One that uses problem – specific knowledge beyond the definition of the problem itself and it
can find solutions more efficiently than an uninformed strategy.

2. What is the use of QUEUING_FN?

QUEUING_FN inserts asset of elements into the queue. Different varieties of queuing fn
produce different varieties of the search algorithm.

3. Mention the criteria for the evaluation of search strategy.

There are 4 criteria: Completeness, time complexity, space complexity, optimality

4. List the various search strategies.

a. BFS
b. Uniform cost search
c. DFS
d. Depth limited search
e. Iterative deepening search
f. Bidirectional search

5. List the various informed search strategy.

Best first search –greedy search ,A* search
Memory bounded search-Iterative deepening A*search -simplified memory bounded
A*search -Iterative improvement search –hill climbing -simulated annealing

6. What is Best First Search?

Best First Search is an instance of the general TREE SEARCH or GRAPH SEARCH algorithm
in which a node is selected for expansion based on an evaluation function, f(n).

7. Define Evaluation function, f(n).

A node with the lowest evaluation is selected for expansion, because evaluation measures
distance to the goal.

8. Define Heuristic function, h (n).

h (n) is defined as the estimated cost of the cheapest path from node n to a goal node.

9. Define Greedy Best First Search.

It expands the node that is closest to the goal (i.e.) to reach solution in a quicker way. It is done
by using the heuristic function: f(n) = h(n).

10. Define A* search.

A* search evaluates nodes by combining g(n), the cost to reach the node and h(n), the cost to
get from the node to the goal.

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f(n) = g(n) + h(n)

11. Define Admissible heuristic h (n).

In A* search, if it is optimal then, h(n) is an admissible heuristic which means h(n) never
overestimates the cost to reach the goal.

12. What is triangle inequality?

It states that each side of a triangle cannot be longer than the sum of the other two slides of the
triangle.

13. What are the 2 types of memory bounded heuristic algorithms?

i. Recursive Best First Search(RBFS)
ii. Memory bounded A*(MA*)

14. Differentiate BFS & DFS.

BFS means breath wise search. Space complexity is more. Do not give optimal solution Queuing
fn is same as that of queue operator
DFS means depth wise search. Space complexity is less Gives optimal solution Queuing fn is
somewhat different from queue operator.

15. What is RBFS?

It keeps track of the f-value of the best alternative path available from any ancestor of the
current node. RBFS remembers the f-value of the best leaf in the forgotten sub tree and therefore
decide whether its worth re expanding the sub tree sometimes later.

16. Define iterative deepening search.

Iterative deepening is a strategy that sidesteps the issue of choosing the best depth limit by trying
all possible depth limits: first depth 0, then depth 1,then depth 2& so on.

17. What are the 2 ways to use all available memory?

i. Memory bounded A*(MA*)
ii. Simplified Memory bounded A*(SMA*)

18. What is SMA* search?

SMA* expands the best leaf until memory is full and it drops the oldest worst leaf node and
expands the newest best leaf node.

19. What is called as bidirectional search?

The idea behind bidirectional search is to simultaneously search both forward from the initial
state & backward from the goal & stop when the two searches meet in the middle.

20. What is metalevel state space?

Each state in a metalevel state space captures the internal state of a program that is searching
in an object level state space.

21. What is Manhattan distance, h2?

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The sum of the horizontal and vertical distances of the tiles from their goal positions in a 15
puzzle problem is called Manhattan distance (or) city block distance.

22. Give the drawback of DFS.

The drawback of DFS is that it can get stuck going down the wrong path. Many problems have
very deep or even infinite search tree. So dfs will never be able to recover from an unlucky
choice at one of the nodes near the top of the tree. So DFS should be avoided for search trees
with large or infinite maximum depths

23. Define Branching factor b*.

Uniform tree of depth d would have to be in order to contain N+1 nodes is called branching
factor.

24. Write the time & space complexity associated with depth limited search.
Time complexity =O (bd) ,
b-branching factor,
d-depth of tree
Space complexity=o (bl)

25. What is Released problems?

A problem with fewer restrictions on the actions is called a relaxed problem.

26. What is a pattern database?

This database is the storage of exact solution costs for every possible sub problem instance.

27. What is a disjoint pattern database?

The sum of the two costs is still a lower bound on the cost of solving the entire problem is
called a disjoint pattern database.

28. What is local search?

It operates using a single current state rather than multiple paths and generally moves only to
neighbors of that state.

29. Define Optimization Problems.

The aim of this problem is to find the best state according to an objective function.

30. What are the 2 parts of Landscape?

i. Location defined by the state.
ii. Elevation defined by the value of the heuristic cost function (or) objective function.
31. Define Global minimum.
If elevation corresponds to cost, then the aim is to find the lowest valley is called global
minimum.

32. Define Global Maximum.

If elevation corresponds to an objective function, then the aim is to find the highest peak is

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called global maximum.

33. Define Hill Climbing search.

It is a loop that continually moves in a increasing value direction (i.e.) up hill and terminates
when it reaches a “peak” where no neighbor has a higher value.

34. List some drawbacks of hill climbing process.

Local maxima: A local maxima as opposed to a goal maximum is a peak that is lower that
the highest peak in the state space. Once a local maxima is reached the algorithm will halt even
though the solution may be far from satisfactory.

Plateaux: A plateaux is an area of the state space where the evaluation fn is essentially flat. The
search will conduct a random walk.

35. What is the meaning for greedy local search?

It goals (picks) a good neighbor state without thinking ahead about where to go next.

36. Define Local maxima.

A local maximum is a peak that is higher than each of its neighboring states, but lower than the
global maximum.

37. What are the variants of hill climbing?

i. Stochastic hill climbing
ii. First choice hill climbing
iii. Simulated annealing search
iv. Local beam search
v. Stochastic beam search

38. Define annealing.

Annealing is the process used to harden metals (or) glass by heating them to a high temperature
and then gradually cooling them, thus allowing the material to coalesce into a low energy
crystalline state.

39. Define simulated annealing.

This algorithm, instead of picking the best move, it picks a random move. If the move
improves the situation, it is always accepted.

40. What is the advantage of memory bounded search techniques?

We can reduce space requirements of A* with memory bounded algorithm such as IDA* &
SMA*.

41. Give the procedure of IDA* search.

Minimize f(n)=g(n)+h(n) combines the advantage of uniform cost search + greedy search A* is
complete, optimal. Its space complexity is still prohibitive.
Iterative improvement algorithms keep only a single state in memory, but can get stuck on local

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maxima. In this algorithm each iteration is a dfs just as in regular iterative deepening. The depth
first search is modified to use an f-cost limit rather than a depth limit. Thus each iteration
expands all nodes inside the contour for the current f-cost.

42. List some properties of SMA* search.

* It will utilize whatever memory is made available to it.
* It avoids repeated states as for as its memory allow.
* It is complete if the available memory is sufficient to store the shallowest path.
* It is optimal if enough memory is available to store the shallowest optimal solution path.
Otherwise it returns the best solution that can be reached with the available memory.
*When enough memory is available for entire search tree, the search is optimally efficient.
*Hill climbing.
*Simulated annealing.

43. What is Genetic Algorithms?

Genetic Algorithm is a variant of stochastic beam search in which successor states are
generated by combining two parent states, rather than by modifying a single state.

44. Define Online Search agent.

Agent operates by interleaving computation and action (i.e.) first it takes an action, and then it
observes the environment and computes the next action.

45. What are the things that agent knows in online search problems?
a. Actions(s)
b. Step cost function C(s, a, s’)
c. Goal TEST(s)

46. Define CSP.

Constraint Satisfaction problem (CSP) is defined by a set of variables X1,X2,…Xn and set of
constraints C1,C2,…Cm.

47. Define Successor function.

A value can be assigned to any unassigned variable, provided that does not conflict with
previously assigned variables.

48. What are the types of constraints?

There are 5 types,
a. Unary constraints relates one variable.
b. A binary constraint relates two variables.
c. Higher order constraints relate more than two variables.
d. Absolute constraints.
e. Preference constraints.

49. Define MRV.

Minimum remaining values heuristic chooses the variable with the fewest “legal” values.

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50. Define LCV.

Least constraining value heuristic prefers the value that rules out the fewest choices for the
neighboring variables in the constraint graph.

51. Define Conflict directed back jumping.

A back jumping algorithm that uses conflict sets defined in this way is called Conflict
directed back jumping.

52. Define constraint propagation.

It is the general term for propagating (i.e.) spreading the implications of constraints on the
variable on to other variable.

53. Define Cycle cut set.

The process of choosing a subset S from variables [CSP] such that the constraint graph
becomes a tree after removal of S. S is called a cycle cut set.

54. Define Tree decomposition.

The constraint graph is divided into a set of connected sub problems. Each sub problem is
solved independently and the resulting solutions are then combined. This process is called tree
decomposition.

55. Define Alpha beta pruning.

Alpha beta pruning eliminates away branches that cannot possibly influence the final
decision

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PART - B

1. Describe the Issues in knowledge representation?

Typically, a problem to solve or a task to carry out, as well as what constitutes a solution,
is only given informally, such as "deliver parcels promptly when they arrive" or "fix whatever is
wrong with the electrical system of the house.

To solve a problem, the designer of a system must flesh out the task and determine what
constitutes a solution; represent the problem in a language with which a computer can reason;
use the computer to compute an output, which is an answer presented to a user or a sequence of
actions to be carried out in the environment; and interpret the output as a solution to the problem.
Knowledge is the information about a domain that can be used to solve problems in that
domain. To solve many problems requires much knowledge, and this knowledge must be
represented in the computer. As part of designing a program to solve problems, we must define
how the knowledge will be represented. A representation scheme is the form of the knowledge
that is used in an agent. A representation of some piece of knowledge is the internal
representation of the knowledge. A representation scheme specifies the form of the knowledge.
A knowledge base is the representation of all of the knowledge that is stored by an agent.

2. Explain in details about first-order logic?

Whereas propositional logic assumes the world contains facts,
• first-order logic (like natural language) assumes the world contains
• Objects: people, houses, numbers, colors, baseball games, wars, …
• Relations: red, round, prime, brother of, bigger than, part of, comes between, …
Atomic sentences
Atomic sentence = predicate (term1,...,termn) or term1 = term2
Term = function (term1,...,termn) or constant or variable
• E.g., Brother(TaoiseachJohn,RichardTheLionheart) >
(Length(LeftLegOf(Richard)),
Length(LeftLegOf(TaoiseachJohn)))

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3. Illustrate in detail about forward and backward chaining with suitable example.
Forward Chaining: The Forward chaining system, properties , algorithms, and conflict resolution
strategy are illustrated.

Base
‡ facts are held in a working memory
‡ condition-action rules represent actions to be taken when specified facts occur in working
memory.
‡ typically, actions involve adding or deleting facts from the working memory.
■ Properties of Forward Chaining
‡ all rules which can fire do fire.
‡ can be inefficient - lead to spurious rules firing, unfocused problem
solving
‡ set of rules that can fire known as conflict set.
‡ decision about which rule to fire is conflict resolution.

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4. Knowledge engineering in FOL

1. Identify the task

2. Assemble the relevant knowledge
3. Decide on a vocabulary of predicates, functions, and constants
4. Encode general knowledge about the domain
5. Encode a description of the specific problem instance
6. Pose queries to the inference procedure and get answers
7. Debug the knowledge base

5. Explain in details about Predicate Calculus?

• An interpretation over D is an assignment of the entities of D to each of the constant, variable,
predicate and function symbols of a predicate calculus expression such that:
• 1: Each constant is assigned an element of D
• 2: Each variable is assigned a non-empty subset of D;(these are the allowable substitutions for
that variable)
• 3: Each predicate of arity n is defined on n arguments from D and defines a mapping from Dn
into {T,F}
• 4: Each function of arity n is defined on n arguments from D and defines a mapping from Dn
into D
Truth Value of Predicate Calculus expressions
• Assume an expression E and an interpretation I for E over a non empty domain D. The truth
value for E is determined by:
• The value of a constant is the element of D assigned to by I
• The value of a variable is the set of elements assigned to it by I
Similarity with Propositional logic truth values
• The value of the negation of a sentence is F if the value of the sentence is T and F
otherwise
• The values for conjunction, disjunction ,implication and equivalence are analogous to their
propositional logic counterparts

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