This paper argues that the operations of a `Universal Turing Machine' (UTM) and equivalent mechanisms such as the `Post Canonical System' (PCS) -- which are widely accepted as definitions of the concept of `computing' -- may be interpreted as information compression by multiple alignment, unification and search (ICMAUS). The motivation for this interpretation is that it suggests ways in which the UTM/PCS model may be augmented in a proposed new computing system designed to exploit the ICMAUS principles as fully as possible. The provision of a relatively sophisticated search mechanism in the proposed `SP' system appears to open the door to the integration and simplification of a range of functions including unsupervised inductive learning, best-match pattern recognition and information retrieval, probabilistic reasoning, planning and problem solving, and others. Detailed consideration of how the ICMAUS principles may be applied to these functions is outside the scope of this article but relevant sources are cited in this article.

This paper contains a systematic study of the foundations of knowledge representation, computation, and learning in higher-order logic. First, a polymorphically-typed higher-order logic, whose origins can be traced back to Church's simple theory of types, is presented. A model theory and proof theory for this logic are developed and basic theorems relating these two are given. A metric space of certain closed terms, which provides a rich language for representing individuals, is then studied. Also a method of systematically constructing predicates on such individuals is given. The technique of programming with abstractions is illustrated. Major applications of the logic to declarative programming languages and machine learning are indicated. 1

Abstract: Decision making under uncertainty is a key issue in information fusion and logic based reasoning approaches. The aim of this paper is to show noteworthy theoretical and applicational issues in the area of decision making under uncertainty that have been already done and raise new open research related to these topics pointing out promising and challenging research gaps that should be addressed in the coming future in order to improve the resolution of decision making problems under uncertainty.

présentée à l’Université d’Orléans pour obtenir le grade de Docteur de l’Université d’Orléans par: