cs.AIApr 2, 2026

Qiana: A First-Order Formalism to Quantify over Contexts and Formulas with Temporality

Authors: Simon Coumes, Pierre-Henri Paris, François Schwarzentruber, Fabian Suchanek

Organizations: LTCI, LaHDAK · Telecom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France · Université Paris-Saclay, France · ENS de Lyon · 

Abstract

We introduce Qiana, a logic framework for reasoning on formulas that are true only in specific contexts. In Qiana, it is possible to quantify over both formulas and contexts to express, e.g., that ``everyone knows everything Alice says''. Qiana also permits paraconsistent logics within contexts, so that contexts can contain contradictions. Furthermore, Qiana is based on first-order logic, and is finitely axiomatizable, so that Qiana theories are compatible with pre-existing first-order logic theorem provers. We show how Qiana can be used to represent temporality, event calculus, and modal logic. We also discuss different design alternatives of Qiana.

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