Author(s)

J. Ma, B. Knight, D. Cowell & M. Petridis

Abstract

This paper presents a general time theory of point-based intervals. Four types of time intervals are addressed in the theory on an equal footing, and the collection of time points are characterised as a special kind of time intervals. Axioms characterising the nature of time, such as linearity, density and extension are also given. This provides a sound foundation for temporal reasoning in the domain of artificial intelligence. It is shown that this general theory forms a basis for some well-known temporal models. The original axioms on which each of these temporal models have been based may be established as theorems of the theory by means of some appropriate interpretations. 1 Introduction In the past two decades, many temporal models have been proposed with different objectives and motivations. These various models are

Keywords