AUTOMATED DISCOVERY OF EMPIRICAL LAWS

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zytkow, Jan M.

Affiliations: Computer Science Department, Wichita State University. Wichita, KS 67260-0083, U.S.A. and Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, E-mail: zytkow @cs.twsu.edu

Abstract: We define the problem of empirical search for knowledge by interaction with a setup experiment, and we present a solution implemented in the FAHRENHEIT discovery system. FAHRENHEIT autonomously explores multi-dimensional empirical spaces of numerical parameters, making experiments, generalizing them into empirical equations, finding the scope of applications for each equation, and setting new discovery goals, until it reaches the empirically complete theory. It turns out that a small number of generic goals and a small number of data structures, when combined recursively, can lead to complex discovery processes and to the discovery of complex theories. We present FAHRENHEIT's knowledge representation and the ways in which the discovery mechanism interacts with the emerging knowledge. Brief descriptions of several real-world applications demonstrate the system's discovery potential.

DOI: 10.3233/FI-1996-272315

Journal: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 27, no. 2-3, pp. 299-318, 1996