Description logic TBoxes: model-theoretic characterizations and rewritability
Carsten Lutz, Robert Piro, Frank Wolter · 2011
We characterize the expressive power of descrip-tion logic (DL) TBoxes, both for expressive DLs such as ALC and ALCQIO and lightweight DLs such as DL-Lite and EL. Our characterizations are relative to first-order logic, based on a wide range of semantic notions such as bisimulation, equisim-ulation, disjoint union, and direct product. We ex-emplify the use of the characterizations by a first study of the following novel family of decision problems: given a TBox T formulated in a DL L, decide whether T can be equivalently rewritten as a TBox in the fragment L ′ of L. 1