[DL] CFP: AMAI special issue on "Logic-Based Agent Implementation"

[Michael Fisher]

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                       | CALL FOR PAPERS |
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                LOGIC-BASED AGENT IMPLEMENTATION
          [ http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~michael/LBAI03 ]

A special issue of the Annals of Mathematics & Artificial Intelligence

          *** Submissions due: 1st March 2003 ***

Special Issue editors:
  * Juergen Dix     [Manchester, UK]
  * Michael Fisher  [Liverpool, UK]
  * Hector Levesque [Toronto, Canada]
  * Leon Sterling   [Melbourne, Australia]

*** OVERVIEW
    --------
The view of computational components as `agents' is widely used in
contemporary software applications, such as Internet navigation,
information management, autonomous process control, and
e-commerce. The popularity of the agent paradigm stems not only from
its intuitive and appealing nature, capturing the notions of
flexibility and evolving behaviour, but also from the range of
theories, tools and techniques that have been developed over recent
years for agent-based systems.  

However, the languages in which agents are typically implemented are
often standard (usually, object-oriented) languages, with few `agent'
concepts included as a central part. Thus, the abstractions that
agent-based systems developers must work with are not always
appropriate for producing effective agent applications, especially
where `intelligent' or `rational' behaviour is required. In addition,
with agent-based systems beginning to be used in both safety/mission
critical (e.g. autonomous control) and business critical
(e.g. e-commerce and security) software, it is clear that more
precise, and logically well-founded, development techniques will be
required for agent-based applications in the future.

Thus, the aim of this special issue is to bring together high-quality
papers exhibiting leading edge research where a "logic-based" approach
is taken to the implementation of agent-based systems (often
comprising `rational' or `intelligent' agents). Our view of `logic'
here is not restricted to classical logic and logic programming
techniques and, indeed, much of the leading work in this area does not
easily fit within such a classification. We here take a broad view of
logic, and consider implementation techniques for agents that are
inherently based in some logical formalism. This logical formalism may
have been developed for a variety of reasons. For example, the use of
logic may enhance the abstractions used in the language, the potential
for verification, the type of tools that can be utilised or the
breadth of behaviours that can be developed.

*** THE JOURNAL
    -----------
The Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence
(Editor-in-Chief: Martin Golumbic. Associate Editors: Endre Boros;
Sarit Kraus; Anil Nerode) is intended to represent a wide range of
topics of concern to scholars applying quantitative, combinatorial,
logical, algebraic and algorithmic methods to Artificial Intelligence
areas as diverse as decision support, automated deduction, reasoning,
knowledge-based systems, machine learning, computer vision, robotics
and planning.  The journal is aimed at: applied logicians, algorithms
and complexity researchers, Artificial Intelligence theorists and
applications specialists using mathematical methods.  For more
details, see http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/1012-2443

*** IMPORTANT DATES
    ---------------
 Submission deadline:  1st March 2003
 Author notification:  1st July 2003
 Revised papers due:   1st September 2003


*** TOPICS OF INTEREST
    ------------------
The topics of interest of this special issue include (but are 
not limited to) 

 * implementation techniques (together with accompanying software
   engineering methods) for agent-based or multi-agent systems based
   on: logic programming (including, concurrent/parallel logic
   programming); constraints (including, constraint logic programming
   and concurrent constraint programming); intensional programming;
   situation calculus; executable modal/temporal logics; and
   multi-paradigm approaches 

 * advanced techniques within logic-based agents, such as: knowledge
   representation, nonmonotonic reasoning; planning, problem solving
   and deliberation; learning, evolution and adaption; cooperation,
   teamwork, negotiation and social ability; and decision theory for
   multi-agent systems

 * applications of logic-based agents, for example in: robotics,
   autonomous process control; knowledge/information management, WWW
   search/navigation; e-commerce and B2B applications; embedded
   components; telecommunications; and general purpose agent
   programming


*** SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
    -------------------------
We invite submission of full (typically, 20-40 pages) high-quality
research papers for this special issue. These should neither have been
previously published in their full form, nor be under review
elsewhere. Submissions consisting of the paper (preferably PDF or
Postscript via email but, alternatively, five hard-copies) including
an abstract in which the role of logic in the particular approach used
is clarified, should be sent to Michael Fisher (address given below) 
to arrive no later than 1st March 2003. Formatting instructions can be
found at the journal's web site.


Queries concerning this special issue should be directed to any
of the guest editors. Up-to-date information will also be available
from http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~michael/LBAI03


*** SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS
    ---------------------

JUERGEN DIX
 Department of Computer Science, 
 University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.
 email: dix at cs.man.ac.uk          url:  http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~jdix

MICHAEL FISHER
 Department of Computer Science, 
 University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZF, U.K.
 email: M.Fisher at csc.liv.ac.uk    url:  http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~michael

HECTOR LEVESQUE
 Department of Computer Science, 
 University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
 email: hector at cs.toronto.edu     url:  http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~hector

LEON STERLING
 Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, 
 University of Melbourne, Australia
 email: mailto:leon at cs.mu.oz.au   url:  http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~leon


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| Michael Fisher                            M.Fisher at csc.liv.ac.uk  |
| Department of Computer Science           tel: (+44) 151 794 6701  |
| University of Liverpool                  fax: (+44) 151 794 3715  |
| Liverpool L69 7ZF, U.K.        http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~michael  |  
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