BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Logic and Probability: The Computational Connection - Adnan Darwic
 he\, UCLA
DTSTART:20110222T100000Z
DTEND:20110222T110000Z
UID:TALK29836@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Microsoft Research Cambridge Talks Admins
DESCRIPTION:I will discuss in this talk the subject of knowledge compilati
 on of propositional knowledge bases and how it can form the basis for buil
 ding state-of-the-art probabilistic reasoning systems. In the first part o
 f the talk\, I will focus on exact probabilistic reasoning and how it can 
 be reduced to knowledge compilation\, leading to an award-winning system f
 or exact inference in the presence of local structure (determinism and con
 text specific independence). In the second part of the talk\, I will focus
  on approximate inference\, and how it can be formulated in terms of "rela
 xing" logical constraints (equalities in particular) for the purpose of ai
 ding the process of knowledge compilation. The resulting formulation\, kno
 wn as "Relax\, Compensate and then Recover\," subsumes loopy belief propag
 ation and some of its generalizations\, and is the basis for an award-winn
 ing system at the UAI inference competition in 2010. I will also review in
  the talk some recent advances and ongoing work in the world of knowledge 
 compilation and the impact it has on the state-of-the-art in probabilistic
  and symbolic reasoning.
LOCATION:Small lecture theatre\, Microsoft Research Ltd\, 7 J J Thomson Av
 enue (Off Madingley Road)\, Cambridge
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR