Approximate minimization of interpretations in fuzzy description logics under the Gödel semantics

The problem of minimizing fuzzy interpretations in fuzzy description logics (FDLs) is important both theoretically and practically. For instance, fuzzy or weighted social networks can be modeled as fuzzy interpretations, where individuals represent actors and roles capture interactions. Minimizing such interpretations yields more compact representations, which can significantly improve the efficiency of reasoning and analysis tasks in knowledge-based systems. We present the first algorithm that minimizes a finite fuzzy interpretation while preserving fuzzy concept assertions in FDLs without the Baaz projection operator and the universal role, under the Gödel semantics. The considered class of FDLs ranges from the sublogic of $f\!\mathcal{ALC}$ without the union operator and universal restriction to the FDL that extends $f\!\mathcal{ALC}_{reg}$ with inverse roles and nominals. Our algorithm is given in an extended form that supports approximate preservation: it minimizes a finite fuzzy interpretation $\mathcal{I}$ while preserving fuzzy concept assertions up to a degree $γ\in (0,1]$. Its time complexity is $O((m\log{l} + n)\log{n})$, where $n$ is the size of the domain of $\mathcal{I}$, $m$ is the number of nonzero instances of atomic roles in $\mathcal{I}$, and $l$ is the number of distinct fuzzy values used in such instances plus 2. Methodologically, our approach fundamentally differs from existing ones, as it avoids quotient constructions traditionally employed for minimizing fuzzy interpretations and fuzzy automata.