The Set of Support Strategy in Temporal Resolution

A variety of proof methods have been developed to support the effective mechanisation of temporal logic. While clausal temporal resolution has been successfully employed for a range of problems, a number of improvements are still required. In particular, as there is no consistent control strategy underlying the method, a large amount of irrelevant information may sometimes be generated. Following on from classical resolution, where the Set of Support strategy has been used very successfully, we here introduce, justify and apply a temporal version of this strategy, thus allowing the supporting set to be carried over between the different phases of the resolution method. This not only restricts the production of irrelevant information but, under certain conditions, retains the completeness of the refutation process.