Georg Gottlob
Encyclopedia
Georg Gottlob FRS is an Oxford-based Austrian
computer scientist who works in the areas of database theory
, logic
, and artificial intelligence
.
Gottlob obtained his PhD in computer science at Vienna University of Technology
in 1981. He is currently a chaired professor of computing science at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory
, where he helped establish the information systems research group. He is also a Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Previously, he was a professor of computer science at Vienna University of Technology
, where he still maintains an adjunct position. He was elected a member of the Royal Society
in May, 2010. He is a founding member of the Oxford-Man Institute
.
He has published more than 250 scientific articles in the areas of computational logic, database theory
, and artificial intelligence
, and one textbook on logic programming and databases.
In the area of artificial intelligence
, he is best known for his influential early work on the complexity of nonmonotonic logics and on hypertree decompositions, a framework for obtaining tractable structural classes of constraint satisfaction
problems, and a generalization of the notion of tree decomposition
from graph theory
. This work has also had substantial impact in database theory, since it is known that the problem of evaluating conjunctive queries
on relational databases is equivalent to the constraint satisfaction problem. His recent work on XML query languages (notably XPath
) has helped create the complexity-theoretical foundations of this area.
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
computer scientist who works in the areas of database theory
Database theory
Database theory encapsulates a broad range of topics related to the study and research of the theoretical realm of databases and database management systems....
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
.
Gottlob obtained his PhD in computer science at Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...
in 1981. He is currently a chaired professor of computing science at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory
Oxford University Computing Laboratory
The Department of Computer Science, until 2011 named the Computing Laboratory , is a department of Oxford University in England...
, where he helped establish the information systems research group. He is also a Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Previously, he was a professor of computer science at Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...
, where he still maintains an adjunct position. He was elected a member of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in May, 2010. He is a founding member of the Oxford-Man Institute
Oxford-Man Institute
The Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Oxford, England. Founded in June 2007, it brings together faculty, post-docs and students throughout the University who are interested in quantitative analysis of finance problems.The...
.
He has published more than 250 scientific articles in the areas of computational logic, database theory
Database theory
Database theory encapsulates a broad range of topics related to the study and research of the theoretical realm of databases and database management systems....
, and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, and one textbook on logic programming and databases.
In the area of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, he is best known for his influential early work on the complexity of nonmonotonic logics and on hypertree decompositions, a framework for obtaining tractable structural classes of constraint satisfaction
Constraint satisfaction
In artificial intelligence and operations research, constraint satisfaction is the process of finding a solution to a set of constraints that impose conditions that the variables must satisfy. A solution is therefore a vector of variables that satisfies all constraints.The techniques used in...
problems, and a generalization of the notion of tree decomposition
Tree decomposition
In graph theory, a tree decomposition is a mapping of a graph into a tree that can be used to speed up solving certain problems on the original graph...
from graph theory
Graph theory
In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
. This work has also had substantial impact in database theory, since it is known that the problem of evaluating conjunctive queries
Conjunctive query
In database theory, a conjunctive query is a restricted form of first-order queries. A large part of queries issued on relational databases can be written as conjunctive queries, and large parts of other first-order queries can be written as conjunctive queries....
on relational databases is equivalent to the constraint satisfaction problem. His recent work on XML query languages (notably XPath
XPath
XPath is a language for selecting nodes from an XML document. In addition, XPath may be used to compute values from the content of an XML document...
) has helped create the complexity-theoretical foundations of this area.