Theory and practice of tense-bound object references

Abstract: "The work presented in this thesis is a study of a formal method for representation of time- and development. It constitutes a formalisation of the conception that change and development is attributed to objects, which then occur in time structures of versions. This conception is taken as the foundation for a formal temporal logic, LITE, which is then defined in-syntax [sic], semantics and interpretation. The resulting logic is studied with respect to how it captures temporal aspects of developments. In particular the way apparently atemporal formulas convey implicit synchronisations between object versions is studied. This includes the temporal implications of reification, of specifying database invariances, and the intuitions regarding propagation of change for composite objects. The logic is also applied and discussed for a few particular process characterisation tasks. In this logic, processes are generally characterised in terms of how data changes rather than which actions are performed. As a result, the same characterisation can be used for both sequential and parallel execution environments. The conceptualisation of development and the formal semantics is further utilised for introducing temporal qualifications in a terminological logic. The theoretical issues in terminological logics are relatively well understood. They therefore provide an excellent testbed for experimenting with the usefulness of the LITE temporal logic."