Horn clause


Horn clause

(logic)A set of atomic literals with at most one positive literal. Usually written

L
where n>=0, "goal. Horn clauses can express a subset of statements offirst order logic.

The name "Horn Clause" comes from the logician Alfred Horn,who first pointed out the significance of such clauses in1951, in the article "On sentences which are true of directunions of algebras", Journal of Symbolic Logic, 16, 14-21.

A definite clause is a Horn clause that has exactly onepositive literal.