An atomic formula or atom is simply a predicate applied to a tuple of terms; that is, an atomic formula is a formula of the form P (t1, …, tn) for P a predicate, and the tk terms.
All other well-formed formulae are obtained by composing atoms with logical connectives and quantifiers.
For example, the formula ∀x. P (x) ∧ ∃y. Q (y, f (x)) ∨ ∃z. R (z) contains the atoms
When all of the terms in an atom are ground terms, then the atom is called a ground atom or ground predicate.
Famous quotes containing the words atomic and/or formula:
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