Source note2 min read
Selective Credibility-Limited Belief Update
Source
arXiv
arxiv.org/abs/2607.28523v1
Source
- Source name: arXiv
- Source kind: paper
- Authors / organization: Theofanis Aravanis, Costas D. Koutras
- Venue: arXiv: cs.AI
- Published: 2026-07-30
- Collected: 2026-07-31
- URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2607.28523v1
- PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.28523v1
- DOI: UNKNOWN
Plain-Language Brief
The paper introduces a new method for belief update called Selective Credibility-Limited Belief Update. This method allows for partial incorporation of an epistemic input (information) from a source world, addressing a limitation in previous credibility-limited approaches that treat the information as indivisible. The paper provides characterizations of the update operators and identifies two well-behaved sub-classes. The results demonstrate that this framework offers a unified account of belief update, encompassing established approaches while allowing for source-dependent selective acceptance.
What the Document Says
- Belief update refers to changes in an agent's beliefs due to changes in the world.
- Standard Katsuno-Mendelzon update assumes all initially possible worlds can provide epistemic input, while credibility-limited belief update restricts credible worlds based on each source world.
- Existing credibility-limited approaches treat epistemic input as indivisible.
- The paper introduces Selective Credibility-Limited Belief Update, which transforms the epistemic input relative to each source world before performing the update.
- Two well-behaved sub-classes are identified: consistency-preserving and maximal consistency-preserving update operators.
- Credibility-limited belief update is a special case of this framework, and Katsuno--Mendelzon belief update emerges when credibility restrictions are removed and the transformation functions are identities.
Key Concepts Mentioned
- Belief update
- Katsuno-Mendelzon update
- Credibility-limited belief update
- Selective Credibility-Limited Belief Update
- Epistemic input
- Source world
Claims Made by the Document
- Existing credibility-limited approaches treat epistemic input as indivisible.
- The proposed framework offers a unified account of belief update.
- Selective Credibility-Limited Belief Update allows for source-dependent selective acceptance.
Evidence Used
- The paper provides semantic and axiomatic characterizations of the new class of update operators.
- The two well-behaved sub-classes are defined and explained in detail.
Methods / Approach
UNKNOWN
Limitations Stated by the Authors
UNKNOWN
Limitations Noted by the Agent
Agent interpretation — not from the source.
UNKNOWN
Open Questions
UNKNOWN
Notes for Future Q&A
May include interpretation. Labeled where it does.
UNKNOWN
Raw Abstract / Excerpt
Belief update concerns changes in an agent's beliefs induced by changes in the underlying world. Standard Katsuno-Mendelzon update assumes that an epistemic input can be incorporated from every initially possible world, whereas credibility-limited belief update restricts, for each source world, the successor worlds regarded as credible or reachable. Nevertheless, existing credibility-limited approaches treat the epistemic input as an indivisible whole, and therefore cannot represent cases in which only part of a compound epistemic input can be realized. We introduce selective credibility-limited belief update, in which the epistemic input is transformed, relative to each source world, into a weaker proxy before the credibility-limited transition is performed. We provide semantic and axiomatic characterizations of the resulting class of update operators. We then identify two well-behaved sub-classes; namely, consistency-preserving update operators, which require every transformed epistemic input to be credible from its source world whenever the original epistemic input is consistent, and maximal consistency-preserving update operators, which additionally require the selected proxy to be maximally informative among the credible consequences of the original epistemic input. Finally, we establish the generality of the proposed framework by showing that credibility-limited belief update is recovered as a special case, while Katsuno--Mendelzon belief update emerges when credibility restrictions are removed and the transformation functions are taken to be identities. These results demonstrate that the framework provides a unified and strictly more expressive account of belief update, encompassing established approaches while supporting source-dependent selective acceptance.
