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Encyclopedia of Algorithms pp 1–5Cite as

Learning DNF Formulas

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Years and Authors of Summarized Original Work

1997; Jackson

2005; Bshouty, Mossel, O’Donnell, Servedio

2009; Kalai, Samorodnitsky, Teng

Problem Definition

A disjunctive normal form (DNF) expression is a Boolean expression written as a disjunction of terms, where each term is the conjunction of Boolean variables that may or may not be negated. For example, \((v_{1} \wedge \overline{v_{2}}) \vee (v_{2} \wedge v_{3})\) is a two-term DNF expression over three variables. DNF expressions occur frequently in digital circuit design, where DNF is often referred to as sum of products notation. From a learning perspective, DNF expressions are of interest because they provide a natural representation for certain types of expert knowledge. For example, the conditions under which complex tax rules apply can often be readily represented as DNFs. Another nice property of DNF expressions is their universality: every n-bit Boolean function (the type of function considered in this entry unless otherwise...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Jeffrey C. Jackson

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  1. Jeffrey C. Jackson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Ming-Yang Kao

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Jackson, J.C. (2014). Learning DNF Formulas. In: Kao, MY. (eds) Encyclopedia of Algorithms. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27848-8_196-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27848-8_196-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27848-8

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