BLOG: Probabilistic Models with Unknown Objects

Abstract

We introduce BLOG, a formal language for defining probability models with unknown objects and identity uncertainty. A BLOG model describes a generative process in which some steps add objects to the world, and others determine attributes and relations on these objects. Subject to certain acyclicity constraints, a BLOG model specifies a unique probability distribution over first-order model structures that can contain varying and unbounded numbers of objects. Furthermore, inference algorithms exist for a large class of BLOG models.