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Probabilistic Temporal Databases

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

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Synonyms

Temporally uncertain databases; Temporally indeterminate databases

Definition

There are many applications where the fact that a given event occurred is known, but where there is uncertainty about exactly when that event occurred. Such events are called temporally indeterminate events. Probabilistic temporal databases attempt to store information about events that are both temporally determinate and temporally indeterminate. For the latter, they specify a set of time points (often an interval) – it is known that the event occurred at some time point in this set. The probability that the event occurred at a specific time point is given by a probability distribution or by one of a set of probability distributions.

Historical Background

There is no shortage of events that are known to have certainly occurred, but where the exact dates are not known with certainty. For instance, the exact date of the extinction of dinosaurs is unknown – nor does the historical record show the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    V. S. Subrahmanian

Authors
  1. V. S. Subrahmanian
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Subrahmanian, V.S. (2009). Probabilistic Temporal Databases. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_406

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