# Symmetry breaking for inductive logic programming

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06263 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.06263/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 14 of its 52 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Aug 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Multi-shot ASP solving with clingo](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.09811/) (2017)
- [Inductive logic programming at 30: a new introduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.07912/) (2020)
- [Learning programs by learning from failures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.02259/) (2020)
- [Making sense of sensory input](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.02227/) (2019)
- [Inductive general game playing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.09627/) (2019)
- [Learning MDL logic programs from noisy data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.09393/) (2023)
- [Learning Higher-Order Programs without Meta-Interpretive Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.14603/) (2021)
- [On Local Domain Symmetry for Model Expansion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.02688/) (2016)
- [Learning logic programs by combining programs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.01614/) (2022)
- [Towards Probabilistic Inductive Logic Programming with Neurosymbolic Inference and Relaxation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.11367/) (2024)
- [Lifting Symmetry Breaking Constraints with Inductive Logic Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.11806/) (2021)
- [Learning logic programs by discovering where not to search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.09806/) (2022)
- [BreakID: Static Symmetry Breaking for ASP (System Description)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.08447/) (2016)
- [satsuma: Structure-based Symmetry Breaking in SAT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.13557/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The goal of inductive logic programming is to search for a hypothesis that generalises training data and background knowledge. The challenge is searching vast hypothesis spaces, which is exacerbated because many logically equivalent hypotheses exist. To address this challenge, we introduce a method to break symmetries in the hypothesis space. We implement our idea in answer set programming. Our experiments on multiple domains, including visual reasoning and game playing, show that our approach can reduce solving times from over an hour to just 17 seconds.