A characterization of the partial stable models for disjunctive deductive databases

We give a characterization of the partial, stable models of a disjunctive deductive database P in terms of the total stable models of a suitably transformed database P-tu. The transformation is based on annotating the atoms in the given database by the truth values true (''t'') and undefined (''u''). Currently many fast algorithms are being developed for computing the total stable models of disjunctive deductive databases. Based on the new characterization given in this paper, these algorithms can also be used for computing partial stable models.