# A Subjective Logic Formalisation of the Principle of Polyrepresentation for Information Needs

## TL;DR

This paper formalizes the principle of Polyrepresentation in interactive information retrieval using Subjective Logic, enabling a mathematical understanding of diverse information need representations and their combinations in various retrieval contexts.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel formal model of Polyrepresentation based on Subjective Logic, filling a gap in empirical research and providing a flexible framework for modeling information needs.

## Key findings

- Formal model of Polyrepresentation using Subjective Logic
- Application of belief combination operators to information needs
- Illustrative examples demonstrating the model's use in retrieval scenarios

## Abstract

Interactive Information Retrieval refers to the branch of Information Retrieval that considers the retrieval process with respect to a wide range of contexts, which may affect the user's information seeking experience. The identification and representation of such contexts has been the object of the principle of Polyrepresentation, a theoretical framework for reasoning about different representations arising from interactive information retrieval in a given context. Although the principle of Polyrepresentation has received attention from many researchers, not much empirical work has been done based on it. One reason may be that it has not yet been formalised mathematically. In this paper we propose an up-to-date and exible mathematical formalisation of the principle of Polyrepresentation for information needs. Specifically, we apply Subjective Logic to model different representations of information needs as beliefs marked by degrees of uncertainty. We combine such beliefs using different logical operators, and we discuss these combinations with respect to different retrieval scenarios and situations. A formal model is introduced and discussed, with illustrative applications to the modelling of information needs.