The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a fundamental technology in the Semantic Web, enabling the representation and interchange of structured data. However, RDF lacks the capability to express negated statements in a generic way. As a result, exchanging negative information on a Web scale is thus far restricted to specific cases and predefined statements. The ability to negate (virtually) any RDF statement allows for a comprehensive way to refute, deny or otherwise invalidate claims on a Web scale. Via an intermediate step of a diagrammatic approach to logical expressions called Peirce graphs, we introduce RDF Surfaces, an extension of RDF that incorporates the concept of classic negation, known from first-order logic. Overall, RDF Surfaces provides an abstract, visual approach to negation within the Semantic Web, offering a more general and widely applicable approach than previous attempts at incorporating negation. Aside from a (traditional) programmatic syntax, RDF Surfaces can also be represented visually by means of diagrams inspired by Peirce graphs. We demonstrate negation via RDF Surfaces and how to reason upon it in illustrative use cases drawn from the domains of academic publishing and eHealth. We hope this vision paper attracts new implementers and opens the discussion to its formal specification.

翻译：资源描述框架（RDF）是语义网的基础技术，支持结构化数据的表示与交换。然而，RDF缺乏以通用方式表达否定陈述的能力，导致网络规模的否定信息交换迄今仅限于特定场景和预定义陈述。否定（几乎）任意RDF陈述的能力，为网络规模的声明反驳、否认或失效提供了全面途径。通过名为皮尔士图的逻辑表达式图解方法作为中间步骤，我们引入了RDF Surfaces——一种融合一阶逻辑经典否定概念的RDF扩展框架。总体而言，RDF Surfaces为语义网中的否定提供了抽象的可视化方法，相比以往融合否定的尝试具有更广泛的普适性。除传统编程语法外，RDF Surfaces还可通过受皮尔士图启发的图示进行可视化表征。我们通过学术出版和电子健康领域的示例用例，展示了基于RDF Surfaces的否定机制及其推理方法。希望这篇愿景论文能吸引更多实践者参与，并推动其形式化规范的相关讨论。