MPI-I-2008-RG1-001

We define a superposition calculus with explicit splitting and an explicit, new backtracking rule on the basis of labelled clauses. For the first time we show a superposition calculus with explicit backtracking rule sound and complete. The new backtracking rule advances backtracking with branch condensing known from SPASS. An experimental evaluation of an implementation of the new rule shows that it improves considerably the previous SPASS splitting implementation. Finally, we discuss the relationship between labelled first-order splitting and DPLL style splitting with intelligent backtracking and clause learning.