103,833 research outputs found
A Restricted Second Order Logic for Finite Structures
AbstractWe introduce a restricted version of second order logic SOωin which the second order quantifiers range over relations that are closed under the equivalence relation ≡kofkvariable equivalence, for somek. This restricted second order logic is an effective fragment of the infinitary logicLω∞ω, but it differs from other such fragments in that it is not based on a fixed point logic. We explore the relationship of SOωwith fixed point logics, showing that its inclusion relations with these logics are equivalent to problems in complexity theory. We also look at the expressibility of NP-complete problems in this logic
Order-Invariant MSO is Stronger than Counting MSO in the Finite
We compare the expressiveness of two extensions of monadic second-order logic
(MSO) over the class of finite structures. The first, counting monadic
second-order logic (CMSO), extends MSO with first-order modulo-counting
quantifiers, allowing the expression of queries like ``the number of elements
in the structure is even''. The second extension allows the use of an
additional binary predicate, not contained in the signature of the queried
structure, that must be interpreted as an arbitrary linear order on its
universe, obtaining order-invariant MSO.
While it is straightforward that every CMSO formula can be translated into an
equivalent order-invariant MSO formula, the converse had not yet been settled.
Courcelle showed that for restricted classes of structures both order-invariant
MSO and CMSO are equally expressive, but conjectured that, in general,
order-invariant MSO is stronger than CMSO.
We affirm this conjecture by presenting a class of structures that is
order-invariantly definable in MSO but not definable in CMSO.Comment: Revised version contributed to STACS 200
Undecidable First-Order Theories of Affine Geometries
Tarski initiated a logic-based approach to formal geometry that studies
first-order structures with a ternary betweenness relation (\beta) and a
quaternary equidistance relation (\equiv). Tarski established, inter alia, that
the first-order (FO) theory of (R^2,\beta,\equiv) is decidable. Aiello and van
Benthem (2002) conjectured that the FO-theory of expansions of (R^2,\beta) with
unary predicates is decidable. We refute this conjecture by showing that for
all n>1, the FO-theory of monadic expansions of (R^2,\beta) is \Pi^1_1-hard and
therefore not even arithmetical. We also define a natural and comprehensive
class C of geometric structures (T,\beta), where T is a subset of R^2, and show
that for each structure (T,\beta) in C, the FO-theory of the class of monadic
expansions of (T,\beta) is undecidable. We then consider classes of expansions
of structures (T,\beta) with restricted unary predicates, for example finite
predicates, and establish a variety of related undecidability results. In
addition to decidability questions, we briefly study the expressivity of
universal MSO and weak universal MSO over expansions of (R^n,\beta). While the
logics are incomparable in general, over expansions of (R^n,\beta), formulae of
weak universal MSO translate into equivalent formulae of universal MSO.
This is an extended version of a publication in the proceedings of the 21st
EACSL Annual Conferences on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2012).Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
Trees over Infinite Structures and Path Logics with Synchronization
We provide decidability and undecidability results on the model-checking
problem for infinite tree structures. These tree structures are built from
sequences of elements of infinite relational structures. More precisely, we
deal with the tree iteration of a relational structure M in the sense of
Shelah-Stupp. In contrast to classical results where model-checking is shown
decidable for MSO-logic, we show decidability of the tree model-checking
problem for logics that allow only path quantifiers and chain quantifiers
(where chains are subsets of paths), as they appear in branching time logics;
however, at the same time the tree is enriched by the equal-level relation
(which holds between vertices u, v if they are on the same tree level). We
separate cleanly the tree logic from the logic used for expressing properties
of the underlying structure M. We illustrate the scope of the decidability
results by showing that two slight extensions of the framework lead to
undecidability. In particular, this applies to the (stronger) tree iteration in
the sense of Muchnik-Walukiewicz.Comment: In Proceedings INFINITY 2011, arXiv:1111.267
Weighted Automata and Logics for Infinite Nested Words
Nested words introduced by Alur and Madhusudan are used to capture structures
with both linear and hierarchical order, e.g. XML documents, without losing
valuable closure properties. Furthermore, Alur and Madhusudan introduced
automata and equivalent logics for both finite and infinite nested words, thus
extending B\"uchi's theorem to nested words. Recently, average and discounted
computations of weights in quantitative systems found much interest. Here, we
will introduce and investigate weighted automata models and weighted MSO logics
for infinite nested words. As weight structures we consider valuation monoids
which incorporate average and discounted computations of weights as well as the
classical semirings. We show that under suitable assumptions, two resp. three
fragments of our weighted logics can be transformed into each other. Moreover,
we show that the logic fragments have the same expressive power as weighted
nested word automata.Comment: LATA 2014, 12 page
On First-Order Definable Colorings
We address the problem of characterizing -coloring problems that are
first-order definable on a fixed class of relational structures. In this
context, we give several characterizations of a homomorphism dualities arising
in a class of structure
An Application of the Feferman-Vaught Theorem to Automata and Logics for<br> Words over an Infinite Alphabet
We show that a special case of the Feferman-Vaught composition theorem gives
rise to a natural notion of automata for finite words over an infinite
alphabet, with good closure and decidability properties, as well as several
logical characterizations. We also consider a slight extension of the
Feferman-Vaught formalism which allows to express more relations between
component values (such as equality), and prove related decidability results.
From this result we get new classes of decidable logics for words over an
infinite alphabet.Comment: 24 page
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