5 research outputs found
A Coalgebraic Approach to Kleene Algebra with Tests
Kleene algebra with tests is an extension of Kleene algebra, the algebra of
regular expressions, which can be used to reason about programs. We develop a
coalgebraic theory of Kleene algebra with tests, along the lines of the
coalgebraic theory of regular expressions based on deterministic automata.
Since the known automata-theoretic presentation of Kleene algebra with tests
does not lend itself to a coalgebraic theory, we define a new interpretation of
Kleene algebra with tests expressions and a corresponding automata-theoretic
presentation. One outcome of the theory is a coinductive proof principle, that
can be used to establish equivalence of our Kleene algebra with tests
expressions.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure; preliminary version appeared in Proc. Workshop on
Coalgebraic Methods in Computer Science (CMCS'03
Deciding KAT and Hoare Logic with Derivatives
Kleene algebra with tests (KAT) is an equational system for program
verification, which is the combination of Boolean algebra (BA) and Kleene
algebra (KA), the algebra of regular expressions. In particular, KAT subsumes
the propositional fragment of Hoare logic (PHL) which is a formal system for
the specification and verification of programs, and that is currently the base
of most tools for checking program correctness. Both the equational theory of
KAT and the encoding of PHL in KAT are known to be decidable. In this paper we
present a new decision procedure for the equivalence of two KAT expressions
based on the notion of partial derivatives. We also introduce the notion of
derivative modulo particular sets of equations. With this we extend the
previous procedure for deciding PHL. Some experimental results are also
presented.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2012, arXiv:1210.202
On Star Expressions and Completeness Theorems
An open problem posed by Milner asks for a proof that a certain axiomatisation, which Milner showed is sound with respect to bisimilarity for regular expressions, is also complete. One of the main difficulties of the problem is the lack of a full Kleene theorem, since there are automata that can not be specified, up to bisimilarity, by an expression. Grabmayer and Fokkink (2020) characterise those automata that can be expressed by regular expressions without the constant 1, and use this characterisation to give a positive answer to Milner's question for this subset of expressions. In this paper, we analyse Grabmayer and Fokkink's proof of completeness from the perspective of universal coalgebra, and thereby give an abstract account of their proof method. We then compare this proof method to another approach to completeness proofs from coalgebraic language theory. This culminates in two abstract proof methods for completeness, what we call the local and global approaches, and a description of when one method can be used in place of the other