Model Checking Parse Trees

Parse trees are fundamental syntactic structures in both computational linguistics and compilers construction. We argue in this paper that, in both fields, there are good incentives for model-checking sets of parse trees for some word according to a context-free grammar. We put forward the adequacy of propositional dynamic logic (PDL) on trees in these applications, and study as a sanity check the complexity of the corresponding model-checking problem: although complete for exponential time in the general case, we find natural restrictions on grammars for our applications and establish complexities ranging from nondeterministic polynomial time to polynomial space in the relevant cases.Comment: 21 + x page

Decidability Results for the Boundedness Problem

We prove decidability of the boundedness problem for monadic least fixed-point recursion based on positive monadic second-order (MSO) formulae over trees. Given an MSO-formula phi(X,x) that is positive in X, it is decidable whether the fixed-point recursion based on phi is spurious over the class of all trees in the sense that there is some uniform finite bound for the number of iterations phi takes to reach its least fixed point, uniformly across all trees. We also identify the exact complexity of this problem. The proof uses automata-theoretic techniques. This key result extends, by means of model-theoretic interpretations, to show decidability of the boundedness problem for MSO and guarded second-order logic (GSO) over the classes of structures of fixed finite tree-width. Further model-theoretic transfer arguments allow us to derive major known decidability results for boundedness for fragments of first-order logic as well as new ones

Mechanised Uniform Interpolation for Modal Logics K, GL, and iSL

The uniform interpolation property in a given logic can be understood as the definability of propositional quantifiers. We mechanise the computation of these quantifiers and prove correctness in the Coq proof assistant for three modal logics, namely: (1) the modal logic K, for which a pen-and-paper proof exists; (2) Gödel-Löb logic GL, for which our formalisation clarifies an important point in an existing, but incomplete, sequent-style proof; and (3) intuitionistic strong Löb logic iSL, for which this is the first proof-theoretic construction of uniform interpolants. Our work also yields verified programs that allow one to compute the propositional quantifiers on any formula in this logic

Mechanised Uniform Interpolation for Modal Logics K, GL, and iSL

The uniform interpolation property in a given logic can be understood as the definability of propositional quantifiers. We mechanise the computation of these quantifiers and prove correctness in the Coq proof assistant for three modal logics, namely: (1) the modal logic K, for which a pen-and-paper proof exists; (2) Gödel-Löb logic GL, for which our formalisation clarifies an important point in an existing, but incomplete, sequent-style proof; and (3) intuitionistic strong Löb logic iSL, for which this is the first proof-theoretic construction of uniform interpolants. Our work also yields verified programs that allow one to compute the propositional quantifiers on any formula in this logic

Proof-theoretic Semantics for Intuitionistic Multiplicative Linear Logic

This work is the first exploration of proof-theoretic semantics for a substructural logic. It focuses on the base-extension semantics (B-eS) for intuitionistic multiplicative linear logic (IMLL). The starting point is a review of Sandqvist’s B-eS for intuitionistic propositional logic (IPL), for which we propose an alternative treatment of conjunction that takes the form of the generalized elimination rule for the connective. The resulting semantics is shown to be sound and complete. This motivates our main contribution, a B-eS for IMLL , in which the definitions of the logical constants all take the form of their elimination rule and for which soundness and completeness are established

Succinctness and Formula Size Games

Tämä väitöskirja tutkii erilaisten logiikoiden tiiviyttä kaavan pituuspelien avulla. Logiikan tiiviys viittaa ominaisuuksien ilmaisemiseen tarvittavien kaavojen kokoon. Kaavan pituuspelit ovat hyväksi todettu menetelmä tiiviystulosten todistamiseen. Väitöskirjan kontribuutio on kaksiosainen. Ensinnäkin väitöskirjassa määritellään kaavan pituuspeli useille logiikoille ja tarjotaan näin uusia menetelmiä tulevaan tutkimukseen. Toiseksi näitä pelejä ja muita menetelmiä käytetään tiiviystulosten todistamiseen tutkituille logiikoille. Tarkemmin sanottuna väitöskirjassa määritellään uudet parametrisoidut kaavan pituuspelit perusmodaalilogiikalle, modaaliselle μ-kalkyylille, tiimilauselogiikalle ja yleistetyille säännöllisille lausekkeille. Yleistettyjen säännöllisten lausekkeiden pelistä esitellään myös variantit, jotka vastaavat säännöllisiä lausekkeita ja uusia “RE over star-free” -lausekkeita, joissa tähtiä ei esiinny komplementtien sisällä. Pelejä käytetään useiden tiiviystulosten todistamiseen. Predikaattilogiikan näytetään olevan epäelementaarisesti tiiviimpi kuin perusmodaalilogiikka ja modaalinen μ-kalkyyli. Tiimilauselogiikassa tutkitaan systemaattisesti yleisten riippuvuuksia ilmaisevien atomien määrittelemisen tiiviyttä. Klassinen epäelementaarinen tiiviysero predikaattilogiikan ja säännöllisten lausekkeiden välillä osoitetaan uudelleen yksinkertaisemmalla tavalla ja saadaan tähtien lukumäärälle “RE over star-free” -lausekkeissa hierarkia ilmaisuvoiman suhteen. Monissa yllämainituista tuloksista hyödynnetään eksplisiittisiä kaavoja peliargumenttien lisäksi. Tällaisia kaavoja ja tyyppien laskemista hyödyntäen saadaan epäelementaarisia ala- ja ylärajoja yksittäisten sanojen määrittelemisen tiiviydelle predikaattilogiikassa ja monadisessa toisen kertaluvun logiikassa.This thesis studies the succinctness of various logics using formula size games. The succinctness of a logic refers to the size of formulas required to express properties. Formula size games are some of the most successful methods of proof for results on succinctness. The contribution of the thesis is twofold. Firstly, we define formula size games for several logics, providing methods for future research. Secondly, we use these games and other methods to prove results on the succinctness of the studied logics. More precisely, we develop new parameterized formula size games for basic modal logic, modal μ-calculus, propositional team logic and generalized regular expressions. For the generalized regular expression game we introduce variants that correspond to regular expressions and the newly defined RE over star-free expressions, where stars do not occur inside complements. We use the games to prove a number of succinctness results. We show that first-order logic is non-elementarily more succinct than both basic modal logic and modal μ-calculus. We conduct a systematic study of the succinctness of defining common atoms of dependency in propositional team logic. We reprove a classic non-elementary succinctness gap between first-order logic and regular expressions in a much simpler way and establish a hierarchy of expressive power for the number of stars in RE over star-free expressions. Many of the above results utilize explicit formulas in addition to game arguments. We use such formulas and a type counting argument to obtain non-elementary lower and upper bounds for the succinctness of defining single words in first-order logic and monadic second-order logic

Finite-State Abstractions for Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic

Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL) is the established temporal logic for probabilistic verification of discrete-time Markov chains. Probabilistic model checking is a technique that verifies or refutes whether a property specified in this logic holds in a Markov chain. But Markov chains are often infinite or too large for this technique to apply. A standard solution to this problem is to convert the Markov chain to an abstract model and to model check that abstract model. The problem this thesis therefore studies is whether or when such finite abstractions of Markov chains for model checking PCTL exist. This thesis makes the following contributions. We identify a sizeable fragment of PCTL for which 3-valued Markov chains can serve as finite abstractions; this fragment is maximal for those abstractions and subsumes many practically relevant specifications including, e.g., reachability. We also develop game-theoretic foundations for the semantics of PCTL over Markov chains by capturing the standard PCTL semantics via a two-player games. These games, finally, inspire a notion of p-automata, which accept entire Markov chains. We show that p-automata subsume PCTL and Markov chains; that their languages of Markov chains have pleasant closure properties; and that the complexity of deciding acceptance matches that of probabilistic model checking for p-automata representing PCTL formulae. In addition, we offer a simulation between p-automata that under-approximates language containment. These results then allow us to show that p-automata comprise a solution to the problem studied in this thesis