Presburger arithmetic, rational generating functions, and quasi-polynomials

Presburger arithmetic is the first-order theory of the natural numbers with addition (but no multiplication). We characterize sets that can be defined by a Presburger formula as exactly the sets whose characteristic functions can be represented by rational generating functions; a geometric characterization of such sets is also given. In addition, if p=(p_1,...,p_n) are a subset of the free variables in a Presburger formula, we can define a counting function g(p) to be the number of solutions to the formula, for a given p. We show that every counting function obtained in this way may be represented as, equivalently, either a piecewise quasi-polynomial or a rational generating function. Finally, we translate known computational complexity results into this setting and discuss open directions.Comment: revised, including significant additions explaining computational complexity results. To appear in Journal of Symbolic Logic. Extended abstract in ICALP 2013. 17 page

Subclasses of Presburger Arithmetic and the Weak EXP Hierarchy

It is shown that for any fixed $i>0$, the $\Sigma_{i+1}$-fragment of Presburger arithmetic, i.e., its restriction to $i+1$ quantifier alternations beginning with an existential quantifier, is complete for $\mathsf{\Sigma}^{\mathsf{EXP}}_{i}$, the $i$-th level of the weak EXP hierarchy, an analogue to the polynomial-time hierarchy residing between $\mathsf{NEXP}$ and $\mathsf{EXPSPACE}$. This result completes the computational complexity landscape for Presburger arithmetic, a line of research which dates back to the seminal work by Fischer & Rabin in 1974. Moreover, we apply some of the techniques developed in the proof of the lower bound in order to establish bounds on sets of naturals definable in the $\Sigma_1$-fragment of Presburger arithmetic: given a $\Sigma_1$-formula $\Phi(x)$, it is shown that the set of non-negative solutions is an ultimately periodic set whose period is at most doubly-exponential and that this bound is tight.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

The First-Order Theory of Sets with Cardinality Constraints is Decidable

We show that the decidability of the first-order theory of the language that combines Boolean algebras of sets of uninterpreted elements with Presburger arithmetic operations. We thereby disprove a recent conjecture that this theory is undecidable. Our language allows relating the cardinalities of sets to the values of integer variables, and can distinguish finite and infinite sets. We use quantifier elimination to show the decidability and obtain an elementary upper bound on the complexity. Precise program analyses can use our decidability result to verify representation invariants of data structures that use an integer field to represent the number of stored elements.Comment: 18 page

Integer Vector Addition Systems with States

This paper studies reachability, coverability and inclusion problems for Integer Vector Addition Systems with States (ZVASS) and extensions and restrictions thereof. A ZVASS comprises a finite-state controller with a finite number of counters ranging over the integers. Although it is folklore that reachability in ZVASS is NP-complete, it turns out that despite their naturalness, from a complexity point of view this class has received little attention in the literature. We fill this gap by providing an in-depth analysis of the computational complexity of the aforementioned decision problems. Most interestingly, it turns out that while the addition of reset operations to ordinary VASS leads to undecidability and Ackermann-hardness of reachability and coverability, respectively, they can be added to ZVASS while retaining NP-completness of both coverability and reachability.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Approaching Arithmetic Theories with Finite-State Automata

The automata-theoretic approach provides an elegant method for deciding linear arithmetic theories. This approach has recently been instrumental for settling long-standing open problems about the complexity of deciding the existential fragments of Büchi arithmetic and linear arithmetic over p-adic fields. In this article, which accompanies an invited talk, we give a high-level exposition of the NP upper bound for existential Büchi arithmetic, obtain some derived results, and further discuss some open problems