2,545 research outputs found
Courcelle's Theorem - A Game-Theoretic Approach
Courcelle's Theorem states that every problem definable in Monadic
Second-Order logic can be solved in linear time on structures of bounded
treewidth, for example, by constructing a tree automaton that recognizes or
rejects a tree decomposition of the structure. Existing, optimized software
like the MONA tool can be used to build the corresponding tree automata, which
for bounded treewidth are of constant size. Unfortunately, the constants
involved can become extremely large - every quantifier alternation requires a
power set construction for the automaton. Here, the required space can become a
problem in practical applications.
In this paper, we present a novel, direct approach based on model checking
games, which avoids the expensive power set construction. Experiments with an
implementation are promising, and we can solve problems on graphs where the
automata-theoretic approach fails in practice.Comment: submitte
Tight Upper Bounds for Streett and Parity Complementation
Complementation of finite automata on infinite words is not only a
fundamental problem in automata theory, but also serves as a cornerstone for
solving numerous decision problems in mathematical logic, model-checking,
program analysis and verification. For Streett complementation, a significant
gap exists between the current lower bound and upper
bound , where is the state size, is the number of
Streett pairs, and can be as large as . Determining the complexity
of Streett complementation has been an open question since the late '80s. In
this paper show a complementation construction with upper bound for and for ,
which matches well the lower bound obtained in \cite{CZ11a}. We also obtain a
tight upper bound for parity complementation.Comment: Corrected typos. 23 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the 20th
Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2011
Finiteness conditions for graph algebras over tropical semirings
Connection matrices for graph parameters with values in a field have been
introduced by M. Freedman, L. Lov{\'a}sz and A. Schrijver (2007). Graph
parameters with connection matrices of finite rank can be computed in
polynomial time on graph classes of bounded tree-width. We introduce join
matrices, a generalization of connection matrices, and allow graph parameters
to take values in the tropical rings (max-plus algebras) over the real numbers.
We show that rank-finiteness of join matrices implies that these graph
parameters can be computed in polynomial time on graph classes of bounded
clique-width. In the case of graph parameters with values in arbitrary
commutative semirings, this remains true for graph classes of bounded linear
clique-width. B. Godlin, T. Kotek and J.A. Makowsky (2008) showed that
definability of a graph parameter in Monadic Second Order Logic implies rank
finiteness. We also show that there are uncountably many integer valued graph
parameters with connection matrices or join matrices of fixed finite rank. This
shows that rank finiteness is a much weaker assumption than any definability
assumption.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for presentation at FPSAC 2014 (Chicago, June 29
-July 3, 2014), to appear in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer
Scienc
Evaluating Datalog via Tree Automata and Cycluits
We investigate parameterizations of both database instances and queries that
make query evaluation fixed-parameter tractable in combined complexity. We show
that clique-frontier-guarded Datalog with stratified negation (CFG-Datalog)
enjoys bilinear-time evaluation on structures of bounded treewidth for programs
of bounded rule size. Such programs capture in particular conjunctive queries
with simplicial decompositions of bounded width, guarded negation fragment
queries of bounded CQ-rank, or two-way regular path queries. Our result is
shown by translating to alternating two-way automata, whose semantics is
defined via cyclic provenance circuits (cycluits) that can be tractably
evaluated.Comment: 56 pages, 63 references. Journal version of "Combined Tractability of
Query Evaluation via Tree Automata and Cycluits (Extended Version)" at
arXiv:1612.04203. Up to the stylesheet, page/environment numbering, and
possible minor publisher-induced changes, this is the exact content of the
journal paper that will appear in Theory of Computing Systems. Update wrt
version 1: latest reviewer feedbac
Computations by fly-automata beyond monadic second-order logic
We present logically based methods for constructing XP and FPT graph
algorithms, parametrized by tree-width or clique-width. We will use
fly-automata introduced in a previous article. They make possible to check
properties that are not monadic second-order expressible because their states
may include counters, so that their sets of states may be infinite. We equip
these automata with output functions, so that they can compute values
associated with terms or graphs. Rather than new algorithmic results we present
tools for constructing easily certain dynamic programming algorithms by
combining predefined automata for basic functions and properties.Comment: Accepted for publication in Theoretical Computer Scienc
From Finite Automata to Regular Expressions and Back--A Summary on Descriptional Complexity
The equivalence of finite automata and regular expressions dates back to the
seminal paper of Kleene on events in nerve nets and finite automata from 1956.
In the present paper we tour a fragment of the literature and summarize results
on upper and lower bounds on the conversion of finite automata to regular
expressions and vice versa. We also briefly recall the known bounds for the
removal of spontaneous transitions (epsilon-transitions) on non-epsilon-free
nondeterministic devices. Moreover, we report on recent results on the average
case descriptional complexity bounds for the conversion of regular expressions
to finite automata and brand new developments on the state elimination
algorithm that converts finite automata to regular expressions.Comment: In Proceedings AFL 2014, arXiv:1405.527
Weighted Automata and Monadic Second Order Logic
Let S be a commutative semiring. M. Droste and P. Gastin have introduced in
2005 weighted monadic second order logic WMSOL with weights in S. They use a
syntactic fragment RMSOL of WMSOL to characterize word functions (power series)
recognizable by weighted automata, where the semantics of quantifiers is used
both as arithmetical operations and, in the boolean case, as quantification.
Already in 2001, B. Courcelle, J.Makowsky and U. Rotics have introduced a
formalism for graph parameters definable in Monadic Second order Logic, here
called MSOLEVAL with values in a ring R. Their framework can be easily adapted
to semirings S. This formalism clearly separates the logical part from the
arithmetical part and also applies to word functions.
In this paper we give two proofs that RMSOL and MSOLEVAL with values in S
have the same expressive power over words. One proof shows directly that
MSOLEVAL captures the functions recognizable by weighted automata. The other
proof shows how to translate the formalisms from one into the other.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2013, arXiv:1307.416
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
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