Weak MSO: Automata and Expressiveness Modulo Bisimilarity

We prove that the bisimulation-invariant fragment of weak monadic second-order logic (WMSO) is equivalent to the fragment of the modal $\mu$-calculus where the application of the least fixpoint operator $\mu p.\varphi$ is restricted to formulas $\varphi$ that are continuous in $p$. Our proof is automata-theoretic in nature; in particular, we introduce a class of automata characterizing the expressive power of WMSO over tree models of arbitrary branching degree. The transition map of these automata is defined in terms of a logic $\mathrm{FOE}_1^\infty$ that is the extension of first-order logic with a generalized quantifier $\exists^\infty$, where $\exists^\infty x. \phi$ means that there are infinitely many objects satisfying $\phi$. An important part of our work consists of a model-theoretic analysis of $\mathrm{FOE}_1^\infty$.Comment: Technical Report, 57 page

Moss' logic for ordered coalgebras

We present a finitary coalgebraic logic for $T$-coalgebras, where $T$ is a locally monotone endofunctor of the category of posets and monotone maps that preserves exact squares and finite intersections. The logic uses a single cover modality whose arity is given by the dual of the coalgebra functor $T$, and the semantics of the modality is given by relation lifting. For the finitary setting to work, we need to develop a notion of a base for subobjects of $TX$. This in particular allows us to talk about a finite poset of subformulas for a given formula, and of a finite poset of successors for a given state in a coalgebra. The notion of a base is introduced generally for a category equipped with a suitable factorisation system. We prove that the resulting logic has the Hennessy-Milner property for the notion of similarity based on the notion of relation lifting. We define a sequent proof system for the logic and prove its completeness

The Power of the Weak

A landmark result in the study of logics for formal verification is Janin and Walukiewicz’s theorem, stating that the modal μ-calculus (μML) is equivalent modulo bisimilarity to standard monadic second-order logic (here abbreviated as SMSO) over the class of labelled transition systems (LTSs for short). Our work proves two results of the same kind, one for the alternation-free or noetherian fragment μNML of μML on the modal side and one for WMSO, weak monadic second-order logic, on the second-order side. In the setting of binary trees, with explicit functions accessing the left and right successor of a node, it was known that WMSO is equivalent to the appropriate version of alternation-free μ-calculus. Our analysis shows that the picture changes radically once we consider, as Janin and Walukiewicz did, the standard modal μ-calculus, interpreted over arbitrary LTSs. The first theorem that we prove is that, over LTSs, μNML is equivalent modulo bisimilarity to noetherian MSO (NMSO), a newly introduced variant of SMSO where second-order quantification ranges over “conversely well-founded” subsets only. Our second theorem starts from WMSO and proves it equivalent modulo bisimilarity to a fragment of μNML defined by a notion of continuity. Analogously to Janin and Walukiewicz’s result, our proofs are automata-theoretic in nature: As another contribution, we introduce classes of parity automata characterising the expressiveness of WMSO and NMSO (on tree models) and of μCML and μNML (for all transition systems)

Generalised powerlocales via relation lifting

This paper introduces an endofunctor VT on the category of frames that is parametrised by an endofunctor T on the category Set that satisfies certain constraints. This generalises Johnstone's construction of the Vietoris powerlocale in the sense that his construction is obtained by taking for T the finite covariant power set functor. Our construction of the T-powerlocale VT out of a frame is based on ideas from coalgebraic logic and makes explicit the connection between the Vietoris construction and Moss's coalgebraic cover modality.We show how to extend certain natural transformations between set functors to natural transformations between T-powerlocale functors. Finally, we prove that the operation VT preserves some properties of frames, such as regularity, zero-dimensionality and the combination of zero-dimensionality and compactness.</jats:p

Moss' logic for ordered coalgebras

We present a finitary version of Moss' coalgebraic logic for $T$-coalgebras, where $T$ is a locally monotone endofunctor of the category of posets and monotone maps. The logic uses a single cover modality whose arity is given by the least finitary subfunctor of the dual of the coalgebra functor $T_\omega^\partial$, and the semantics of the modality is given by relation lifting. For the semantics to work, $T$ is required to preserve exact squares. For the finitary setting to work, $T_\omega^\partial$ is required to preserve finite intersections. We develop a notion of a base for subobjects of $T_\omega X$. This in particular allows us to talk about the finite poset of subformulas for a given formula. The notion of a base is introduced generally for a category equipped with a suitable factorisation system. We prove that the resulting logic has the Hennessy-Milner property for the notion of similarity based on the notion of relation lifting. We define a sequent proof system for the logic, and prove its completeness