420 research outputs found
H*-algebras and nonunital Frobenius algebras: first steps in infinite-dimensional categorical quantum mechanics
A certain class of Frobenius algebras has been used to characterize
orthonormal bases and observables on finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. The
presence of units in these algebras means that they can only be realized
finite-dimensionally. We seek a suitable generalization, which will allow
arbitrary bases and observables to be described within categorical
axiomatizations of quantum mechanics. We develop a definition of H*-algebra
that can be interpreted in any symmetric monoidal dagger category, reduces to
the classical notion from functional analysis in the category of (possibly
infinite-dimensional) Hilbert spaces, and hence provides a categorical way to
speak about orthonormal bases and quantum observables in arbitrary dimension.
Moreover, these algebras reduce to the usual notion of Frobenius algebra in
compact categories. We then investigate the relations between nonunital
Frobenius algebras and H*-algebras. We give a number of equivalent conditions
to characterize when they coincide in the category of Hilbert spaces. We also
show that they always coincide in categories of generalized relations and
positive matrices.Comment: 29 pages. Final versio
On the Use of Underspecified Data-Type Semantics for Type Safety in Low-Level Code
In recent projects on operating-system verification, C and C++ data types are
often formalized using a semantics that does not fully specify the precise byte
encoding of objects. It is well-known that such an underspecified data-type
semantics can be used to detect certain kinds of type errors. In general,
however, underspecified data-type semantics are unsound: they assign
well-defined meaning to programs that have undefined behavior according to the
C and C++ language standards.
A precise characterization of the type-correctness properties that can be
enforced with underspecified data-type semantics is still missing. In this
paper, we identify strengths and weaknesses of underspecified data-type
semantics for ensuring type safety of low-level systems code. We prove
sufficient conditions to detect certain classes of type errors and, finally,
identify a trade-off between the complexity of underspecified data-type
semantics and their type-checking capabilities.Comment: In Proceedings SSV 2012, arXiv:1211.587
Permission-Based Separation Logic for Multithreaded Java Programs
This paper presents a program logic for reasoning about multithreaded
Java-like programs with dynamic thread creation, thread joining and reentrant
object monitors. The logic is based on concurrent separation logic. It is the
first detailed adaptation of concurrent separation logic to a multithreaded
Java-like language. The program logic associates a unique static access
permission with each heap location, ensuring exclusive write accesses and
ruling out data races. Concurrent reads are supported through fractional
permissions. Permissions can be transferred between threads upon thread
starting, thread joining, initial monitor entrancies and final monitor exits.
In order to distinguish between initial monitor entrancies and monitor
reentrancies, auxiliary variables keep track of multisets of currently held
monitors. Data abstraction and behavioral subtyping are facilitated through
abstract predicates, which are also used to represent monitor invariants,
preconditions for thread starting and postconditions for thread joining.
Value-parametrized types allow to conveniently capture common strong global
invariants, like static object ownership relations. The program logic is
presented for a model language with Java-like classes and interfaces, the
soundness of the program logic is proven, and a number of illustrative examples
are presented
Tracing the Biological Roots of Knowledge
The essay is a critical review of three possible approaches in the theory of knowledge while tracing the biological roots of knowledge: empiricist, rationalist and developmentalist approaches.
Piaget's genetic epistemology, a developmentalist approach, is one of the first comprehensive
treatments on the question of tracing biological roots of knowledge. This developmental approach is
currently opposed, without questioning the biological roots of knowledge, by the more popular
rationalist approach, championed by Chomsky. Developmental approaches are generally coherent
with cybernetic models, of which the theory of autopoiesis proposed by Maturana and Varela made
a significant theoretical move in proposing an intimate connection between metabolism and
knowledge. Modular architecture is currently considered more or less an undisputable model for
both biology as well as cognitive science. By suggesting that modulation of modules is possible by
motor coordination, a proposal is made to account for higher forms of conscious cognition within
the four distinguishable layers of the human mind. Towards the end, the problem of life and
cognition is discussed in the context of the evolution of complex cognitive systems, suggesting the
unique access of phylogeny during the ontogeny of human beings as a very special case, and how
the problem cannot be dealt with independent of the evolution of coding systems in nature
On Parameterized Complexity of Group Activity Selection Problems on Social Networks
In Group Activity Selection Problem (GASP), players form coalitions to
participate in activities and have preferences over pairs of the form
(activity, group size). Recently, Igarashi et al. have initiated the study of
group activity selection problems on social networks (gGASP): a group of
players can engage in the same activity if the members of the group form a
connected subset of the underlying communication structure. Igarashi et al.
have primarily focused on Nash stable outcomes, and showed that many associated
algorithmic questions are computationally hard even for very simple networks.
In this paper we study the parameterized complexity of gGASP with respect to
the number of activities as well as with respect to the number of players, for
several solution concepts such as Nash stability, individual stability and core
stability. The first parameter we consider in the number of activities. For
this parameter, we propose an FPT algorithm for Nash stability for the case
where the social network is acyclic and obtain a W[1]-hardness result for
cliques (i.e., for classic GASP); similar results hold for individual
stability. In contrast, finding a core stable outcome is hard even if the
number of activities is bounded by a small constant, both for classic GASP and
when the social network is a star. Another parameter we study is the number of
players. While all solution concepts we consider become polynomial-time
computable when this parameter is bounded by a constant, we prove W[1]-hardness
results for cliques (i.e., for classic GASP).Comment: 9 pages, long version of accepted AAMAS-17 pape
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