Satisfiability Games for Branching-Time Logics

The satisfiability problem for branching-time temporal logics like CTL*, CTL and CTL+ has important applications in program specification and verification. Their computational complexities are known: CTL* and CTL+ are complete for doubly exponential time, CTL is complete for single exponential time. Some decision procedures for these logics are known; they use tree automata, tableaux or axiom systems. In this paper we present a uniform game-theoretic framework for the satisfiability problem of these branching-time temporal logics. We define satisfiability games for the full branching-time temporal logic CTL* using a high-level definition of winning condition that captures the essence of well-foundedness of least fixpoint unfoldings. These winning conditions form formal languages of \omega-words. We analyse which kinds of deterministic {\omega}-automata are needed in which case in order to recognise these languages. We then obtain a reduction to the problem of solving parity or B\"uchi games. The worst-case complexity of the obtained algorithms matches the known lower bounds for these logics. This approach provides a uniform, yet complexity-theoretically optimal treatment of satisfiability for branching-time temporal logics. It separates the use of temporal logic machinery from the use of automata thus preserving a syntactical relationship between the input formula and the object that represents satisfiability, i.e. a winning strategy in a parity or B\"uchi game. The games presented here work on a Fischer-Ladner closure of the input formula only. Last but not least, the games presented here come with an attempt at providing tool support for the satisfiability problem of complex branching-time logics like CTL* and CTL+

An Abstract Tableau Calculus for the Description Logic SHOI Using UnrestrictedBlocking and Rewriting

Abstract This paper presents an abstract tableau calculus for the description logic SHOI. SHOI is the extension of ALC with singleton concepts, role inverse, transitive roles and role inclusion axioms. The presented tableau calculus is inspired by a recently introduced tableau synthesis framework. Termination is achieved by a variation of the unrestricted blocking mechanism that immediately rewrites terms with respect to the conjectured equalities. This approach leads to reduced search space for decision procedures based on the calculus. We also discuss restrictions of the application of the blocking rule by means of additional side conditions and/or additional premises.

Type-elimination-based reasoning for the description logic SHIQbs using decision diagrams and disjunctive datalog

We propose a novel, type-elimination-based method for reasoning in the description logic SHIQbs including DL-safe rules. To this end, we first establish a knowledge compilation method converting the terminological part of an ALCIb knowledge base into an ordered binary decision diagram (OBDD) which represents a canonical model. This OBDD can in turn be transformed into disjunctive Datalog and merged with the assertional part of the knowledge base in order to perform combined reasoning. In order to leverage our technique for full SHIQbs, we provide a stepwise reduction from SHIQbs to ALCIb that preserves satisfiability and entailment of positive and negative ground facts. The proposed technique is shown to be worst case optimal w.r.t. combined and data complexity and easily admits extensions with ground conjunctive queries.Comment: 38 pages, 3 figures, camera ready version of paper accepted for publication in Logical Methods in Computer Scienc

Permutation Games for the Weakly Aconjunctive μ\mu-Calculus

We introduce a natural notion of limit-deterministic parity automata and present a method that uses such automata to construct satisfiability games for the weakly aconjunctive fragment of the $\mu$-calculus. To this end we devise a method that determinizes limit-deterministic parity automata of size $n$ with $k$ priorities through limit-deterministic B\"uchi automata to deterministic parity automata of size $\mathcal{O}((nk)!)$ and with $\mathcal{O}(nk)$ priorities. The construction relies on limit-determinism to avoid the full complexity of the Safra/Piterman-construction by using partial permutations of states in place of Safra-Trees. By showing that limit-deterministic parity automata can be used to recognize unsuccessful branches in pre-tableaux for the weakly aconjunctive $\mu$-calculus, we obtain satisfiability games of size $\mathcal{O}((nk)!)$ with $\mathcal{O}(nk)$ priorities for weakly aconjunctive input formulas of size $n$ and alternation-depth $k$. A prototypical implementation that employs a tableau-based global caching algorithm to solve these games on-the-fly shows promising initial results