110,052 research outputs found
Splicing systems and the Chomsky hierarchy
In this paper, we prove decidability properties and new results on the
position of the family of languages generated by (circular) splicing systems
within the Chomsky hierarchy. The two main results of the paper are the
following. First, we show that it is decidable, given a circular splicing
language and a regular language, whether they are equal. Second, we prove the
language generated by an alphabetic splicing system is context-free. Alphabetic
splicing systems are a generalization of simple and semi-simple splicin systems
already considered in the literature
Quantum finite automata and linear context-free languages: a decidable problem
We consider the so-called measure once finite quantum automata model introduced by Moore and Crutchfield in 2000. We show that given a language recognized by such a device and a linear context-free language, it is recursively decidable whether or not they have a nonempty intersection. This extends a result of Blondel et al. which can be interpreted as solving the problem with the free monoid in place of the family of linear context-free languages. © 2013 Springer-Verlag
Separating Regular Languages with First-Order Logic
Given two languages, a separator is a third language that contains the first
one and is disjoint from the second one. We investigate the following decision
problem: given two regular input languages of finite words, decide whether
there exists a first-order definable separator. We prove that in order to
answer this question, sufficient information can be extracted from semigroups
recognizing the input languages, using a fixpoint computation. This yields an
EXPTIME algorithm for checking first-order separability. Moreover, the
correctness proof of this algorithm yields a stronger result, namely a
description of a possible separator. Finally, we generalize this technique to
answer the same question for regular languages of infinite words
Church-Rosser Systems, Codes with Bounded Synchronization Delay and Local Rees Extensions
What is the common link, if there is any, between Church-Rosser systems,
prefix codes with bounded synchronization delay, and local Rees extensions? The
first obvious answer is that each of these notions relates to topics of
interest for WORDS: Church-Rosser systems are certain rewriting systems over
words, codes are given by sets of words which form a basis of a free submonoid
in the free monoid of all words (over a given alphabet) and local Rees
extensions provide structural insight into regular languages over words. So, it
seems to be a legitimate title for an extended abstract presented at the
conference WORDS 2017. However, this work is more ambitious, it outlines some
less obvious but much more interesting link between these topics. This link is
based on a structure theory of finite monoids with varieties of groups and the
concept of local divisors playing a prominent role. Parts of this work appeared
in a similar form in conference proceedings where proofs and further material
can be found.Comment: Extended abstract of an invited talk given at WORDS 201
Gr\"obner methods for representations of combinatorial categories
Given a category C of a combinatorial nature, we study the following
fundamental question: how does the combinatorial behavior of C affect the
algebraic behavior of representations of C? We prove two general results. The
first gives a combinatorial criterion for representations of C to admit a
theory of Gr\"obner bases. From this, we obtain a criterion for noetherianity
of representations. The second gives a combinatorial criterion for a general
"rationality" result for Hilbert series of representations of C. This criterion
connects to the theory of formal languages, and makes essential use of results
on the generating functions of languages, such as the transfer-matrix method
and the Chomsky-Sch\"utzenberger theorem.
Our work is motivated by recent work in the literature on representations of
various specific categories. Our general criteria recover many of the results
on these categories that had been proved by ad hoc means, and often yield
cleaner proofs and stronger statements. For example: we give a new, more
robust, proof that FI-modules (originally introduced by Church-Ellenberg-Farb),
and a family of natural generalizations, are noetherian; we give an easy proof
of a generalization of the Lannes-Schwartz artinian conjecture from the study
of generic representation theory of finite fields; we significantly improve the
theory of -modules, introduced by Snowden in connection to syzygies of
Segre embeddings; and we establish fundamental properties of twisted
commutative algebras in positive characteristic.Comment: 41 pages; v2: Moved old Sections 3.4, 10, 11, 13.2 and connected text
to arxiv:1410.6054v1, Section 13.1 removed and will appear elsewhere; v3:
substantial revision and reorganization of section
Star-Free Languages are Church-Rosser Congruential
The class of Church-Rosser congruential languages has been introduced by
McNaughton, Narendran, and Otto in 1988. A language L is Church-Rosser
congruential (belongs to CRCL), if there is a finite, confluent, and
length-reducing semi-Thue system S such that L is a finite union of congruence
classes modulo S. To date, it is still open whether every regular language is
in CRCL. In this paper, we show that every star-free language is in CRCL. In
fact, we prove a stronger statement: For every star-free language L there
exists a finite, confluent, and subword-reducing semi-Thue system S such that
the total number of congruence classes modulo S is finite and such that L is a
union of congruence classes modulo S. The construction turns out to be
effective
Complexity of Problems of Commutative Grammars
We consider commutative regular and context-free grammars, or, in other
words, Parikh images of regular and context-free languages. By using linear
algebra and a branching analog of the classic Euler theorem, we show that,
under an assumption that the terminal alphabet is fixed, the membership problem
for regular grammars (given v in binary and a regular commutative grammar G,
does G generate v?) is P, and that the equivalence problem for context free
grammars (do G_1 and G_2 generate the same language?) is in
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