Local Model-Checking of Modal Mu-Calculus on Acyclic Labeled Transition Systems

Model-checking is a popular technique for verifying finite-state concurrent systems, the behaviour of which can be modeled using Labeled Transition Systems (Ltss). In this report, we study the model-checking problem for the modal mu-calculus on acyclic Ltss. This has various applications of practical interest such as trace analysis, log information auditing, run-time monitoring, etc. We show that on acyclic Ltss, the full mu-calculus has the same expressive power as its alternation-free fragment. We also present two new algorithms for local model-checking of mu-calculus formulas on acyclic Ltss. Our algorithms are based upon a translation to boolean equation systems and exhibit a better performance than existing model-checking algorithms applied to acyclic Ltss. The first algorithm handles mu-calculus formulas phi with alternation depth ad (phi) greater or equal than 2 and has time complexity O (|phi|^2 * (|S|+|T|)) and space complexity O (|phi|^2 * |S|), where |S| and |T| are the number of states and transitions of the acyclic Lts and |phi| is the number of operators in phi. The second algorithm handles formulas with alternation depth ad (phi) = 1 and has time complexity O (|phi| * (|S|+|T|)) and space complexity O (|phi| * |S|)

The \mu-Calculus Alternation Hierarchy Collapses over Structures with Restricted Connectivity

It is known that the alternation hierarchy of least and greatest fixpoint operators in the mu-calculus is strict. However, the strictness of the alternation hierarchy does not necessarily carry over when considering restricted classes of structures. A prominent instance is the class of infinite words over which the alternation-free fragment is already as expressive as the full mu-calculus. Our current understanding of when and why the mu-calculus alternation hierarchy is not strict is limited. This paper makes progress in answering these questions by showing that the alternation hierarchy of the mu-calculus collapses to the alternation-free fragment over some classes of structures, including infinite nested words and finite graphs with feedback vertex sets of a bounded size. Common to these classes is that the connectivity between the components in a structure from such a class is restricted in the sense that the removal of certain vertices from the structure's graph decomposes it into graphs in which all paths are of finite length. Our collapse results are obtained in an automata-theoretic setting. They subsume, generalize, and strengthen several prior results on the expressivity of the mu-calculus over restricted classes of structures.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2012, arXiv:1210.202

Modal µ-Calculus, Model Checking and Gauß Elimination

In this paper we present a novel approach for solving Boolean equation systems with nested minimal and maximal fixpoints. The method works by successively eliminating variables and reducing a Boolean equation system similar to Gauß elimination for linear equation systems. It does not require backtracking techniques. Within one framework we suggest a global and a local algorithm. In the context of model checking in the modal-calculus the local algorithm is related to the tableau methods, but has a better worst case complexity

Logics for Unranked Trees: An Overview

Labeled unranked trees are used as a model of XML documents, and logical languages for them have been studied actively over the past several years. Such logics have different purposes: some are better suited for extracting data, some for expressing navigational properties, and some make it easy to relate complex properties of trees to the existence of tree automata for those properties. Furthermore, logics differ significantly in their model-checking properties, their automata models, and their behavior on ordered and unordered trees. In this paper we present a survey of logics for unranked trees

Enriched MU-Calculi Module Checking

The model checking problem for open systems has been intensively studied in the literature, for both finite-state (module checking) and infinite-state (pushdown module checking) systems, with respect to Ctl and Ctl*. In this paper, we further investigate this problem with respect to the \mu-calculus enriched with nominals and graded modalities (hybrid graded Mu-calculus), in both the finite-state and infinite-state settings. Using an automata-theoretic approach, we show that hybrid graded \mu-calculus module checking is solvable in exponential time, while hybrid graded \mu-calculus pushdown module checking is solvable in double-exponential time. These results are also tight since they match the known lower bounds for Ctl. We also investigate the module checking problem with respect to the hybrid graded \mu-calculus enriched with inverse programs (Fully enriched \mu-calculus): by showing a reduction from the domino problem, we show its undecidability. We conclude with a short overview of the model checking problem for the Fully enriched Mu-calculus and the fragments obtained by dropping at least one of the additional constructs

Obtaining Memory-Efficient Solutions to Boolean Equation Systems

AbstractThis paper is concerned with memory-efficient solution techniques for Boolean fixed-point equations. We show how certain structures of fixed-point equation systems, often encountered in solving verification problems, can be exploited in order to substantially improve the performance of fixed-point computations. Also, we investigate the space complexity of the problem of solving Boolean equation systems, showing a NL-hardness result. A prototype of the proposed technique has been implemented and experimental results on a series of protocol verification benchmarks are reported

Structural Refinement for the Modal nu-Calculus

We introduce a new notion of structural refinement, a sound abstraction of logical implication, for the modal nu-calculus. Using new translations between the modal nu-calculus and disjunctive modal transition systems, we show that these two specification formalisms are structurally equivalent. Using our translations, we also transfer the structural operations of composition and quotient from disjunctive modal transition systems to the modal nu-calculus. This shows that the modal nu-calculus supports composition and decomposition of specifications.Comment: Accepted at ICTAC 201