2,801 research outputs found
Finite-State Abstractions for Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic
Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL) is the established temporal
logic for probabilistic verification of discrete-time Markov chains. Probabilistic
model checking is a technique that verifies or refutes whether a property
specified in this logic holds in a Markov chain. But Markov chains are often
infinite or too large for this technique to apply. A standard solution to
this problem is to convert the Markov chain to an abstract model and to
model check that abstract model. The problem this thesis therefore studies
is whether or when such finite abstractions of Markov chains for model
checking PCTL exist.
This thesis makes the following contributions. We identify a sizeable fragment
of PCTL for which 3-valued Markov chains can serve as finite abstractions;
this fragment is maximal for those abstractions and subsumes many
practically relevant specifications including, e.g., reachability. We also develop
game-theoretic foundations for the semantics of PCTL over Markov
chains by capturing the standard PCTL semantics via a two-player games.
These games, finally, inspire a notion of p-automata, which accept entire
Markov chains. We show that p-automata subsume PCTL and Markov
chains; that their languages of Markov chains have pleasant closure properties;
and that the complexity of deciding acceptance matches that of probabilistic
model checking for p-automata representing PCTL formulae. In addition,
we offer a simulation between p-automata that under-approximates
language containment. These results then allow us to show that p-automata
comprise a solution to the problem studied in this thesis
On the Termination Problem for Probabilistic Higher-Order Recursive Programs
In the last two decades, there has been much progress on model checking of
both probabilistic systems and higher-order programs. In spite of the emergence
of higher-order probabilistic programming languages, not much has been done to
combine those two approaches. In this paper, we initiate a study on the
probabilistic higher-order model checking problem, by giving some first
theoretical and experimental results. As a first step towards our goal, we
introduce PHORS, a probabilistic extension of higher-order recursion schemes
(HORS), as a model of probabilistic higher-order programs. The model of PHORS
may alternatively be viewed as a higher-order extension of recursive Markov
chains. We then investigate the probabilistic termination problem -- or,
equivalently, the probabilistic reachability problem. We prove that almost sure
termination of order-2 PHORS is undecidable. We also provide a fixpoint
characterization of the termination probability of PHORS, and develop a sound
(but possibly incomplete) procedure for approximately computing the termination
probability. We have implemented the procedure for order-2 PHORSs, and
confirmed that the procedure works well through preliminary experiments that
are reported at the end of the article
Probabilistic Guarantees for Safe Deep Reinforcement Learning
Deep reinforcement learning has been successfully applied to many control
tasks, but the application of such agents in safety-critical scenarios has been
limited due to safety concerns. Rigorous testing of these controllers is
challenging, particularly when they operate in probabilistic environments due
to, for example, hardware faults or noisy sensors. We propose MOSAIC, an
algorithm for measuring the safety of deep reinforcement learning agents in
stochastic settings. Our approach is based on the iterative construction of a
formal abstraction of a controller's execution in an environment, and leverages
probabilistic model checking of Markov decision processes to produce
probabilistic guarantees on safe behaviour over a finite time horizon. It
produces bounds on the probability of safe operation of the controller for
different initial configurations and identifies regions where correct behaviour
can be guaranteed. We implement and evaluate our approach on agents trained for
several benchmark control problems
An overview of existing modeling tools making use of model checking in the analysis of biochemical networks
Model checking is a well-established technique for automaticallyverifying complex systems. Recently, model checkers have appearedin computer tools for the analysis of biochemical (and generegulatory) networks. We survey several such tools to assess thepotential of model checking in computational biology. Next, our overviewfocuses on direct applications of existing model checkers, as well ason algorithms for biochemical network analysis influenced by modelchecking, such as those using binary decision diagrams or Booleansatisfiability solvers. We conclude with advantages and drawbacks ofmodel checking for the analysis of biochemical networks
05241 Abstracts Collection -- Synthesis and Planning
From 12.06.05 to 17.06.2005 the Dagstuhl Seminar 05241 ``Synthesis and Planning\u27\u27
was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI),
Schloss Dagstuhl.
During the seminar, several participants presented their current
research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of
the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of
seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section
describes the seminar topics and goals in general.
Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available
Probabilistic modal {\mu}-calculus with independent product
The probabilistic modal {\mu}-calculus is a fixed-point logic designed for
expressing properties of probabilistic labeled transition systems (PLTS's). Two
equivalent semantics have been studied for this logic, both assigning to each
state a value in the interval [0,1] representing the probability that the
property expressed by the formula holds at the state. One semantics is
denotational and the other is a game semantics, specified in terms of
two-player stochastic parity games. A shortcoming of the probabilistic modal
{\mu}-calculus is the lack of expressiveness required to encode other important
temporal logics for PLTS's such as Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL).
To address this limitation we extend the logic with a new pair of operators:
independent product and coproduct. The resulting logic, called probabilistic
modal {\mu}-calculus with independent product, can encode many properties of
interest and subsumes the qualitative fragment of PCTL. The main contribution
of this paper is the definition of an appropriate game semantics for this
extended probabilistic {\mu}-calculus. This relies on the definition of a new
class of games which generalize standard two-player stochastic (parity) games
by allowing a play to be split into concurrent subplays, each continuing their
evolution independently. Our main technical result is the equivalence of the
two semantics. The proof is carried out in ZFC set theory extended with
Martin's Axiom at an uncountable cardinal
Quantitative reactive modeling and verification
Formal verification aims to improve the quality of software by detecting errors before they do harm. At the basis of formal verification is the logical notion of correctness, which purports to capture whether or not a program behaves as desired. We suggest that the boolean partition of software into correct and incorrect programs falls short of the practical need to assess the behavior of software in a more nuanced fashion against multiple criteria. We therefore propose to introduce quantitative fitness measures for programs, specifically for measuring the function, performance, and robustness of reactive programs such as concurrent processes. This article describes the goals of the ERC Advanced Investigator Project QUAREM. The project aims to build and evaluate a theory of quantitative fitness measures for reactive models. Such a theory must strive to obtain quantitative generalizations of the paradigms that have been success stories in qualitative reactive modeling, such as compositionality, property-preserving abstraction and abstraction refinement, model checking, and synthesis. The theory will be evaluated not only in the context of software and hardware engineering, but also in the context of systems biology. In particular, we will use the quantitative reactive models and fitness measures developed in this project for testing hypotheses about the mechanisms behind data from biological experiments
PCTL Model Checking of Markov Chains: Truth and Falsity as Winning Strategies in Games
Probabilistic model checking is a technique for verifying whether a model such as a Markov chain satisfies a probabilistic, behavioral property â e.g. âwith probability at least 0.999, a device will be elected leader. â Such properties are expressible in probabilistic temporal logics, e.g. PCTL, and efficient algorithms exist for checking whether these formulae are true or false on finite-state models. Alas, these algorithms donât supply diagnostic information for why a probabilistic property does or does not hold in a given model. We provide here complete and rigorous foundations for such diagnostics in the setting of countable labeled Markov chains and PCTL. For each model and PCTL formula, we define a game between a Verifier and a Refuter that is won by Verifier if the formula holds in the model, and won by Refuter if it doesnât hold. Games are won by exactly one player, through monotone strategies that encode the diagnostic information for truth and falsity (respectively). These games are infinite with BĂŒchi type acceptance conditions where simpler fairness conditions are shown not be to sufficient. Verifier can always force finite plays for certain PCTL formulae, suggesting the existence of finite-state abstractions of models that satisfy such formulae
To build or not to build -- A queueing-based approach to timetable independent railway junction infrastructure dimensioning
Many infrastructure managers have the goal to increase the capacity of their
railway infrastructure due to an increasing demand. While methods for
performance calculations of railway line infrastructure are already well
established, the determination of railway junction capacity remains a
challenge. This work utilizes the concept of queueing theory to develop a
method for the capacity calculation of railway junctions, solely depending on
their infrastructure layout along with arrival and service rates. The
implementation of the introduced approach is based on advanced model-checking
techniques. It can be used to decide which infrastructure layout to build, i.e.
whether an overpass for the analysed railway junction is needed. The developed
method hence addresses the need for fast and reliable timetable independent
junction evaluation in the long-term railway capacity calculation landscape.Comment: Research data has been published at doi:10.5281/zenodo.836346
- âŠ