515 research outputs found
Model Checking Probabilistic Pushdown Automata
We consider the model checking problem for probabilistic pushdown automata
(pPDA) and properties expressible in various probabilistic logics. We start
with properties that can be formulated as instances of a generalized random
walk problem. We prove that both qualitative and quantitative model checking
for this class of properties and pPDA is decidable. Then we show that model
checking for the qualitative fragment of the logic PCTL and pPDA is also
decidable. Moreover, we develop an error-tolerant model checking algorithm for
PCTL and the subclass of stateless pPDA. Finally, we consider the class of
omega-regular properties and show that both qualitative and quantitative model
checking for pPDA is decidable
On Measuring Non-Recursive Trade-Offs
We investigate the phenomenon of non-recursive trade-offs between
descriptional systems in an abstract fashion. We aim at categorizing
non-recursive trade-offs by bounds on their growth rate, and show how to deduce
such bounds in general. We also identify criteria which, in the spirit of
abstract language theory, allow us to deduce non-recursive tradeoffs from
effective closure properties of language families on the one hand, and
differences in the decidability status of basic decision problems on the other.
We develop a qualitative classification of non-recursive trade-offs in order to
obtain a better understanding of this very fundamental behaviour of
descriptional systems
Computation with narrow CTCs
We examine some variants of computation with closed timelike curves (CTCs),
where various restrictions are imposed on the memory of the computer, and the
information carrying capacity and range of the CTC. We give full
characterizations of the classes of languages recognized by polynomial time
probabilistic and quantum computers that can send a single classical bit to
their own past. Such narrow CTCs are demonstrated to add the power of limited
nondeterminism to deterministic computers, and lead to exponential speedup in
constant-space probabilistic and quantum computation. We show that, given a
time machine with constant negative delay, one can implement CTC-based
computations without the need to know about the runtime beforehand.Comment: 16 pages. A few typo was correcte
Approximating Petri Net Reachability Along Context-free Traces
We investigate the problem asking whether the intersection of a context-free
language (CFL) and a Petri net language (PNL) is empty. Our contribution to
solve this long-standing problem which relates, for instance, to the
reachability analysis of recursive programs over unbounded data domain, is to
identify a class of CFLs called the finite-index CFLs for which the problem is
decidable. The k-index approximation of a CFL can be obtained by discarding all
the words that cannot be derived within a budget k on the number of occurrences
of non-terminals. A finite-index CFL is thus a CFL which coincides with its
k-index approximation for some k. We decide whether the intersection of a
finite-index CFL and a PNL is empty by reducing it to the reachability problem
of Petri nets with weak inhibitor arcs, a class of systems with infinitely many
states for which reachability is known to be decidable. Conversely, we show
that the reachability problem for a Petri net with weak inhibitor arcs reduces
to the emptiness problem of a finite-index CFL intersected with a PNL.Comment: 16 page
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