On Languages Accepted by P/T Systems Composed of joins

Recently, some studies linked the computational power of abstract computing systems based on multiset rewriting to models of Petri nets and the computation power of these nets to their topology. In turn, the computational power of these abstract computing devices can be understood by just looking at their topology, that is, information flow. Here we continue this line of research introducing J languages and proving that they can be accepted by place/transition systems whose underlying net is composed only of joins. Moreover, we investigate how J languages relate to other families of formal languages. In particular, we show that every J language can be accepted by a log n space-bounded non-deterministic Turing machine with a one-way read-only input. We also show that every J language has a semilinear Parikh map and that J languages and context-free languages (CFLs) are incomparable

Non-polynomial Worst-Case Analysis of Recursive Programs

We study the problem of developing efficient approaches for proving worst-case bounds of non-deterministic recursive programs. Ranking functions are sound and complete for proving termination and worst-case bounds of nonrecursive programs. First, we apply ranking functions to recursion, resulting in measure functions. We show that measure functions provide a sound and complete approach to prove worst-case bounds of non-deterministic recursive programs. Our second contribution is the synthesis of measure functions in nonpolynomial forms. We show that non-polynomial measure functions with logarithm and exponentiation can be synthesized through abstraction of logarithmic or exponentiation terms, Farkas' Lemma, and Handelman's Theorem using linear programming. While previous methods obtain worst-case polynomial bounds, our approach can synthesize bounds of the form $\mathcal{O}(n\log n)$ as well as $\mathcal{O}(n^r)$ where $r$ is not an integer. We present experimental results to demonstrate that our approach can obtain efficiently worst-case bounds of classical recursive algorithms such as (i) Merge-Sort, the divide-and-conquer algorithm for the Closest-Pair problem, where we obtain $\mathcal{O}(n \log n)$ worst-case bound, and (ii) Karatsuba's algorithm for polynomial multiplication and Strassen's algorithm for matrix multiplication, where we obtain $\mathcal{O}(n^r)$ bound such that $r$ is not an integer and close to the best-known bounds for the respective algorithms.Comment: 54 Pages, Full Version to CAV 201

An Upper Bound on the Complexity of Recognizable Tree Languages

The third author noticed in his 1992 PhD Thesis [Sim92] that every regular tree language of infinite trees is in a class $\Game (D\_n({\bf\Sigma}^0\_2))$ for some natural number $n\geq 1$, where $\Game$ is the game quantifier. We first give a detailed exposition of this result. Next, using an embedding of the Wadge hierarchy of non self-dual Borel subsets of the Cantor space $2^\omega$ into the class ${\bf\Delta}^1\_2$, and the notions of Wadge degree and Veblen function, we argue that this upper bound on the topological complexity of regular tree languages is much better than the usual ${\bf\Delta}^1\_2$

On interpretations of bounded arithmetic and bounded set theory

In a recent paper, Kaye and Wong proved the following result, which they considered to belong to the folklore of mathematical logic. THEOREM: The first-order theories of Peano arithmetic and ZF with the axiom of infinity negated are bi-interpretable: that is, they are mutually interpretable with interpretations that are inverse to each other. In this note, I describe a theory of sets that stands in the same relation to the bounded arithmetic IDelta0 + exp. Because of the weakness of this theory of sets, I cannot straightforwardly adapt Kaye and Wong's interpretation of arithmetic in set theory. Instead, I am forced to produce a different interpretation.Comment: 12 pages; section on omega-models removed due to error; references added and typos correcte

Axioms and Decidability for Type Isomorphism in the Presence of Sums

We consider the problem of characterizing isomorphisms of types, or, equivalently, constructive cardinality of sets, in the simultaneous presence of disjoint unions, Cartesian products, and exponentials. Mostly relying on results about polynomials with exponentiation that have not been used in our context, we derive: that the usual finite axiomatization known as High-School Identities (HSI) is complete for a significant subclass of types; that it is decidable for that subclass when two types are isomorphic; that, for the whole of the set of types, a recursive extension of the axioms of HSI exists that is complete; and that, for the whole of the set of types, the question as to whether two types are isomorphic is decidable when base types are to be interpreted as finite sets. We also point out certain related open problems

Topological Complexity of omega-Powers : Extended Abstract

This is an extended abstract presenting new results on the topological complexity of omega-powers (which are included in a paper "Classical and effective descriptive complexities of omega-powers" available from arXiv:0708.4176) and reflecting also some open questions which were discussed during the Dagstuhl seminar on "Topological and Game-Theoretic Aspects of Infinite Computations" 29.06.08 - 04.07.08