Computing with cells: membrane systems - some complexity issues.

Membrane computing is a branch of natural computing which abstracts computing models from the structure and the functioning of the living cell. The main ingredients of membrane systems, called P systems, are (i) the membrane structure, which consists of a hierarchical arrangements of membranes which delimit compartments where (ii) multisets of symbols, called objects, evolve according to (iii) sets of rules which are localised and associated with compartments. By using the rules in a nondeterministic/deterministic maximally parallel manner, transitions between the system configurations can be obtained. A sequence of transitions is a computation of how the system is evolving. Various ways of controlling the transfer of objects from one membrane to another and applying the rules, as well as possibilities to dissolve, divide or create membranes have been studied. Membrane systems have a great potential for implementing massively concurrent systems in an efficient way that would allow us to solve currently intractable problems once future biotechnology gives way to a practical bio-realization. In this paper we survey some interesting and fundamental complexity issues such as universality vs. nonuniversality, determinism vs. nondeterminism, membrane and alphabet size hierarchies, characterizations of context-sensitive languages and other language classes and various notions of parallelism

Beyond Generalized Multiplicities: Register Machines over Groups

Register machines are a classic model of computing, often seen as a canonical example of a device manipulating natural numbers. In this paper, we de ne register machines operating on general groups instead. This generalization follows the research direction started in multiple previous works. We study the expressive power of register machines as a function of the underlying groups, as well as of allowed ingredients (zero test, partial blindness, forbidden regions). We put forward a fundamental connection between register machines and vector addition systems. Finally, we show how registers over free groups can be used to store and manipulate strings

On the Syntax of Logic and Set Theory

We introduce an extension of the propositional calculus to include abstracts of predicates and quantifiers, employing a single rule along with a novel comprehension schema and a principle of extensionality, which are substituted for the Bernays postulates for quantifiers and the comprehension schemata of ZF and other set theories. We prove that it is consistent in any finite Boolean subset lattice. We investigate the antinomies of Russell, Cantor, Burali-Forti, and others, and discuss the relationship of the system to other set theoretic systems ZF, NBG, and NF. We discuss two methods of axiomatizing higher order quantification and abstraction, and then very briefly discuss the application of one of these methods to areas of mathematics outside of logic.Comment: 34 pages, accepted, to appear in the Review of Symbolic Logi

Graph Subsumption in Abstract State Space Exploration

In this paper we present the extension of an existing method for abstract graph-based state space exploration, called neighbourhood abstraction, with a reduction technique based on subsumption. Basically, one abstract state subsumes another when it covers more concrete states; in such a case, the subsumed state need not be included in the state space, thus giving a reduction. We explain the theory and especially also report on a number of experiments, which show that subsumption indeed drastically reduces both the state space and the resources (time and memory) needed to compute it.Comment: In Proceedings GRAPHITE 2012, arXiv:1210.611

Branching rules of semi-simple Lie algebras using affine extensions

We present a closed formula for the branching coefficients of an embedding p in g of two finite-dimensional semi-simple Lie algebras. The formula is based on the untwisted affine extension of p. It leads to an alternative proof of a simple algorithm for the computation of branching rules which is an analog of the Racah-Speiser algorithm for tensor products. We present some simple applications and describe how integral representations for branching coefficients can be obtained. In the last part we comment on the relation of our approach to the theory of NIM-reps of the fusion rings of WZW models with chiral algebra g_k. In fact, it turns out that for these models each embedding p in g induces a NIM-rep at level k to infinity. In cases where these NIM-reps can be be extended to finite level, we obtain a Verlinde-like formula for branching coefficients.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, v2: one reference added, v3: Clarified proof of Theorem 2, completely rewrote and extended Section 5 (relation to CFT), added various references. Accepted for publication in J. Phys.

Complexity of Simulating R Systems by P Systems

We show multiple ways to simulate R systems by non-cooperative P systems with atomic control by promoters and/or inhibitors, or with matter-antimatter annihi- lation rules, with a slowdown by a factor of constant. The descriptional complexity is also linear with respect to that of simulated R system. All these constants depend on how general the model of R systems is, as well as on the chosen control ingredients of P systems. Special attention is paid to the di erences in the mode of rule application in these models

Real Separated Algebraic Curves, Quadrature Domains, Ahlfors Type Functions and Operator Theory

The aim of this paper is to inter-relate several algebraic and analytic objects, such as real-type algebraic curves, quadrature domains, functions on them and rational matrix functions with special properties, and some objects from Operator Theory, such as vector Toeplitz operators and subnormal operators. Our tools come from operator theory, but some of our results have purely algebraic formulation. We make use of Xia's theory of subnormal operators and of the previous results by the author in this direction. We also correct (in Section 5) some inaccuracies in two papers by the author in Revista Matematica Iberoamericana (1998).Comment: 43 pages, 2 figures; zip archiv