A Simple Logic of Functional Dependence

This paper presents a simple decidable logic of functional dependence LFD, based on an extension of classical propositional logic with dependence atoms plus dependence quantifiers treated as modalities, within the setting of generalized assignment semantics for first order logic. The expressive strength, complete proof calculus and meta-properties of LFD are explored. Various language extensions are presented as well, up to undecidable modal-style logics for independence and dynamic logics of changing dependence models. Finally, more concrete settings for dependence are discussed: continuous dependence in topological models, linear dependence in vector spaces, and temporal dependence in dynamical systems and games.Comment: 56 pages. Journal of Philosophical Logic (2021

On Systems of Equations over Free Partially Commutative Groups

Version 2: Corrected Section 3.3: instead of lexicographical normal forms we now use a normal form due to V. Diekert and A. Muscholl. Consequent changes made and some misprints corrected. Using an analogue of Makanin-Razborov diagrams, we give an effective description of the solution set of systems of equations over a partially commutative group (right-angled Artin group) $G$. Equivalently, we give a parametrisation of $Hom(H, G)$, where $H$ is a finitely generated group.Comment: 117 pages, 22 figure

Implicit function theorem over free groups

We introduce the notion of a regular quadratic equation and a regular NTQ system over a free group. We prove the results that can be described as Implicit function theorems for algebraic varieties corresponding to regular quadratic and NTQ systems. We will also show that the Implicit function theorem is true only for these varieties. In algebraic geometry such results would be described as lifting solutions of equations into generic points. From the model theoretic view-point we claim the existence of simple Skolem functions for particular $\forall\exists$-formulas over free groups. Proving these theorems we describe in details a new version of the Makanin-Razborov process for solving equations in free groups. We also prove a weak version of the Implicit function theorem for NTQ systems which is one of the key results in the solution of the Tarski's problems about the elementary theory of a free group.Comment: 144 pages, 16 figure

Sequent calculus proof systems for inductive definitions

Inductive definitions are the most natural means by which to represent many families of structures occurring in mathematics and computer science, and their corresponding induction / recursion principles provide the fundamental proof techniques by which to reason about such families. This thesis studies formal proof systems for inductive definitions, as needed, e.g., for inductive proof support in automated theorem proving tools. The systems are formulated as sequent calculi for classical first-order logic extended with a framework for (mutual) inductive definitions. The default approach to reasoning with inductive definitions is to formulate the induction principles of the inductively defined relations as suitable inference rules or axioms, which are incorporated into the reasoning framework of choice. Our first system LKID adopts this direct approach to inductive proof, with the induction rules formulated as rules for introducing atomic formulas involving inductively defined predicates on the left of sequents. We show this system to be sound and cut-free complete with respect to a natural class of Henkin models. As a corollary, we obtain cut-admissibility for LKID. The well-known method of infinite descent `a la Fermat, which exploits the fact that there are no infinite descending chains of elements of well-ordered sets, provides an alternative approach to reasoning with inductively defined relations. Our second proof system LKIDw formalises this approach. In this system, the left-introduction rules for formulas involving inductively defined predicates are not induction rules but simple case distinction rules, and an infinitary, global soundness condition on proof trees — formulated in terms of “traces” on infinite paths in the tree — is required to ensure soundness. This condition essentially ensures that, for every infinite branch in the proof, there is an inductive definition that is unfolded infinitely often along the branch. By an infinite descent argument based upon the well-foundedness of inductive definitions, the infinite branches of the proof can thus be disregarded, whence the remaining portion of proof is well-founded and hence sound. We show this system to be cutfree complete with respect to standard models, and again infer the admissibility of cut. The infinitary system LKIDw is unsuitable for formal reasoning. However, it has a natural restriction to proofs given by regular trees, i.e. to those proofs representable by finite graphs. This restricted “cyclic” proof system, CLKIDw, is suitable for formal reasoning since proofs have finite representations and the soundness condition on proofs is thus decidable. We show how the formulation of our systems LKIDw and CLKIDw can be generalised to obtain soundness conditions for a general class of infinite proof systems and their corresponding cyclic restrictions. We provide machinery for manipulating and analysing the structure of proofs in these essentially arbitrary cyclic systems, based primarily on viewing them as generating regular infinite trees, and we show that any proof can be converted into an equivalent proof with a restricted cycle structure. For proofs in this “cycle normal form”, a finitary, localised soundness condition exists that is strictly stronger than the general, infinitary soundness condition, but provides more explicit information about the proof. Finally, returning to the specific setting of our systems for inductive definitions, we show that any LKID proof can be transformed into a CLKIDw proof (that, in fact, satisfies the finitary soundness condition). We conjecture that the two systems are in fact equivalent, i.e. that proof by induction is equivalent to regular proof by infinite descent

Homogeneity and omega-categoricity of semigroups

In this thesis we study problems in the theory of semigroups which arise from model theoretic notions. Our focus will be on omega-categoricity and homogeneity of semigroups, a common feature of both of these properties being symmetricity. A structure is homogeneous if every local symmetry can be extended to a global symmetry, and as such it will have a rich automorphism group. On the other hand, the Ryll-Nardzewski Theorem dictates that omega-categorical structures have oligomorphic automorphism groups. Numerous authors have investigated the homogeneity and omega-categoricity of algebras including groups, rings, and of relational structures such as graphs and posets. The central aim of this thesis is to forge a new path through the model theory of semigroups. The main body of this thesis is split into two parts. The first is an exploration into omega-categoricity of semigroups. We follow the usual semigroup theoretic method of analysing Green's relations on an omega-categorical semigroup, and prove a finiteness condition on their classes. This work motivates a generalization of characteristic subsemigroups, and subsemigroups of this form are shown to inherit omega-categoricity. We also explore methods for building omega-categorical semigroups from given omega-categorical structures. In the second part we study the homogeneity of certain classes of semigroups, with an emphasis on completely regular semigroups. A complete description of all homogeneous bands is achieved, which shows them to be regular bands with homogeneous structure semilattices. We also obtain a partial classification of homogeneous inverse semigroups. A complete description can be given in a number of cases, including inverse semigroups with finite maximal subgroups, and periodic commutative inverse semigroups. These results extend the classification of homogeneous semilattices by Droste, Truss, and Kuske. We pose a number of open problems, that we believe will open up a rich subsequent stream of research