34 research outputs found
Real-time and Probabilistic Temporal Logics: An Overview
Over the last two decades, there has been an extensive study on logical
formalisms for specifying and verifying real-time systems. Temporal logics have
been an important research subject within this direction. Although numerous
logics have been introduced for the formal specification of real-time and
complex systems, an up to date comprehensive analysis of these logics does not
exist in the literature. In this paper we analyse real-time and probabilistic
temporal logics which have been widely used in this field. We extrapolate the
notions of decidability, axiomatizability, expressiveness, model checking, etc.
for each logic analysed. We also provide a comparison of features of the
temporal logics discussed
Decisive Markov Chains
We consider qualitative and quantitative verification problems for
infinite-state Markov chains. We call a Markov chain decisive w.r.t. a given
set of target states F if it almost certainly eventually reaches either F or a
state from which F can no longer be reached. While all finite Markov chains are
trivially decisive (for every set F), this also holds for many classes of
infinite Markov chains. Infinite Markov chains which contain a finite attractor
are decisive w.r.t. every set F. In particular, this holds for probabilistic
lossy channel systems (PLCS). Furthermore, all globally coarse Markov chains
are decisive. This class includes probabilistic vector addition systems (PVASS)
and probabilistic noisy Turing machines (PNTM). We consider both safety and
liveness problems for decisive Markov chains, i.e., the probabilities that a
given set of states F is eventually reached or reached infinitely often,
respectively. 1. We express the qualitative problems in abstract terms for
decisive Markov chains, and show an almost complete picture of its decidability
for PLCS, PVASS and PNTM. 2. We also show that the path enumeration algorithm
of Iyer and Narasimha terminates for decisive Markov chains and can thus be
used to solve the approximate quantitative safety problem. A modified variant
of this algorithm solves the approximate quantitative liveness problem. 3.
Finally, we show that the exact probability of (repeatedly) reaching F cannot
be effectively expressed (in a uniform way) in Tarski-algebra for either PLCS,
PVASS or (P)NTM.Comment: 32 pages, 0 figure
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
Thin MSO with a Probabilistic Path Quantifier
This paper is about a variant of MSO on infinite trees where:
- there is a quantifier "zero probability of choosing a path pi in 2^{omega} which makes omega(pi) true";
- the monadic quantifiers range over sets with countable topological closure.
We introduce an automaton model, and show that it captures the logic
Emptiness of Zero Automata Is Decidable
Zero automata are a probabilistic extension of parity automata on infinite trees. The satisfiability of a certain probabilistic variant of MSO, called TMSO+zero, reduces to the emptiness problem for zero automata. We introduce a variant of zero automata called nonzero automata. We prove that for every zero automaton there is an equivalent nonzero automaton of quadratic size
and the emptiness problem of nonzero automata is decidable, with complexity co-NP. These results imply that TMSO+zero has decidable satisfiability
On Counting Propositional Logic and Wagner's Hierarchy
We introduce and study counting propositional logic, an extension of propositional logic with counting quantifiers. This new kind of quantification makes it possible to express that the argument formula is true in a certain portion of all possible interpretations. We show that this logic, beyond admitting a satisfactory proof-theoretical treatment, can be related to computational complexity: the complexity of the underlying decision problem perfectly matches the appropriate level of Wagner's counting hierarchy
Probabilistic Mu-Calculus: Decidability and Complete Axiomatization
We introduce a version of the probabilistic mu-calculus (PMC) built on top of a probabilistic modal logic that allows encoding n-ary inequational conditions on transition probabilities. PMC extends previously studied calculi and we prove that, despite its expressiveness, it enjoys a series of good meta-properties. Firstly, we prove the decidability of satisfiability checking by establishing the small model property. An algorithm for deciding the satisfiability problem is developed. As a second major result, we provide a complete axiomatization for the alternation-free fragment of PMC. The completeness proof is innovative in many aspects combining various techniques from topology and model theory
The Satisfiability Problem for Unbounded Fragments of Probabilistic CTL
We investigate the satisfiability and finite satisfiability problem for probabilistic computation-tree logic (PCTL) where operators are not restricted by any step bounds. We establish decidability for several fragments containing quantitative operators and pinpoint the difficulties arising in more complex fragments where the decidability remains open