Satisfiability of ECTL* with tree constraints

Recently, we have shown that satisfiability for $\mathsf{ECTL}^*$ with constraints over $\mathbb{Z}$ is decidable using a new technique. This approach reduces the satisfiability problem of $\mathsf{ECTL}^*$ with constraints over some structure A (or class of structures) to the problem whether A has a certain model theoretic property that we called EHD (for "existence of homomorphisms is decidable"). Here we apply this approach to concrete domains that are tree-like and obtain several results. We show that satisfiability of $\mathsf{ECTL}^*$ with constraints is decidable over (i) semi-linear orders (i.e., tree-like structures where branches form arbitrary linear orders), (ii) ordinal trees (semi-linear orders where the branches form ordinals), and (iii) infinitely branching trees of height h for each fixed $h\in \mathbb{N}$. We prove that all these classes of structures have the property EHD. In contrast, we introduce Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse-games for $\mathsf{WMSO}+\mathsf{B}$ (weak $\mathsf{MSO}$ with the bounding quantifier) and use them to show that the infinite (order) tree does not have property EHD. As a consequence, a different approach has to be taken in order to settle the question whether satisfiability of $\mathsf{ECTL}^*$ (or even $\mathsf{LTL}$) with constraints over the infinite (order) tree is decidable

On the Satisfiability of Temporal Logics with Concrete Domains

Temporal logics are a very popular family of logical languages, used to specify properties of abstracted systems. In the last few years, many extensions of temporal logics have been proposed, in order to address the need to express more than just abstract properties. In our work we study temporal logics extended by local constraints, which allow to express quantitative properties on data values from an arbitrary relational structure called the concrete domain. An example of concrete domain can be (Z, <, =), where the integers are considered as a relational structure over the binary order relation and the equality relation. Formulas of temporal logics with constraints are evaluated on data-words or data-trees, in which each node or position is labeled by a vector of data from the concrete domain. We call the constraints local because they can only compare values at a fixed distance inside such models. Several positive results regarding the satisfiability of LTL (linear temporal logic) with constraints over the integers have been established in the past years, while the corresponding results for branching time logics were only partial. In this work we prove that satisfiability of CTL* (computation tree logic) with constraints over the integers is decidable and also lift this result to ECTL*, a proper extension of CTL*. We also consider other classes of concrete domains, particularly ones that are \"tree-like\". We consider semi-linear orders, ordinal trees and trees of a fixed height, and prove decidability in this framework as well. At the same time we prove that our method cannot be applied in the case of the infinite binary tree or the infinitely branching infinite tree. We also look into extending the expressiveness of our logic adding non-local constraints, and find that this leads to undecidability of the satisfiability problem, even on very simple domains like (Z, <, =). We then find a way to restrict the power of the non-local constraints to regain decidability

Branching-time logic ECTL# and its tree-style one-pass tableau: Extending fairness expressibility of ECTL+

Temporal logic has become essential for various areas in computer science, most notably for the specification and verification of hardware and software systems. For the specification purposes rich temporal languages are required that, in particular, can express fairness constraints. For linear-time logics which deal with fairness in the linear-time setting, one-pass and two-pass tableau methods have been developed. In the repository of the CTL-type branching-time setting, the well-known logics ECTL and ECTL+ were developed to explicitly deal with fairness. However, due to the syntactical restrictions, these logics can only express restricted versions of fairness. The logic CTL⋆, often considered as ‘the full branching-time logic’ overcomes these restrictions on expressing fairness. However, CTL⋆ is extremely challenging for the application of verification techniques, and the tableau technique, in particular. For example, there is no one-pass tableau construction for CTL⋆, while one-pass tableau has an additional benefit enabling the formulation of dual sequent calculi that are often treated as more ‘natural’ being more friendly for human understanding. These two considerations lead to the following problem - are there logics that have richer expressiveness than ECTL+, allowing the formulation of a new range of fairness constraints with ‘until’ operator, yet ‘simpler’ than CTL⋆, and for which a one-pass tableau can be developed? Here we give a positive answer to this question, introducing a sub-logic of CTL⋆ called ECTL#, its tree-style one-pass tableau, and an algorithm for obtaining a systematic tableau, for any given admissible branching-time formulae. We prove the termination, soundness and completeness of the method. As tree-shaped one-pass tableaux are well suited for the automation and are amenable for the implementation and for the formulation of sequent calculi. Our results also open a prospect of relevant developments of the automation and implementation of the tableau method for ECTL#, and of a dual sequent calculi

Branching-time logic ECTL# and its tree-style one-pass tableau: Extending fairness expressibility of ECTL+

Temporal logic has become essential for various areas in computer science, most notably for the specification and verification of hardware and software systems. For the specification purposes rich temporal languages are required that, in particular, can express fairness constraints. For linear-time logics which deal with fairness in the linear-time setting, one-pass and two-pass tableau methods have been developed. In the repository of the CTL-type branching-time setting, the well-known logics ECTL and ECTL+ were developed to explicitly deal with fairness. However, due to the syntactical restrictions, these logics can only express restricted versions of fairness. The logic CTL*, often considered as ‘the full branching-time logic’ overcomes these restrictions on expressing fairness. However, CTL* is extremely challenging for the application of verification techniques, and the tableau technique, in particular. For example, there is no one-pass tableau construction for CTL*, while one-pass tableau has an additional benefit enabling the formulation of dual sequent calculi that are often treated as more ‘natural’ being more friendly for human understanding. These two considerations lead to the following problem - are there logics that have richer expressiveness than ECTL+, allowing the formulation of a new range of fairness constraints with ‘until’ operator, yet ‘simpler’ than CTL?, and for which a one-pass tableau can be developed? Here we give a positive answer to this question, introducing a sub-logic of CTL* called ECTL#, its tree-style one-pass tableau, and an algorithm for obtaining a systematic tableau, for any given admissible branching-time formulae. We prove the termination, soundness and completeness of the method. As tree-shaped one-pass tableaux are well suited for the automation and are amenable for the implementation and for the formulation of sequent calculi. Our results also open a prospect of relevant developments of the automation and implementation of the tableau method for ECTL#, and of a dual sequent calculi.Authors have been partially supported by Spanish Project TIN2017-86727-C2-2-R, and by the University of the Basque Country under Project LoRea GIU18/182

Decidability of ALCP(D) for concrete domains with the EHD-property

Reasoning for Description logics with concrete domains and w.r.t. general TBoxes easily becomes undecidable. For particular, restricted concrete domains decidablity can be regained. We introduce a novel way to integrate a concrete domain D into the well-known description logic ALC, we call the resulting logic ALCP(D). We then identify sufficient conditions on D that guarantee decidability of the satisfiability problem, even in the presence of general TBoxes. In particular, we show decidability of ALCP(D) for several domains over the integers, for which decidability was open. More generally, this result holds for all negation-closed concrete domains with the EHD-property, which stands for the existence of a homomorphism is definable. Such technique has recently been used to show decidability of CTL with local constraints over the integers

Extending fairness expressibility of ECTL+: a tree-style one-pass tableau approach

Temporal logic has become essential for various areas in computer science, most notably for the specification and verification of hardware and software systems. For the specification purposes rich temporal languages are required that, in particular, can express fairness constraints. For linear-time logics which deal with fairness in the linear-time setting, one-pass and two-pass tableau methods have been developed. In the repository of the CTL-type branching-time setting, the well-known logics ECTL and ECTL^+ were developed to explicitly deal with fairness. However, due to the syntactical restrictions, these logics can only express restricted versions of fairness. The logic CTL^*, often considered as "the full branching-time logic" overcomes these restrictions on expressing fairness. However, this logic itself, is extremely challenging for the application of verification techniques, and the tableau technique, in particular. For example, there is no one-pass tableau construction for this logic, while it is known that one-pass tableau has an additional benefit enabling the formulation of dual sequent calculi that are often treated as more "natural" being more friendly for human understanding. Based on these two considerations, the following problem arises - are there logics that have richer expressiveness than ECTL^+ yet "simpler" than CTL^* for which a one-pass tableau can be developed? In this paper we give a solution to this problem. We present a tree-style one-pass tableau for a sub-logic of CTL^* that we call ECTL^#, which is more expressive than ECTL^+ allowing the formulation of a new range of fairness constraints with "until" operator. The presentation of the tableau construction is accompanied by an algorithm for constructing a systematic tableau, for any given input of admissible branching-time formulae. We prove the termination, soundness and completeness of the method. As tree-shaped one-pass tableaux are well suited for the automation and are amenable for the implementation and for the formulation of sequent calculi, our results also open a prospect of relevant developments of the automation and implementation of the tableau method for ECTL^#, and of a dual sequent calculi