Subshifts as Models for MSO Logic

We study the Monadic Second Order (MSO) Hierarchy over colourings of the discrete plane, and draw links between classes of formula and classes of subshifts. We give a characterization of existential MSO in terms of projections of tilings, and of universal sentences in terms of combinations of "pattern counting" subshifts. Conversely, we characterise logic fragments corresponding to various classes of subshifts (subshifts of finite type, sofic subshifts, all subshifts). Finally, we show by a separation result how the situation here is different from the case of tiling pictures studied earlier by Giammarresi et al.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0904.245

Subshifts as Models for MSO Logic

We study the Monadic Second Order (MSO) Hierarchy over colourings of the discrete plane, and draw links between classes of formula and classes of subshifts. We give a characterization of existential MSO in terms of projections of tilings, and of universal sentences in terms of combinations of ''pattern counting'' subshifts. Conversely, we characterise logic fragments corresponding to various classes of subshifts (subshifts of finite type, sofic subshifts, all subshifts). Finally, we show by a separation result how the situation here is different from the case of tiling pictures studied earlier by Giammarresi et al

Subshifts, MSO Logic, and Collapsing Hierarchies

We use monadic second-order logic to define two-dimensional subshifts, or sets of colorings of the infinite plane. We present a natural family of quantifier alternation hierarchies, and show that they all collapse to the third level. In particular, this solves an open problem of [Jeandel & Theyssier 2013]. The results are in stark contrast with picture languages, where such hierarchies are usually infinite.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. To appear in conference proceedings of TCS 2014, published by Springe

Structural and Computational Existence Results for Multidimensional Subshifts

Symbolic dynamics is a branch of mathematics that studies the structure of infinite sequences of symbols, or in the multidimensional case, infinite grids of symbols. Classes of such sequences and grids defined by collections of forbidden patterns are called subshifts, and subshifts of finite type are defined by finitely many forbidden patterns. The simplest examples of multidimensional subshifts are sets of Wang tilings, infinite arrangements of square tiles with colored edges, where adjacent edges must have the same color. Multidimensional symbolic dynamics has strong connections to computability theory, since most of the basic properties of subshifts cannot be recognized by computer programs, but are instead characterized by some higher-level notion of computability. This dissertation focuses on the structure of multidimensional subshifts, and the ways in which it relates to their computational properties. In the first part, we study the subpattern posets and Cantor-Bendixson ranks of countable subshifts of finite type, which can be seen as measures of their structural complexity. We show, by explicitly constructing subshifts with the desired properties, that both notions are essentially restricted only by computability conditions. In the second part of the dissertation, we study different methods of defining (classes of ) multidimensional subshifts, and how they relate to each other and existing methods. We present definitions that use monadic second-order logic, a more restricted kind of logical quantification called quantifier extension, and multi-headed finite state machines. Two of the definitions give rise to hierarchies of subshift classes, which are a priori infinite, but which we show to collapse into finitely many levels. The quantifier extension provides insight to the somewhat mysterious class of multidimensional sofic subshifts, since we prove a characterization for the class of subshifts that can extend a sofic subshift into a nonsofic one.Symbolidynamiikka on matematiikan ala, joka tutkii äärettömän pituisten symbolijonojen ominaisuuksia, tai moniulotteisessa tapauksessa äärettömän laajoja symbolihiloja. Siirtoavaruudet ovat tällaisten jonojen tai hilojen kokoelmia, jotka on määritelty kieltämällä jokin joukko äärellisen kokoisia kuvioita, ja äärellisen tyypin siirtoavaruudet saadaan kieltämällä vain äärellisen monta kuviota. Wangin tiilitykset ovat yksinkertaisin esimerkki moniulotteisista siirtoavaruuksista. Ne ovat värillisistä neliöistä muodostettuja tiilityksiä, joissa kaikkien vierekkäisten sivujen on oltava samanvärisiä. Moniulotteinen symbolidynamiikka on vahvasti yhteydessä laskettavuuden teoriaan, sillä monia siirtoavaruuksien perusominaisuuksia ei ole mahdollista tunnistaa tietokoneohjelmilla, vaan korkeamman tason laskennallisilla malleilla. Väitöskirjassani tutkin moniulotteisten siirtoavaruuksien rakennetta ja sen suhdetta niiden laskennallisiin ominaisuuksiin. Ensimmäisessä osassa keskityn tiettyihin äärellisen tyypin siirtoavaruuksien rakenteellisiin ominaisuuksiin: äärellisten kuvioiden muodostamaan järjestykseen ja Cantor-Bendixsonin astelukuun. Halutunlaisia siirtoavaruuksia rakentamalla osoitan, että molemmat ominaisuudet ovat olennaisesti laskennallisten ehtojen rajoittamia. Väitöskirjan toisessa osassa tutkin erilaisia tapoja määritellä moniulotteisia siirtoavaruuksia, sekä sitä, miten nämä tavat vertautuvat toisiinsa ja tunnettuihin siirtoavaruuksien luokkiin. Käsittelen määritelmiä, jotka perustuvat toisen kertaluvun logiikkaan, kvanttorilaajennukseksi kutsuttuun rajoitettuun loogiseen kvantifiointiin, sekä monipäisiin äärellisiin automaatteihin. Näistä kolmesta määritelmästä kahteen liittyy erilliset siirtoavaruuksien hierarkiat, joiden todistan romahtavan äärellisen korkuisiksi. Kvanttorilaajennuksen tutkimus valottaa myös niin kutsuttujen sofisten siirtoavaruuksien rakennetta, jota ei vielä tunneta hyvin: kyseisessä luvussa selvitän tarkasti, mitkä siirtoavaruudet voivat laajentaa sofisen avaruuden ei-sofiseksi.Siirretty Doriast

Domino Snake Problems on Groups

In this article we study domino snake problems on finitely generated groups. We provide general properties of these problems and introduce new tools for their study. The first is the use of symbolic dynamics to understand the set of all possible snakes. Using this approach we solve many variations of the infinite snake problem including the geodesic snake problem for certain classes of groups. Next, we introduce a notion of embedding that allows us to reduce the decidability of snake problems from one group to another. This notion enable us to establish the undecidability of the infinite snake and ouroboros problems on nilpotent groups for any generating set, given that we add a well-chosen element. Finally, we make use of monadic second order logic to prove that domino snake problems are decidable on virtually free groups for all generating sets.Comment: Accepted to FCT 2023. Comments welcome

The Domino Problem is Undecidable on Surface Groups

We show that the domino problem is undecidable on orbit graphs of non-deterministic substitutions which satisfy a technical property. As an application, we prove that the domino problem is undecidable for the fundamental group of any closed orientable surface of genus at least 2

Around the Domino Problem – Combinatorial Structures and Algebraic Tools

Given a finite set of square tiles, the domino problem is the question of whether is it possible to tile the plane using these tiles. This problem is known to be undecidable in the planar case, and is strongly linked to the question of the periodicity of the tiling. In this thesis we look at this problem in two different ways: first, we look at the particular case of low complexity tilings and second we generalize it to more general structures than the plane, groups. A tiling of the plane is said of low complexity if there are at most mn rectangles of size m × n appearing in it. Nivat conjectured in 1997 that any such tiling must be periodic, with the consequence that the domino problem would be decidable for low complexity tilings. Using algebraic tools introduced by Kari and Szabados, we prove a generalized version of Nivat’s conjecture for a particular class of tilings (a subclass of what is called of algebraic subshifts). We also manage to prove that Nivat’s conjecture holds for uniformly recurrent tilings, with the consequence that the domino problem is indeed decidable for low-complexity tilings. The domino problem can be formulated in the more general context of Cayley graphs of groups. In this thesis, we develop new techniques allowing to relate the Cayley graph of some groups with graphs of substitutions on words. A first technique allows us to show that there exists both strongly periodic and weakly-but-not-strongly aperiodic tilings of the Baumslag-Solitar groups BS(1, n). A second technique is used to show that the domino problem is undecidable for surface groups. Which provides yet another class of groups verifying the conjecture saying that the domino problem of a group is decidable if and only if the group is virtually free

Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS'09)

The Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS) is held alternately in France and in Germany. The conference of February 26-28, 2009, held in Freiburg, is the 26th in this series. Previous meetings took place in Paris (1984), Saarbr¨ucken (1985), Orsay (1986), Passau (1987), Bordeaux (1988), Paderborn (1989), Rouen (1990), Hamburg (1991), Cachan (1992), W¨urzburg (1993), Caen (1994), M¨unchen (1995), Grenoble (1996), L¨ubeck (1997), Paris (1998), Trier (1999), Lille (2000), Dresden (2001), Antibes (2002), Berlin (2003), Montpellier (2004), Stuttgart (2005), Marseille (2006), Aachen (2007), and Bordeaux (2008). ..