22 research outputs found
The succinctness of first-order logic on linear orders
Succinctness is a natural measure for comparing the strength of different
logics. Intuitively, a logic L_1 is more succinct than another logic L_2 if all
properties that can be expressed in L_2 can be expressed in L_1 by formulas of
(approximately) the same size, but some properties can be expressed in L_1 by
(significantly) smaller formulas.
We study the succinctness of logics on linear orders. Our first theorem is
concerned with the finite variable fragments of first-order logic. We prove
that:
(i) Up to a polynomial factor, the 2- and the 3-variable fragments of
first-order logic on linear orders have the same succinctness. (ii) The
4-variable fragment is exponentially more succinct than the 3-variable
fragment. Our second main result compares the succinctness of first-order logic
on linear orders with that of monadic second-order logic. We prove that the
fragment of monadic second-order logic that has the same expressiveness as
first-order logic on linear orders is non-elementarily more succinct than
first-order logic
The succinctness of first-order logic on linear orders
Succinctness is a natural measure for comparing the strength of different logics. Intuitively, a logic L_1 is more succinct than another logic L_2 if all properties that can be expressed in L_2 can be expressed in L_1 by formulas of (approximately) the same size, but some properties can be expressed in L_1 by (significantly) smaller formulas.
We study the succinctness of logics on linear orders. Our first theorem is concerned with the finite variable fragments of first-order logic. We prove that:
(i) Up to a polynomial factor, the 2- and the 3-variable fragments of first-order logic on linear orders have the same succinctness. (ii) The 4-variable fragment is exponentially more succinct than the 3-variable fragment. Our second main result compares the succinctness of first-order logic on linear orders with that of monadic second-order logic. We prove that the fragment of monadic second-order logic that has the same expressiveness as first-order logic on linear orders is non-elementarily more succinct than first-order logic
On FO2 quantifier alternation over words
We show that each level of the quantifier alternation hierarchy within
FO^2[<] -- the 2-variable fragment of the first order logic of order on words
-- is a variety of languages. We then use the notion of condensed rankers, a
refinement of the rankers defined by Weis and Immerman, to produce a decidable
hierarchy of varieties which is interwoven with the quantifier alternation
hierarchy -- and conjecturally equal to it. It follows that the latter
hierarchy is decidable within one unit: given a formula alpha in FO^2[<], one
can effectively compute an integer m such that alpha is equivalent to a formula
with at most m+1 alternating blocks of quantifiers, but not to a formula with
only m-1 blocks. This is a much more precise result than what is known about
the quantifier alternation hierarchy within FO[<], where no decidability result
is known beyond the very first levels
On the Complexity of Existential Positive Queries
We systematically investigate the complexity of model checking the
existential positive fragment of first-order logic. In particular, for a set of
existential positive sentences, we consider model checking where the sentence
is restricted to fall into the set; a natural question is then to classify
which sentence sets are tractable and which are intractable. With respect to
fixed-parameter tractability, we give a general theorem that reduces this
classification question to the corresponding question for primitive positive
logic, for a variety of representations of structures. This general theorem
allows us to deduce that an existential positive sentence set having bounded
arity is fixed-parameter tractable if and only if each sentence is equivalent
to one in bounded-variable logic. We then use the lens of classical complexity
to study these fixed-parameter tractable sentence sets. We show that such a set
can be NP-complete, and consider the length needed by a translation from
sentences in such a set to bounded-variable logic; we prove superpolynomial
lower bounds on this length using the theory of compilability, obtaining an
interesting type of formula size lower bound. Overall, the tools, concepts, and
results of this article set the stage for the future consideration of the
complexity of model checking on more expressive logics
On the Hybrid Extension of CTL and CTL+
The paper studies the expressivity, relative succinctness and complexity of
satisfiability for hybrid extensions of the branching-time logics CTL and CTL+
by variables. Previous complexity results show that only fragments with one
variable do have elementary complexity. It is shown that H1CTL+ and H1CTL, the
hybrid extensions with one variable of CTL+ and CTL, respectively, are
expressively equivalent but H1CTL+ is exponentially more succinct than H1CTL.
On the other hand, HCTL+, the hybrid extension of CTL with arbitrarily many
variables does not capture CTL*, as it even cannot express the simple CTL*
property EGFp. The satisfiability problem for H1CTL+ is complete for triply
exponential time, this remains true for quite weak fragments and quite strong
extensions of the logic
Structure Theorem and Strict Alternation Hierarchy for FO^2 on Words
It is well-known that every first-order property on words is expressible
using at most three variables. The subclass of properties expressible with only
two variables is also quite interesting and well-studied. We prove precise
structure theorems that characterize the exact expressive power of first-order
logic with two variables on words. Our results apply to both the case with and
without a successor relation. For both languages, our structure theorems show
exactly what is expressible using a given quantifier depth, n, and using m
blocks of alternating quantifiers, for any m \leq n. Using these
characterizations, we prove, among other results, that there is a strict
hierarchy of alternating quantifiers for both languages. The question whether
there was such a hierarchy had been completely open. As another consequence of
our structural results, we show that satisfiability for first-order logic with
two variables without successor, which is NEXP-complete in general, becomes
NP-complete once we only consider alphabets of a bounded size