Deciding regular grammar logics with converse through first-order logic

We provide a simple translation of the satisfiability problem for regular grammar logics with converse into GF2, which is the intersection of the guarded fragment and the 2-variable fragment of first-order logic. This translation is theoretically interesting because it translates modal logics with certain frame conditions into first-order logic, without explicitly expressing the frame conditions. A consequence of the translation is that the general satisfiability problem for regular grammar logics with converse is in EXPTIME. This extends a previous result of the first author for grammar logics without converse. Using the same method, we show how some other modal logics can be naturally translated into GF2, including nominal tense logics and intuitionistic logic. In our view, the results in this paper show that the natural first-order fragment corresponding to regular grammar logics is simply GF2 without extra machinery such as fixed point-operators.Comment: 34 page

Decidability Issues for Two-Variable Logics with Several Linear Orders

We show that the satisfiability and the finite satisfiability problems for two-variable logic, FO2, over the class of structures with three linear orders, are undecidable. This sharpens an earlier result that FO2 with eight linear orders is undecidable. The theorem holds for a restricted case in which linear orders are the only non-unary relations. Recently, a contrasting result has been shown, that the finite satisfiability problem for FO2 with two linear orders and with no additional non-unary relations is decidable. We observe that our proof can be adapted to some interesting fragments of FO2, in particular it works for the two-variable guarded fragment, GF2, even if the order relations are used only as guards. Finally, we show that GF2 with an arbitrary number of linear orders which can be used only as guards becomes decidable if except linear orders only unary relations are allowed

Finite Satisfiability of Unary Negation Fragment with Transitivity

We show that the finite satisfiability problem for the unary negation fragment with an arbitrary number of transitive relations is decidable and 2-ExpTime-complete. Our result actually holds for a more general setting in which one can require that some binary symbols are interpreted as arbitrary transitive relations, some as partial orders and some as equivalences. We also consider finite satisfiability of various extensions of our primary logic, in particular capturing the concepts of nominals and role hierarchies known from description logic. As the unary negation fragment can express unions of conjunctive queries, our results have interesting implications for the problem of finite query answering, both in the classical scenario and in the description logics setting

Verifying Recursive Active Documents with Positive Data Tree Rewriting

This paper proposes a data tree-rewriting framework for modeling evolving documents. The framework is close to Guarded Active XML, a platform used for handling XML repositories evolving through web services. We focus on automatic verification of properties of evolving documents that can contain data from an infinite domain. We establish the boundaries of decidability, and show that verification of a {\em positive} fragment that can handle recursive service calls is decidable. We also consider bounded model-checking in our data tree-rewriting framework and show that it is \nexptime-complete

On the uniform one-dimensional fragment

The uniform one-dimensional fragment of first-order logic, U1, is a recently introduced formalism that extends two-variable logic in a natural way to contexts with relations of all arities. We survey properties of U1 and investigate its relationship to description logics designed to accommodate higher arity relations, with particular attention given to DLR_reg. We also define a description logic version of a variant of U1 and prove a range of new results concerning the expressivity of U1 and related logics

Querying the Guarded Fragment

Evaluating a Boolean conjunctive query Q against a guarded first-order theory F is equivalent to checking whether "F and not Q" is unsatisfiable. This problem is relevant to the areas of database theory and description logic. Since Q may not be guarded, well known results about the decidability, complexity, and finite-model property of the guarded fragment do not obviously carry over to conjunctive query answering over guarded theories, and had been left open in general. By investigating finite guarded bisimilar covers of hypergraphs and relational structures, and by substantially generalising Rosati's finite chase, we prove for guarded theories F and (unions of) conjunctive queries Q that (i) Q is true in each model of F iff Q is true in each finite model of F and (ii) determining whether F implies Q is 2EXPTIME-complete. We further show the following results: (iii) the existence of polynomial-size conformal covers of arbitrary hypergraphs; (iv) a new proof of the finite model property of the clique-guarded fragment; (v) the small model property of the guarded fragment with optimal bounds; (vi) a polynomial-time solution to the canonisation problem modulo guarded bisimulation, which yields (vii) a capturing result for guarded bisimulation invariant PTIME.Comment: This is an improved and extended version of the paper of the same title presented at LICS 201

Two-Variable Universal Logic with Transitive Closure

We prove that the satisfiability problem for the two-variable, universal fragment of first-order logic with constants (or, alternatively phrased, for the Bernays-Schönfinkel class with two universally quantified variables) remains decidable after augmenting the fragment by the transitive closure of a single binary relation. We give a 2-NExpTime-upper bound and a 2-ExpTime-lower bound for the complexity of the problem. We also study the cases in which the number of constants is restricted. It appears that with two constants the considered fragment has the finite model property and NExpTime-complete satisfiability problem. Adding a third constant does not change the complexity but allows to construct infinity axioms. A fourth constant lifts the lower complexity bound to 2-ExpTime. Finally, we observe that we are close to the border between decidability and undecidability: adding a third variable or the transitive closure of a second binary relation lead to undecidability