Two Algebraic Process Semantics for Contextual Nets

We show that the so-called 'Petri nets are monoids' approach initiated by Meseguer and Montanari can be extended from ordinary place/transition Petri nets to contextual nets by considering suitable non-free monoids of places. The algebraic characterizations of net concurrent computations we provide cover both the collective and the individual token philosophy, uniformly along the two interpretations, and coincide with the classical proposals for place/transition Petri nets in the absence of read-arcs

Algebraic Models for Contextual Nets

We extend the algebraic approach of Meseguer and Montanari from ordinary place/transition Petri nets to contextual nets, covering both the collective and the individual token philosophy uniformly along the two interpretations of net behaviors

A Congruence for Petri Nets

We introduce a way of viewing Petri nets as open systems. This is done by considering a bicategory of cospans over a category of p/t nets and embeddings. We derive a labelled transition system (LTS) semantics for such nets using GIPOs and characterise the resulting congruence. Technically, our results are similar to the recent work by Milner on applying the theory of bigraphs to Petri Nets. The two main differences are that we treat p/t nets instead of c/e nets and we deal directly with a category of nets instead of encoding them into bigraphs

Read Operators and their Expressiveness in Process Algebras

We study two different ways to enhance PAFAS, a process algebra for modelling asynchronous timed concurrent systems, with non-blocking reading actions. We first add reading in the form of a read-action prefix operator. This operator is very flexible, but its somewhat complex semantics requires two types of transition relations. We also present a read-set prefix operator with a simpler semantics, but with syntactic restrictions. We discuss the expressiveness of read prefixes; in particular, we compare them to read-arcs in Petri nets and justify the simple semantics of the second variant by showing that its processes can be translated into processes of the first with timed-bisimilar behaviour. It is still an open problem whether the first algebra is more expressive than the second; we give a number of laws that are interesting in their own right, and can help to find a backward translation.Comment: In Proceedings EXPRESS 2011, arXiv:1108.407

Concurrent Computing: from Petri Nets to Graph Grammars

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Event structures for Petri nets with persistence

Event structures are a well-accepted model of concurrency. In a seminal paper by Nielsen, Plotkin and Winskel, they are used to establish a bridge between the theory of domains and the approach to concurrency proposed by Petri. A basic role is played by an unfolding construction that maps (safe) Petri nets into a subclass of event structures, called prime event structures, where each event has a uniquely determined set of causes. Prime event structures, in turn, can be identified with their domain of configurations. At a categorical level, this is nicely formalised by Winskel as a chain of coreflections. Contrary to prime event structures, general event structures allow for the presence of disjunctive causes, i.e., events can be enabled by distinct minimal sets of events. In this paper, we extend the connection between Petri nets and event structures in order to include disjunctive causes. In particular, we show that, at the level of nets, disjunctive causes are well accounted for by persistent places. These are places where tokens, once generated, can be used several times without being consumed and where multiple tokens are interpreted collectively, i.e., their histories are inessential. Generalising the work on ordinary nets, Petri nets with persistence are related to a new subclass of general event structures, called locally connected, by means of a chain of coreflections relying on an unfolding construction

Normalizing the Taylor expansion of non-deterministic {\lambda}-terms, via parallel reduction of resource vectors

It has been known since Ehrhard and Regnier's seminal work on the Taylor expansion of $\lambda$-terms that this operation commutes with normalization: the expansion of a $\lambda$-term is always normalizable and its normal form is the expansion of the B\"ohm tree of the term. We generalize this result to the non-uniform setting of the algebraic $\lambda$-calculus, i.e. $\lambda$-calculus extended with linear combinations of terms. This requires us to tackle two difficulties: foremost is the fact that Ehrhard and Regnier's techniques rely heavily on the uniform, deterministic nature of the ordinary $\lambda$-calculus, and thus cannot be adapted; second is the absence of any satisfactory generic extension of the notion of B\"ohm tree in presence of quantitative non-determinism, which is reflected by the fact that the Taylor expansion of an algebraic $\lambda$-term is not always normalizable. Our solution is to provide a fine grained study of the dynamics of $\beta$-reduction under Taylor expansion, by introducing a notion of reduction on resource vectors, i.e. infinite linear combinations of resource $\lambda$-terms. The latter form the multilinear fragment of the differential $\lambda$-calculus, and resource vectors are the target of the Taylor expansion of $\lambda$-terms. We show the reduction of resource vectors contains the image of any $\beta$-reduction step, from which we deduce that Taylor expansion and normalization commute on the nose. We moreover identify a class of algebraic $\lambda$-terms, encompassing both normalizable algebraic $\lambda$-terms and arbitrary ordinary $\lambda$-terms: the expansion of these is always normalizable, which guides the definition of a generalization of B\"ohm trees to this setting

04241 Abstracts Collection -- Graph Transformations and Process Algebras for Modeling Distributed and Mobile Systems

Recently there has been a lot of research, combining concepts of process algebra with those of the theory of graph grammars and graph transformation systems. Both can be viewed as general frameworks in which one can specify and reason about concurrent and distributed systems. There are many areas where both theories overlap and this reaches much further than just using graphs to give a graphic representation to processes. Processes in a communication network can be seen in two different ways: as terms in an algebraic theory, emphasizing their behaviour and their interaction with the environment, and as nodes (or edges) in a graph, emphasizing their topology and their connectedness. Especially topology, mobility and dynamic reconfigurations at runtime can be modelled in a very intuitive way using graph transformation. On the other hand the definition and proof of behavioural equivalences is often easier in the process algebra setting. Also standard techniques of algebraic semantics for universal constructions, refinement and compositionality can take better advantage of the process algebra representation. An important example where the combined theory is more convenient than both alternatives is for defining the concurrent (noninterleaving), abstract semantics of distributed systems. Here graph transformations lack abstraction and process algebras lack expressiveness. Another important example is the work on bigraphical reactive systems with the aim of deriving a labelled transitions system from an unlabelled reactive system such that the resulting bisimilarity is a congruence. Here, graphs seem to be a convenient framework, in which this theory can be stated and developed. So, although it is the central aim of both frameworks to model and reason about concurrent systems, the semantics of processes can have a very different flavour in these theories. Research in this area aims at combining the advantages of both frameworks and translating concepts of one theory into the other. The Dagsuthl Seminar, which took place from 06.06. to 11.06.2004, was aimed at bringing together researchers of the two communities in order to share their ideas and develop new concepts. These proceedings4 of the do not only contain abstracts of the talks given at the seminar, but also summaries of topics of central interest. We would like to thank all participants of the seminar for coming and sharing their ideas and everybody who has contributed to the proceedings