315 research outputs found
The submonoid and rational subset membership problems for graph groups
We show that the membership problem in a finitely generated submonoid of a
graph group (also called a right-angled Artin group or a free partially
commutative group) is decidable if and only if the independence graph
(commutation graph) is a transitive forest. As a consequence we obtain the
first example of a finitely presented group with a decidable generalized word
problem that does not have a decidable membership problem for finitely
generated submonoids. We also show that the rational subset membership problem
is decidable for a graph group if and only if the independence graph is a
transitive forest, answering a question of Kambites, Silva, and the second
author. Finally we prove that for certain amalgamated free products and
HNN-extensions the rational subset and submonoid membership problems are
recursively equivalent. In particular, this applies to finitely generated
groups with two or more ends that are either torsion-free or residually finite
A Characterization for Decidable Separability by Piecewise Testable Languages
The separability problem for word languages of a class by
languages of a class asks, for two given languages and
from , whether there exists a language from that
includes and excludes , that is, and . In this work, we assume some mild closure properties for
and study for which such classes separability by a piecewise
testable language (PTL) is decidable. We characterize these classes in terms of
decidability of (two variants of) an unboundedness problem. From this, we
deduce that separability by PTL is decidable for a number of language classes,
such as the context-free languages and languages of labeled vector addition
systems. Furthermore, it follows that separability by PTL is decidable if and
only if one can compute for any language of the class its downward closure wrt.
the scattered substring ordering (i.e., if the set of scattered substrings of
any language of the class is effectively regular).
The obtained decidability results contrast some undecidability results. In
fact, for all (non-regular) language classes that we present as examples with
decidable separability, it is undecidable whether a given language is a PTL
itself.
Our characterization involves a result of independent interest, which states
that for any kind of languages and , non-separability by PTL is
equivalent to the existence of common patterns in and
Minsky machines and algorithmic problems
This is a survey of using Minsky machines to study algorithmic problems in
semigroups, groups and other algebraic systems.Comment: 19 page
Finding All Solutions of Equations in Free Groups and Monoids with Involution
The aim of this paper is to present a PSPACE algorithm which yields a finite
graph of exponential size and which describes the set of all solutions of
equations in free groups as well as the set of all solutions of equations in
free monoids with involution in the presence of rational constraints. This
became possible due to the recently invented emph{recompression} technique of
the second author.
He successfully applied the recompression technique for pure word equations
without involution or rational constraints. In particular, his method could not
be used as a black box for free groups (even without rational constraints).
Actually, the presence of an involution (inverse elements) and rational
constraints complicates the situation and some additional analysis is
necessary. Still, the recompression technique is general enough to accommodate
both extensions. In the end, it simplifies proofs that solving word equations
is in PSPACE (Plandowski 1999) and the corresponding result for equations in
free groups with rational constraints (Diekert, Hagenah and Gutierrez 2001). As
a byproduct we obtain a direct proof that it is decidable in PSPACE whether or
not the solution set is finite.Comment: A preliminary version of this paper was presented as an invited talk
at CSR 2014 in Moscow, June 7 - 11, 201
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