502 research outputs found
Distinguishing Hidden Markov Chains
Hidden Markov Chains (HMCs) are commonly used mathematical models of
probabilistic systems. They are employed in various fields such as speech
recognition, signal processing, and biological sequence analysis. We consider
the problem of distinguishing two given HMCs based on an observation sequence
that one of the HMCs generates. More precisely, given two HMCs and an
observation sequence, a distinguishing algorithm is expected to identify the
HMC that generates the observation sequence. Two HMCs are called
distinguishable if for every there is a distinguishing
algorithm whose error probability is less than . We show that one
can decide in polynomial time whether two HMCs are distinguishable. Further, we
present and analyze two distinguishing algorithms for distinguishable HMCs. The
first algorithm makes a decision after processing a fixed number of
observations, and it exhibits two-sided error. The second algorithm processes
an unbounded number of observations, but the algorithm has only one-sided
error. The error probability, for both algorithms, decays exponentially with
the number of processed observations. We also provide an algorithm for
distinguishing multiple HMCs. Finally, we discuss an application in stochastic
runtime verification.Comment: This is the full version of a LICS'16 pape
EAC: A program for the error analysis of STAGS results for plates
A computer code is now available for estimating the error in results from the STAGS finite element code for a shell unit consisting of a rectangular orthotropic plate. This memorandum contains basic information about the computer code EAC (Error Analysis and Correction) and describes the connection between the input data for the STAGS shell units and the input data necessary to run the error analysis code. The STAGS code returns a set of nodal displacements and a discrete set of stress resultants; the EAC code returns a continuous solution for displacements and stress resultants. The continuous solution is defined by a set of generalized coordinates computed in EAC. The theory and the assumptions that determine the continuous solution are also outlined in this memorandum. An example of application of the code is presented and instructions on its usage on the Cyber and the VAX machines have been provided
RoBuSt: A Crash-Failure-Resistant Distributed Storage System
In this work we present the first distributed storage system that is provably
robust against crash failures issued by an adaptive adversary, i.e., for each
batch of requests the adversary can decide based on the entire system state
which servers will be unavailable for that batch of requests. Despite up to
crashed servers, with constant and
denoting the number of servers, our system can correctly process any batch of
lookup and write requests (with at most a polylogarithmic number of requests
issued at each non-crashed server) in at most a polylogarithmic number of
communication rounds, with at most polylogarithmic time and work at each server
and only a logarithmic storage overhead.
Our system is based on previous work by Eikel and Scheideler (SPAA 2013), who
presented IRIS, a distributed information system that is provably robust
against the same kind of crash failures. However, IRIS is only able to serve
lookup requests. Handling both lookup and write requests has turned out to
require major changes in the design of IRIS.Comment: Revised full versio
Allen Linear (Interval) Temporal Logic --Translation to LTL and Monitor Synthesis--
The relationship between two well established formalisms for temporal reasoning is first investigated, namely between Allen's interval algebra (or Allen's temporal logic, abbreviated \ATL) and linear temporal logic (\LTL). A discrete variant of \ATL is defined, called Allen linear temporal logic (\ALTL), whose models are \omega-sequences of timepoints, like in \LTL. It is shown that any \ALTL formula can be linearly translated into an equivalent \LTL formula, thus enabling the use of \LTL techniques and tools when requirements are expressed in \ALTL. %This translation also implies the NP-completeness of \ATL satisfiability. Then the monitoring problem for \ALTL is discussed, showing that it is NP-complete despite the fact that the similar problem for \LTL is EXPSPACE-complete. An effective monitoring algorithm for \ALTL is given, which has been implemented and experimented with in the context of planning applications
Model Checking Concurrent Programs with Nondeterminism and Randomization
For concurrent probabilistic programs having process-level nondeterminism, it is often necessary to restrict the class of schedulers that resolve nondeterminism to obtain sound and precise model checking algorithms. In this paper, we introduce two classes of schedulers called view consistent and locally Markovian schedulers and consider the model checking problem of concurrent, probabilistic programs under these alternate semantics. Specifically, given a B"{u}chi automaton , a threshold in , and a concurrent program , the model checking problem asks if the measure of computations of that satisfy is at least , under all view consistent (or locally Markovian) schedulers. We give precise complexity results for the model checking problem (for different classes of B"{u}chi automata specifications) and contrast it with the complexity under the standard semantics that considers all schedulers
Deciding Differential Privacy of Online Algorithms with Multiple Variables
We consider the problem of checking the differential privacy of online
randomized algorithms that process a stream of inputs and produce outputs
corresponding to each input. This paper generalizes an automaton model called
DiP automata (See arXiv:2104.14519) to describe such algorithms by allowing
multiple real-valued storage variables. A DiP automaton is a parametric
automaton whose behavior depends on the privacy budget . An automaton
will be said to be differentially private if, for some , the
automaton is -differentially private for all values of
. We identify a precise characterization of the class of all
differentially private DiP automata. We show that the problem of determining if
a given DiP automaton belongs to this class is PSPACE-complete. Our PSPACE
algorithm also computes a value for when the given automaton is
differentially private. The algorithm has been implemented, and experiments
demonstrating its effectiveness are presented
Probably Safe or Live
This paper presents a formal characterisation of safety and liveness
properties \`a la Alpern and Schneider for fully probabilistic systems. As for
the classical setting, it is established that any (probabilistic tree) property
is equivalent to a conjunction of a safety and liveness property. A simple
algorithm is provided to obtain such property decomposition for flat
probabilistic CTL (PCTL). A safe fragment of PCTL is identified that provides a
sound and complete characterisation of safety properties. For liveness
properties, we provide two PCTL fragments, a sound and a complete one. We show
that safety properties only have finite counterexamples, whereas liveness
properties have none. We compare our characterisation for qualitative
properties with the one for branching time properties by Manolios and Trefler,
and present sound and complete PCTL fragments for characterising the notions of
strong safety and absolute liveness coined by Sistla
Responses of a tundra system to warming using SCAMPS : a stoichiometrically coupled, acclimating microbe–plant–soil model
Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecological Monographs 84 (2014): 151-170, doi:10.1890/12-2119.1.Soils, plants, and microbial communities respond to global change perturbations through coupled, nonlinear interactions. Dynamic ecological responses complicate projecting how global change disturbances will influence ecosystem processes, such as carbon (C) storage. We developed an ecosystem-scale model (Stoichiometrically Coupled, Acclimating Microbe–Plant–Soil model, SCAMPS) that simulates the dynamic feedbacks between aboveground and belowground communities that affect their shared soil environment. The belowground component of the model includes three classes of soil organic matter (SOM), three microbially synthesized extracellular enzyme classes specific to these SOM pools, and a microbial biomass pool with a variable C-to-N ratio (C:N). The plant biomass, which contributes to the SOM pools, flexibly allocates growth toward wood, root, and leaf biomass, based on nitrogen (N) uptake and shoot-to-root ratio. Unlike traditional ecosystem models, the microbial community can acclimate to changing soil resources by shifting its C:N between a lower C:N, faster turnover (bacteria-like) community, and a higher C:N, slower turnover (fungal-like) community. This stoichiometric flexibility allows for the microbial C and N use efficiency to vary, feeding back into system decomposition and productivity dynamics. These feedbacks regulate changes in extracellular enzyme synthesis, soil pool turnover rates, plant growth, and ecosystem C storage. We used SCAMPS to test the interactive effects of winter, summer, and year-round soil warming, in combination with microbial acclimation ability, on decomposition dynamics and plant growth in a tundra system.
Over 50-year simulations, both the seasonality of warming and the ability of the microbial community to acclimate had strong effects on ecosystem C dynamics. Across all scenarios, warming increased plant biomass (and therefore litter inputs to the SOM), while the ability of the microbial community to acclimate increased soil C loss. Winter warming drove the largest ecosystem C losses when the microbial community could acclimate, and the largest ecosystem C gains when it could not acclimate. Similar to empirical studies of tundra warming, modeled summer warming had relatively negligible effects on soil C loss, regardless of acclimation ability. In contrast, winter and year-round warming drove marked soil C loss when decomposers could acclimate, despite also increasing plant biomass. These results suggest that incorporating dynamically interacting microbial and plant communities into ecosystem models might increase the ability to link ongoing global change field observations with macro-scale projections of ecosystem biogeochemical cycling in systems under change.This work was
funded by a DOE Global Change Education Program
Graduate Fellowship, the NOAA Climate and Global Change
Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, and UCSB EEMB Block
Grant to S. A. Sistla and NSF DEB 0919049 to E. B. Rastetter
and J. P. Schimel, and Arctic LTER Project NSF-1026843
Lowland tundra plant stoichiometry is somewhat resilient decades following fire despite substantial and sustained shifts in community structure
The Arctic is experiencing the greatest increase in average surface temperature globally, which is projected to amplify wildfire frequency and severity. Wildfire alters the biogeochemical characteristics of arctic ecosystems. However, the extent of these changes over time-particularly with regard to plant stoichiometries relative to community structure-is not well documented. Four years after the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, experienced its largest fire season, aboveground plant and lichen biomass was harvested across a gradient of burn history: unburned ("reference"), 2015 burn ("recent burn"), and 1972 burn ("historic burn") to assess the resilience of tundra plant communities to fire disturbance. Fire reduced aboveground biomass in the recent burn; early recovery was characterized by evergreen shrub and graminoid dominance. In the historic burn, aboveground biomass approached reference conditions despite a sustained reduction of lichen biomass. Although total plant and lichen carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) were reduced immediately following fire, N stocks recovered to a greater degree-reducing community-level C:N. Notably, at the species level, N enrichment was observed only in the recent burn. Yet, community restructuring persisted for decades following fire, reflecting a sustained reduction in N-poor lichens relative to more N-rich vascular plant species
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