Expansions of MSO by cardinality relations

We study expansions of the Weak Monadic Second Order theory of (N,<) by cardinality relations, which are predicates R(X1,...,Xn) whose truth value depends only on the cardinality of the sets X1, ...,Xn. We first provide a (definable) criterion for definability of a cardinality relation in (N,<), and use it to prove that for every cardinality relation R which is not definable in (N,<), there exists a unary cardinality relation which is definable in (N,<,R) and not in (N,<). These results resemble Muchnik and Michaux-Villemaire theorems for Presburger Arithmetic. We prove then that + and x are definable in (N,<,R) for every cardinality relation R which is not definable in (N,<). This implies undecidability of the WMSO theory of (N,<,R). We also consider the related satisfiability problem for the class of finite orderings, namely the question whether an MSO sentence in the language {<,R} admits a finite model M where < is interpreted as a linear ordering, and R as the restriction of some (fixed) cardinality relation to the domain of M. We prove that this problem is undecidable for every cardinality relation R which is not definable in (N,<).Comment: to appear in LMC

An Application of the Feferman-Vaught Theorem to Automata and Logics for<br> Words over an Infinite Alphabet

We show that a special case of the Feferman-Vaught composition theorem gives rise to a natural notion of automata for finite words over an infinite alphabet, with good closure and decidability properties, as well as several logical characterizations. We also consider a slight extension of the Feferman-Vaught formalism which allows to express more relations between component values (such as equality), and prove related decidability results. From this result we get new classes of decidable logics for words over an infinite alphabet.Comment: 24 page

Decidability of definability issues in the theory of real addition

Given a subset of $X\subseteq \mathbb{R}^{n}$ we can associate with every point $x\in \mathbb{R}^{n}$ a vector space $V$ of maximal dimension with the property that for some ball centered at $x$, the subset $X$ coincides inside the ball with a union of lines parallel with $V$. A point is singular if $V$ has dimension $0$. In an earlier paper we proved that a $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,\mathbb{Z})$-definable relation $X$ is actually definable in $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,1)$ if and only if the number of singular points is finite and every rational section of $X$ is $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,1)$-definable, where a rational section is a set obtained from $X$ by fixing some component to a rational value. Here we show that we can dispense with the hypothesis of $X$ being $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,\mathbb{Z})$-definable by assuming that the components of the singular points are rational numbers. This provides a topological characterization of first-order definability in the structure $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,1)$. It also allows us to deliver a self-definable criterion (in Muchnik's terminology) of $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,1)$- and $(\mathbb{R}, +,< ,\mathbb{Z})$-definability for a wide class of relations, which turns into an effective criterion provided that the corresponding theory is decidable. In particular these results apply to the class of $k-$recognizable relations on reals, and allow us to prove that it is decidable whether a $k-$recognizable relation (of any arity) is $l-$recognizable for every base $l \geq 2$.Comment: added sections 5 and 6, typos corrected. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2002.0428

Subclasses of Presburger Arithmetic and the Weak EXP Hierarchy

It is shown that for any fixed $i>0$, the $\Sigma_{i+1}$-fragment of Presburger arithmetic, i.e., its restriction to $i+1$ quantifier alternations beginning with an existential quantifier, is complete for $\mathsf{\Sigma}^{\mathsf{EXP}}_{i}$, the $i$-th level of the weak EXP hierarchy, an analogue to the polynomial-time hierarchy residing between $\mathsf{NEXP}$ and $\mathsf{EXPSPACE}$. This result completes the computational complexity landscape for Presburger arithmetic, a line of research which dates back to the seminal work by Fischer & Rabin in 1974. Moreover, we apply some of the techniques developed in the proof of the lower bound in order to establish bounds on sets of naturals definable in the $\Sigma_1$-fragment of Presburger arithmetic: given a $\Sigma_1$-formula $\Phi(x)$, it is shown that the set of non-negative solutions is an ultimately periodic set whose period is at most doubly-exponential and that this bound is tight.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

On Pascal Triangles Modulo a Prime Power

International audienceno abstrac

A Survey of Arithmetical Definability

We survey definability and decidability issues related to first-order fragments of arithmetic, with a special emphasis on Presburger and Skolem arithmetic and their (un)decidable extensions