931 research outputs found
The Planning Spectrum - One, Two, Three, Infinity
Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) is widely used for defining conditions on the
execution paths of dynamic systems. In the case of dynamic systems that allow
for nondeterministic evolutions, one has to specify, along with an LTL formula
f, which are the paths that are required to satisfy the formula. Two extreme
cases are the universal interpretation A.f, which requires that the formula be
satisfied for all execution paths, and the existential interpretation E.f,
which requires that the formula be satisfied for some execution path.
When LTL is applied to the definition of goals in planning problems on
nondeterministic domains, these two extreme cases are too restrictive. It is
often impossible to develop plans that achieve the goal in all the
nondeterministic evolutions of a system, and it is too weak to require that the
goal is satisfied by some execution.
In this paper we explore alternative interpretations of an LTL formula that
are between these extreme cases. We define a new language that permits an
arbitrary combination of the A and E quantifiers, thus allowing, for instance,
to require that each finite execution can be extended to an execution
satisfying an LTL formula (AE.f), or that there is some finite execution whose
extensions all satisfy an LTL formula (EA.f). We show that only eight of these
combinations of path quantifiers are relevant, corresponding to an alternation
of the quantifiers of length one (A and E), two (AE and EA), three (AEA and
EAE), and infinity ((AE)* and (EA)*). We also present a planning algorithm for
the new language that is based on an automata-theoretic approach, and study its
complexity
Solving parity games: Explicit vs symbolic
In this paper we provide a broad investigation of the symbolic approach for solving Parity Games. Specifically, we implement in a fresh tool, called, four symbolic algorithms to solve Parity Games and compare their performances to the corresponding explicit versions for different classes of games. By means of benchmarks, we show that for random games, even for constrained random games, explicit algorithms actually perform better than symbolic algorithms. The situation changes, however, for structured games, where symbolic algorithms seem to have the advantage. This suggests that when evaluating algorithms for parity-game solving, it would be useful to have real benchmarks and not only random benchmarks, as the common practice has been
Synthesis with rational environments
Synthesis is the automated construction of a system from its specification. The system has to satisfy its specification in all possible environments. The environment often consists of agents that have objectives of their own. Thus, it makes sense to soften the universal quantification on the behavior of the environment and take the objectives of its underlying agents into an account. Fisman et al. introduced rational synthesis: the problem of synthesis in the context of rational agents. The input to the problem consists of temporal logic formulas specifying the objectives of the system and the agents that constitute the environment, and a solution concept (e.g., Nash equilibrium). The output is a profile of strategies, for the system and the agents, such that the objective of the system is satisfied in the computation that is the outcome of the strategies, and the profile is stable according to the solution concept; that is, the agents that constitute the environment have no incentive to deviate from the strategies suggested to them. In this paper we continue to study rational synthesis. First, we suggest an alternative definition to rational synthesis, in which the agents are rational but not cooperative. We call such problem strong rational synthesis. In the strong rational synthesis setting, one cannot assume that the agents that constitute the environment take into account the strategies suggested to them. Accordingly, the output is a strategy for the system only, and the objective of the system has to be satisfied in all the compositions that are the outcome of a stable profile in which the system follows this strategy. We show that strong rational synthesis is 2ExpTime-complete, thus it is not more complex than traditional synthesis or rational synthesis. Second, we study a richer specification formalism, where the objectives of the system and the agents are not Boolean but quantitative. In this setting, the objective of the system and the agents is to maximize their outcome. The quantitative setting significantly extends the scope of rational synthesis, making the game-theoretic approach much more relevant. Finally, we enrich the setting to one that allows coalitions of agents that constitute the system or the environment
Thou Shalt is not You Will
In this paper we discuss some reasons why temporal logic might not be
suitable to model real life norms. To show this, we present a novel deontic
logic contrary-to-duty/derived permission paradox based on the interaction of
obligations, permissions and contrary-to-duty obligations. The paradox is
inspired by real life norms
Many-body effects on adiabatic passage through Feshbach resonances
We theoretically study the dynamics of an adiabatic sweep through a Feshbach
resonance, thereby converting a degenerate quantum gas of fermionic atoms into
a degenerate quantum gas of bosonic dimers. Our analysis relies on a zero
temperature mean-field theory which accurately accounts for initial molecular
quantum fluctuations, triggering the association process. The structure of the
resulting semiclassical phase space is investigated, highlighting the dynamical
instability of the system towards association, for sufficiently small detuning
from resonance. It is shown that this instability significantly modifies the
finite-rate efficiency of the sweep, transforming the single-pair exponential
Landau-Zener behavior of the remnant fraction of atoms Gamma on sweep rate
alpha, into a power-law dependence as the number of atoms increases. The
obtained nonadiabaticity is determined from the interplay of characteristic
time scales for the motion of adiabatic eigenstates and for fast periodic
motion around them. Critical slowing-down of these precessions near the
instability leads to the power-law dependence. A linear power law is obtained when the initial molecular fraction is smaller than the 1/N
quantum fluctuations, and a cubic-root power law is
attained when it is larger. Our mean-field analysis is confirmed by exact
calculations, using Fock-space expansions. Finally, we fit experimental low
temperature Feshbach sweep data with a power-law dependence. While the
agreement with the experimental data is well within experimental error bars,
similar accuracy can be obtained with an exponential fit, making additional
data highly desirable.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
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