We describe a method for reducing the complexity of temporal logic model checking in systems composed of many parallel processes. The goal is to check properties of the components of a system and then deduce global properties from these local properties. The main difficulty with this type of approach is that local properties are often not preserved at the global level. We present a general framework for using additional interface processes to model the environment for a component. These interface processes are typically much simpler than the full environment of the component. By composing a component with its interface processes and then checking properties of this composition, we can guarantee that these properties will be preserved at the global level. We give two example compositional systems based on the logic CTL*.

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This paper is an attempt at laying the foundations for the classification of queries on relational data bases according to their structure and their computational complexity. Using the operations of composition and fixpoints, a Z--// hierarchy of height w 2, called the fixpoint query hierarchy, is defined, and its properties investigated. The hierarchy includes most of the queries considered in the literathre including those of Codd and Aho and Ullman

Abstract. The practice of first-order logic is replete with meta-level concepts. Most notably there are meta-variables ranging over formulae, variables, and terms, and properties of syntax such as alpha-equivalence, capture-avoiding substitution and assumptions about freshness of variables with respect to metavariables. We present one-and-a-halfth-order logic, in which these concepts are made explicit. We exhibit both sequent and algebraic specifications of one-and-a-halfth-order logic derivability, show them equivalent, show that the derivations satisfy cut-elimination, and prove correctness of an interpretation of first-order logic within it. We discuss the technicalities in a wider context as a case-study for nominal algebra, as a logic in its own right, as an algebraisation of logic, as an example of how other systems might be treated, and also as a theoretical foundation

Nowadays computer science is surpassing mathematics as the primary field of logic applications, but logic is not tuned properly to the new role. In particular, classical logic is preoccupied mostly with infinite static structures whereas many objects of interest in computer science are dynamic objects with bounded resources. This chapter consists of two independent parts. The first part is devoted to finite model theory; it is mostly a survey of logics tailored for computational complexity. The second part is devoted to dynamic structures with bounded resources. In particular, we use dynamic structures with bounded resources to model Pascal.

In this paper we show that Ω(n) variables are needed for first-order logic with counting to identify graphs on n vertices. The k-variable language with counting is equivalent to the (k − 1)-dimensional Weisfeiler-Lehman method. We thus settle a long-standing open problem. Previously it was an open question whether or not 4 variables suffice. Our lower bound remains true over a set of graphs of color class size 4. This contrasts sharply with the fact that 3 variables suffice to identify all graphs of color class size 3, and 2 variables suffice to identify almost all graphs. Our lower bound is optimal up to multiplication by a constant because n variables obviously suffice to identify graphs on n vertices. 1

Hierarchical decompositions of graphs are interesting for algorithmic purposes. There are several types of hierarchical decompositions. Tree decompositions are the best known ones. On graphs of tree-width at most k, i.e., that have tree decompositions of width at most k, where k is fixed, every decision or optimization problem expressible in monadic secondorder logic has a linear algorithm. We prove that this is also the case for graphs of clique-width at most k, where this complexity measure is associated with hierarchical decompositions of another type, and where logical formulas are no longer allowed to use edge set quantifications. We develop applications to several classes of graphs that include cographs and are, like cographs, defined by forbidding subgraphs with "too many" induced paths with four vertices.

A theory satisfies the k-variable property if every first-order formula is equivalent to a formula with at most k bound variables (possibly reused). Gabbay has shown that a model of temporal logic satisfies the k-variable property for some k if and only if there exists a finite basis for the temporal connectives over that model. We give a model-theoretic method for establishing the k-variable property, involving a restricted Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse game in which each player has only k pebbles. We use the method to unify and simplify results in the literature for linear orders. We also establish new k-variable properties for various theories of bounded-degree trees, and in each case obtain tight upper and lower bounds on k. This gives the first finite basis theorems for branching-time models of temporal logic. 1 Introduction A first-order theory \Sigma satisfies the k-variable property if every first-order formula is equivalent under \Sigma to a formula with at most k bound variables (pos...

Whereas first-order logic was developed to confront the infinite it is often used in computer science in such a way that infinite models are meaningless. We discuss the first-order theory of finite structures and alternatives to first-order logic, especially polynomial time logic.

Bags, i.e. sets with duplicates, are often used to implement relations in database systems. In this paper, we study the expressive power of algebras for manipulating bags. The algebra we present is a simple extension of the nested relation algebra. Our aim is to investigate how the use of bags in the language extends its expressive power, and increases its complexity. We consider two main issues, namely (i) the impact of the depth of bag nesting on the expressive power, and (ii) the complexity and the expressive power induced by the algebraic operations. We show that the bag algebra is more expressive than the nested relation algebra (at all levels of nesting), and that the difference may be subtle. We establish a hierarchy based on the structure of algebra expressions. This hierarchy is shown to be highly related to the properties of the powerset operator. Invited to a special issue of the Journal of Computer and System Sciences selected from ACM Princ. of Database Systems,...