In this paper, we study an information flow security property for systems specified as terms of a quantitative Markovian process algebra, namely the Performance Evaluation Process Algebra (PEPA). We propose a quantitative extension of the Non-Interference property used to secure systems from the functional point view by assuming that the observers are able to measure also the timing properties of the

We report on an investigation aimed at identifying small fragments of set theory (typically, sublanguages of Multi-Level Syllogistic) endowed with polynomial-time satisfiability decision tests, potentially useful for automated proof verification. Leaving out of consideration the membership relator∈ for the time being, in this paper we provide a complete taxonomy of the polynomial and the NP-complete

In this paper we present a methodology for introducing customizable metalogic features in logic-based knowledge representation and reasoning languages. The proposed approach is based on concepts of introspection and reflection previously introduced and discussed by various authors in relevant literature. This allows a knowledge engineer to specify enhanced reasoning engines by defining properties and

A set of nonnegative matrices is called primitive if there exists a product of these matrices that is entrywise positive. Motivated by recent results relating synchronizing automata and primitive sets, we study the length of the shortest product of a primitive set having a column or a row with k positive entries, called its k-rendezvous time (k-RT), in the case of sets of matrices having no zero rows

Given a two-way finite automaton recognizing a non-empty language, consider the length of the shortest string it accepts, and, for each n ≥ 1, let f(n) be the maximum of these lengths over all n-state automata. It is proved that for n-state two-way finite automata, whether deterministic or nondeterministic, this number is at least Ω(10n/5) and less than (2nn+1), with the lower bound reached over an

We present first-order (FO) and monadic second-order (MSO) logics with predicates ‘between’ and ‘neighbour’ that characterise the class of regular languages that are closed under the reverse operation and its subclasses. The ternary between predicate bet(x, y, z) is true if the position y is strictly between the positions x and z. The binary neighbour predicate N(x, y) is true when the the positions

We propose a new algorithm for checking language equivalence of non-deterministic Büchi automata. We start from a construction proposed by Calbrix, Nivat and Podelski, which makes it possible to reduce the problem to that of checking equivalence of automata on finite words. Although this construction generates large and highly non-deterministic automata, we show how to exploit their specific structure

For a given language L, we study the languages X such that for all distinct words u, v ∈ L, there exists a word x ∈ X that appears a different number of times as a factor in u and in v. In particular, we are interested in the following question: For which languages L does there exist a finite language X satisfying the above condition? We answer this question for all regular languages and for all sets

We study the computational and descriptional complexity of self-verifying pushdown automata (SVPDA) and self-verifying realtime queue automata (SVRQA). A self-verifying automaton is a nondeterministic device whose nondeterminism is symmetric in the following sense. Each computation path can give one of the answers yes, no, or do not know. For every input word, at least one computation path must give

A two-sided extension of strictly locally testable languages is presented. In order to determine membership within a two-sided strictly locally testable language, the input must be scanned from both ends simultaneously, whereby it is synchronously checked that the factors read are correlated with respect to a given binary relation. The class of two-sided strictly locally testable languages is shown

Insertion systems or insertion grammars are a generative formalism in which words can only be generated by starting with some axioms and by iteratively inserting strings subject to certain contexts of a fixed maximal length. It is known that languages generated by such systems are always context sensitive and that the corresponding language classes are incomparable with the regular languages. On the

A complete taxonomy is presented for restarting automata without auxiliary symbols. In this taxonomy, the language classes that are accepted by deterministic and nondeterministic, monotone, weakly monotone, and non-monotone, shrinking and length-reducing restarting automata are compared to each other with respect to inclusion. As it turns out, the 45 types of restarting automata considered yield 29

Non-self-embedding grammars are a subclass of context-free grammars which only generate regular languages. The size costs of the conversion of non-self-embedding grammars into equivalent finite automata are studied, by proving optimal bounds for the number of states of nondeterministic and deterministic automata equivalent to given non-self-embedding grammars. In particular, each non-self-embedding

A contextual grammar is a language generating mechanism inspired by generating sentences in natural languages. An existing string can be extended to a new string of the language by adjoining a context before and behind the string or by inserting it into the string around some subword. The first mode is called external derivation whereas the second mode is called internal derivation. If conditions are

Weighted restarting automata have been introduced to study quantitative aspects of computations of restarting automata. In earlier works we studied the classes of functions and relations that are computed by weighted restarting automata. Here we use them to define classes of formal languages by restricting the weight associated to a given input word through an additional requirement. In this way, weighted

Cause-effect structures are objects of a formal system devised for modeling, testing and verifying properties of tasks, where parallel execution of actions is the most characteristic feature. This is an algebraic system called a quasi-semiring. In this paper elementary cause-effect structures, a system behaviourally equivalent to 1-safe Petri nets, are extended by the following features: weighted edges

Complex event processing (CEP) evaluates queries over streams of event data to detect situations of interest. If the event data are produced by geographically distributed sources, CEP may exploit in-network processing that distributes the evaluation of a query among the nodes of a network. To thisend, a query is modularized and individual query operators are assigned to nodes, especially those that

In this article, we introduce a probabilistic verification algorithm for stochastic regular expressions over a probabilistic extension of the Action based Computation Tree Logic (ACTL*). The main results include a novel model checking algorithm and a semantics on the probabilistic action logic forstochastic regular expressions (SREs). Specific to our model checking algorithm is that SREs are defined

The paper contains some remarks on building automated counterpart of a comparison of some generalized rough approximations of sets, where the classical indiscernibility relation is generalized to arbitrary binary relation. Our focus was on translating rationality postulates for such operators by means of the Mizar system – the software and the database which allows for expressing and checking mathematical

One of the most popular families of techniques to boost classification are Ensemble methods. Random Forests, Bagging and Boosting are the most popular and widely used ones. This article presents a novel Ensemble Model, named Random Granular Reflections. The algorithm used in this new approach creates an ensemble of homogeneous granular decision systems. The first step of the learning process is to

Gene regulatory networks represent the interactions among genes regulating the activation of specific cell functionalities and they have been successfully modeled using threshold Boolean networks. In this paper we propose a systematic translation of threshold Boolean networks into reaction systems.Our translation produces a non redundant set of rules with a minimal number of objects. This translation

Extracting association rules from large datasets has been widely studied in many variants in the last two decades; they allow to extract relations between values that occur more “often” in a database. With temporal association rules the concept has been declined to temporal databases. In this context the “most frequent” patterns of evolution of one or more attribute values are extracted. In the temporal

We present a KE-tableau-based implementation of a reasoner for a decidable fragment of (stratified) set theory expressing the description logic 𝒟ℒ〈4LQSR,×〉(D) (𝒟ℒD4,×, for short). Our application solves the main TBox and ABox reasoning problems for 𝒟ℒD4,×. In particular, it solves the consistency and the classification problems for 𝒟ℒD4,×-knowledge bases represented in set-theoretic terms, and

We show that Cubicle, an SMT-based infinite-state model checker, can be applied as a verification engine for GLog, a logic-based language based on relational updates rules that has been applied to specify topology-sensitive distributed protocols with asynchronous communication. In this setting, theabsence of protocol anomalies can be reduced to a coverability problem in which the initial set of configurations

Higher-Order Fixpoint Logic (HFL) is a modal specification language whose expressive power reaches far beyond that of Monadic Second-Order Logic, achieved through an incorporation of a typed λ-calculus into the modal μ-calculus. Its model checking problem on finite transition systems is decidable,albeit of high complexity, namely k-EXPTIME-complete for formulas that use functions of type order at most

Copyless streaming string transducers (copyless SST) have been introduced by R. Alur and P. Černý in 2010 as a one-way deterministic automata model to define transductions of finite strings. Copyless SST extend deterministic finite state automata with a set of variables in which to store intermediate output strings, and those variables can be combined and updated all along the run, in a linear manner

Multi-buffer simulation is an extension of simulation preorder that can be used to approximate inclusion of languages recognised by Büchi automata up to their trace closures. DUPLICATOR can use some bounded or unbounded buffers to simulate SPOILER’s move. It has been shown that multi-buffer simulation can be characterised with the existence of a continuous function. In this paper, we show that such

Probabilistic timed automata are classical timed automata extended with discrete probability distributions over edges. We introduce clock-dependent probabilistic timed automata, a variant of probabilistic timed automata in which transition probabilities can depend linearly on clock values. Clock-dependent probabilistic timed automata allow the modelling of a continuous relationship between time passage

Many partial order methods use some special condition for ensuring that the analysis is not terminated prematurely. In the case of stubborn set methods for safety properties, implementation of the condition is usually based on recognizing the terminal strong components of the reduced state space and, if necessary, expanding the stubborn sets used in their roots. In an earlier study it was pointed out

The general position number ${\rm gp}(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the cardinality of a largest set of vertices $S$ such that no element of $S$ lies on a geodesic between two other elements of $S$. The complementary prism $G\overline{G}$ of $G$ is the graph formed from the disjoint union of $G$ and its complement $\overline{G}$ by adding the edges of a perfect matching between them. It is proved that ${\rm

In this paper, we study a certain case of a subgraph isomorphism problem. We consider the Hasse diagram of the lattice $M_{k}$ (the unique lattice with $k+2$ elements and one anti-chain of length $k$) and want to find the maximal $k$ for which it is isomorphic to a subgraph of the reduction graph a given one-rule string rewriting system. We obtain a complete characterization for this problem and show

We address the safety verification and synthesis problems for real-time systems. We introduce real-time programs that are made of instructions that can perform assignments to discrete and real-valued variables. They are general enough to capture interesting classes of timed systems such as timed automata, stopwatch automata, time(d) Petri nets and hybrid automata. We propose a semi-algorithm using

We construct a formula $\phi$ which axiomatizes non-narrow rectangular grids without using any binary relations other than the grid neighborship relations. As a corollary, we prove that a set $A \subseteq \mathbb{N}$ is a spectrum of a formula which has only planar models if numbers $n \in A$ can be recognized by a non-deterministic Turing machine (or a one-dimensional cellular automaton) in time $t(n)$

“What is an algorithm?” is a fundamental question of computer science. Gurevich’s behavioural theory of sequential algorithms (aka the sequential ASM thesis) gives an abstract answer without referring to a particular language or programming style, and shows that sequential algorithms are captured by sequential Abstract State Machines. Moschovakis criticised that recursive algorithms such as mergesort

Computing derivatives of tensor expressions, also known as tensor calculus, is a fundamental task in machine learning. A key concern is the efficiency of evaluating the expressions and their derivatives that hinges on the representation of these expressions. Recently, an algorithm for computing higher order derivatives of tensor expressions like Jacobians or Hessians has been introduced that is a few

Reasoning about exceptions in ontologies is nowadays one of the challenges the description logics community is facing. The paper describes a preferential approach for dealing with exceptions in Description Logics, based on the rational closure. The rational closure has the merit of providing a simple and efficient approach for reasoning with exceptions, but it does not allow independent handling of

State-of-the-art answer set programming (ASP) solvers rely on a program called a grounder to convert non-ground programs containing variables into variable-free, propositional programs. The size of this grounding depends heavily on the size of the non-ground rules, and thus, reducing the size of such rules is a promising approach to improve solving performance. To this end, in this paper we announce

Concolic testing is a well-known validation technique for imperative and object oriented programs. In a previous paper, we have introduced an adaptation of this technique to logic programming. At the heart of our framework lies a specific procedure that we call “selective unification”. It is used to generate appropriate run-time goals by considering all possible ways an atom can unify with the heads

Contrary to several other families of lambda terms, no closed formula or generating function is known and none of the sophisticated techniques devised in analytic combinatorics can currently help with counting or generating the set of simply-typed closed lambda terms of a given size. Moreover, their asymptotic scarcity among the set of closed lambda terms makes counting them via brute force generation

We present a formal translation of a resource-aware extension of the Abstract Behavioral Specification (ABS) language to the functional language Haskell. ABS is an actor-based language tailored to the modeling of distributed systems. It combines asynchronous method calls with a suspend and resume mode of execution of the method invocations. To cater for the resulting cooperative scheduling of the method

This work has been partially supported by the EU (FEDER) and Spanish MINECO under grant TIN2015-69175-C4-1-R, and and TIN2013-45732-C4-1-P, and by Generalitat Valenciana PROMETEOII/2015/013. Daniel Pardo was supported by FPU-ME grant FPU14/01830.

The Homeomorphic Embedding relation has been amply used for defining termination criteria of symbolic methods for program analysis, transformation, and verification. However, homeomorphic embedding has never been investigated in the context of order-sorted rewrite theories that support symbolic execution methods modulo equational axioms. This paper generalizes the symbolic homeomorphic embedding relation

Concurrent Constraint Programming (CCP) is a declarative model for concurrency where agents interact by telling and asking constraints (pieces of information) in a shared store. Some previous works have developed (approximated) declarative debuggers for CCP languages. However, the task of debugging concurrent programs remains difficult. In this paper we define a dynamic slicer for CCP (and other language

Basic pairs and their morphisms are the most elementary framework in which standard topological notions can be defined. We present here a new interpretation of topological concepts as those which can be communicated faithfully between the two sides of basic pairs. In particular, we prove that the subsets which can be communicated faithfully (in the suitable way) are exactly open subsets and closed

We study multigranulation spaces of two equivalences. The lattice-theoretical properties of so-called "optimistic" and "pessimistic" multigranular approximation systems are given. We also consider the ordered sets of rough sets determined by these approximation pairs.

When a Petri net is synthesised from a labelled transition system, it is frequently desirable that certain additional constraints are fulfilled. For example, in circuit design, one is often interested in constructing safe Petri nets. Targeting such subclasses of Petri nets is not necessarily computationally more efficient than targeting the whole class. For example, targeting safe nets is known to

Computing a mapping between two process models is a crucial technique, since it enables reasoning and operating across processes, like providing a similarity score between two processes, or merging different process variants to generate a consolidated process model. In this paper we present a new flexible technique for process model mapping, based on the relaxation labeling constraint satisfaction

A transition t stops a place/transition Petri net if each reachable marking of the net enables only finite occurrence sequences without occurrences of t (i.e., every infinite occurrence sequence enabled at this marking contains occurrences of t). Roughly speaking, when t is stopped then all transitions of the net stop eventually. This contribution shows how to identify stoptransitions of unbounded

It is well known that the set of powers of any given order, for example squares, in a regular language need not be regular. Nevertheless, finite automata can identify them via their roots. More precisely, we recall that, given a regular language L, the set of square roots of L is regular. The sameholds true for the nth roots for any n and for the set of all nontrivial roots; we give a concrete construction

For a family of sets we consider elements that belong to the same sets within the family as companions. The global dynamics of a reactions system (as introduced by Ehrenfeucht and Rozenberg) can be represented by a directed graph, called a transition graph, which is uniquely determined by a one-outsubgraph, called the 0-context graph. We consider the companion classes of the outsets of a transition

Denote by ш the operation of interleaving, or shuffling, of words. We prove that, given a regular language R and a letter-to-letter morphism φ, it is undecidable whether or not there exists a word ω such that ω ш φ(ω) ∩ R ≠ ø.

Crossover operators are very important components in Evolutionary Computation. Here we are interested in crossovers for the permutation representation that find applications in combinatorial optimization problems such as the permutation flowshop scheduling and the traveling salesman problem. We introduce three families of permutation crossovers based on algebraic properties of the permutation space

In critical infrastructures like airports, much care has to be devoted in protecting radio communication networks from external electromagnetic interference. Protection of such mission-critical radio communication networks is usually tackled by exploiting radiogoniometers: at least three suitably deployed radiogoniometers, and a gateway gathering information from them, permit to monitor and localise

In this work we investigate the performance of greedy randomised search (GRS) techniques to the problem of compiling quantum circuits to emerging quantum hardware. Quantum computing (QC) represents the next big step towards power consumption minimisation and CPU speed boost in the future of computing machines. Quantum computing uses quantum gates that manipulate multi-valued bits (qubits). A quantum

In Silico Clinical Trials (ISCT), i.e. clinical experimental campaigns carried out by means of computer simulations, hold the promise to decrease time and cost for the safety and efficacy assessment of pharmacological treatments, reduce the need for animal and human testing, and enable precision medicine. In this paper we present methods and an algorithm that, by means of extensive computer simulation-based

Some multi-agent scenarios call for the possibility of evaluating specifications in a richer domain of truth values.Examples include runtime monitoring of a temporal property over a growing prefix of an infinite path, inconsistency analysis in distributed databases, and verification methods that use incomplete anytime algorithms, such as bounded model checking. In this paper, we present multi-valued

Techniques to discover Petri nets from event data assume precisely one case identifier per event. These case identifiers are used to correlate events, and the resulting discovered Petri net aims to describe the life-cycle of individual cases. In reality, there is not one possible case notion, but multiple intertwined case notions. For example, events may refer to mixtures of orders, items, packages

Uncertain sequences are compact representations of sets of similar strings. They highlight common segments by collapsing them, and explicitly represent varying segments by listing all possible options. A generalized degenerate string (GD string) is a type of uncertain sequence. Formally, a GD string Ŝ is a sequence of n sets of strings of total size N , where the ith set contains strings of the same

We formalise and study multi-agent timed models MAPTs (Multi-Agent with Periodic timed Tasks), where each agent is associated with a regular timed schema upon which all possible actions of the agent rely. MAPTs allow for an accelerated semantics and a layered structure of the state space, so that it is possible to explore the latter dynamically and use heuristics to greatly reduce the computation time

Algorithms based on singleton arc consistency (SAC) show considerable promise for improving backtrack search algorithms for constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs). The drawback is that even the most efficient of them is still comparatively expensive. Even when limited to preprocessing, they give overall improvement only when problems are quite difficult to solve with more typical procedures such as