Related papers: Fife's Theorem Revisited
Model checking properties are often described by means of finite automata. Any particular such automaton divides the set of infinite trees into finitely many classes, according to which state has an infinite run. Building the full type…
We consider words over a binary alphabet. A word $w$ is overlap-free if it does not have factors (blocks of consecutive letters) of the form $uvuvu$ for nonempty $u$. Let $M(w)$ denote the number of positions that are middle positions of…
This paper studies infinite graphs produced from a natural unfolding operation applied to finite graphs. Graphs produced via such operations are of finite degree and automatic over the unary alphabet (that is, they can be described by…
Inspired by distributed algorithms, we introduce a new class of finite graph automata that recognize precisely the graph languages definable in monadic second-order logic. For the cases of words and trees, it has been long known that the…
We describe a technique for mechanically proving certain kinds of theorems in combinatorics on words, using automata and a package for manipulating them. We illustrate our technique by solving, purely mechanically, an open problem of Currie…
We prove that, paying a polynomial increase in size only, every unrestricted two-way nondeterministic finite automaton (2NFA) can be complemented by a 1-limited automaton (1-LA), a nondeterministic extension of 2NFAs still characterizing…
We generalize some of the central results in automata theory to the abstraction level of coalgebras and thus lay out the foundations of a universal theory of automata operating on infinite objects. Let F be any set functor that preserves…
Alternating parity automata (APAs) provide a robust formalism for modelling infinite behaviours and play a central role in formal verification. Despite their widespread use, the algebraic theory underlying APAs has remained largely…
We introduce the notion of unavoidable (complete) sets of word patterns, which is a refinement for that of words, and study certain numerical characteristics for unavoidable sets of patterns. In some cases we employ the graph of pattern…
In this work we introduce a notion of independence based on finite-state automata: two infinite words are independent if no one helps to compress the other using one-to-one finite-state transducers with auxiliary input. We prove that, as…
In 2013, Fici and Zamboni proved a number of theorems about finite and infinite words having only a small number of factors that are palindromes. In this paper we rederive some of their results, and obtain some new ones, by a different…
This paper presents a sequent calculus and a dual domain semantics for a theory of definite descriptions in which these expressions are formalised in the context of complete sentences by a binary quantifier $I$. $I$ forms a formula from two…
We study the existence of automatic presentations for various algebraic structures. An automatic presentation of a structure is a description of the universe of the structure by a regular set of words, and the interpretation of the…
We define a new subclass of nondeterministic finite automata for prefix-closed languages called Flanked Finite Automata (FFA). We show that this class enjoys good complexity properties while preserving the succinctness of nondeterministic…
Let $F_n$ be the free group of a finite rank $n$. We study orbits $Orb_{\phi}(u)$, where $u$ is an element of the group $F_n$, under the action of an automorphism $\phi$. If an orbit like that is finite, we determine precisely what its…
Hereditarily finite (HF) set theory provides a standard universe of sets, but with no infinite sets. Its utility is demonstrated through a formalisation of the theory of regular languages and finite automata, including the Myhill-Nerode…
The theorem of factorisation forests shows the existence of nested factorisations -- a la Ramsey -- for finite words. This theorem has important applications in semigroup theory, and beyond. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the…
We revisit a technique of S. Lehr on automata and use it to prove old and new results in a simple way. We give a very simple proof of the 1986 theorem of Honkala that it is decidable whether a given k-automatic sequence is ultimately…
We analyse the pseudofinite monadic second order theory of words over a fixed finite alphabet. In particular we present an axiomatisation of this theory, working in a one-sorted first order framework. The analysis hinges on the fact that…
A notion of alternating timed automata is proposed. It is shown that such automata with only one clock have decidable emptiness problem over finite words. This gives a new class of timed languages which is closed under boolean operations…