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We investigate the expressive power of quantifier alternation hierarchy of first-order logic over words. This hierarchy includes the classes ${\Sigma}_i$ (sentences having at most $i$ blocks of quantifiers starting with an $\exists$) and…
Probabilistic automata are an extension of nondeterministic finite automata in which transitions are annotated with probabilities. Despite its simplicity, this model is very expressive and many of the associated algorithmic questions are…
A locally testable language L is a language with the property that for some non negative integer k, called the order of local testability, whether or not a word u is in the language L depends on (1) the prefix and suffix of the word u of…
We study the structure of the language of binary cube-free words. Namely, we are interested in the cube-free words that cannot be infinitely extended preserving cube-freeness. We show the existence of such words with arbitrarily long finite…
We investigate the truth-table degrees of (co-)c.e.\ sets, in particular, sets of random strings. It is known that the set of random strings with respect to any universal prefix-free machine is Turing complete, but that truth-table…
This papers presents a detailed analysis of pseudocodewords of Tanner graphs. Pseudocodewords arising on the iterative decoder's computation tree are distinguished from pseudocodewords arising on finite degree lifts. Lower bounds on the…
We present an efficient algorithm for checking language equivalence of states in top-down deterministic finite tree automata (DFTAs). Unlike string automata, tree automata operate over hierarchical structures, posing unique challenges for…
A deterministic finite automaton (DFA) separates two strings $w$ and $x$ if it accepts $w$ and rejects $x$. The minimum number of states required for a DFA to separate $w$ and $x$ is denoted by $sep(w,x)$. The present paper shows that the…
Indexed languages are a classical notion in formal language theory, which has attracted attention in recent decades due to its role in higher-order model checking: They are precisely the languages accepted by order-2 pushdown automata. The…
Given a measure-preserving transformation $T$ of a probability space $(X, \mathcal B, \mu)$ and a finite measurable partition $P$ of $X$, we show how to construct an Alpern tower of any height whose base is independent of the partition $P$.…
We show that descriptive complexity's result extends in High Order Logic to capture the expressivity of Turing Machine which have a finite number of alternation and whose time or space is bounded by a finite tower of exponential. Hence we…
Separable codes were introduced to provide protection against illegal redistribution of copyrighted multimedia material. Let $\mathcal{C}$ be a code of length $n$ over an alphabet of $q$ letters. The descendant code ${\sf…
By algorithmic metatheorems for a model checking problem P over infinite-state systems we mean generic results that can be used to infer decidability (possibly complexity) of P not only over a specific class of infinite systems, but over a…
This paper explores the space of (propositional) probabilistic logical languages, ranging from a purely `qualitative' comparative language to a highly `quantitative' language involving arbitrary polynomials over probability terms. While…
We introduce in this article a new method to estimate the minimum distance of codes from algebraic surfaces. This lower bound is generic, i.e. can be applied to any surface, and turns out to be ``liftable'' under finite morphisms, paving…
We investigate quantifier alternation hierarchies in first-order logic on finite words. Levels in these hierarchies are defined by counting the number of quantifier alternations in formulas. We prove that one can decide membership of a…
After constructing a splitting tower for separable commutative ring objects in tensor-triangulated categories, we define and study their degree.
We study the relation between the standard two-way automata and more powerful devices, namely, two-way finite automata with an additional "pebble" movable along the input tape. Similarly as in the case of the classical two-way machines, it…
We show that for any $i > 0$, it is decidable, given a regular language, whether it is expressible in the $\Sigma_i[<]$ fragment of first-order logic FO[<]. This settles a question open since 1971. Our main technical result relies on the…
Patterns are words with terminals and variables. The language of a pattern is the set of words obtained by uniformly substituting all variables with words that contain only terminals. Length constraints restrict valid substitutions of…