Related papers: A short proof that $O_2$ is an MCFL
Operator precedence grammars define a classical Boolean and deterministic context-free family (called Floyd languages or FLs). FLs have been shown to strictly include the well-known visibly pushdown languages, and enjoy the same nice…
Given a right-infinite word $\bf x$ over a finite alphabet $A$, the rank of $\bf x$ is the size of the smallest set $S$ of words over $A$ such that $\bf x$ can be realized as an infinite concatenation of words in $S$. We show that the…
A prefix grammar is a context-free grammar whose nonterminals generate prefix-free languages. A prefix grammar $G$ is an ordinal grammar if the language $L(G)$ is well-ordered with respect to the lexicographic ordering. It is known that…
We consider two-variable first-order logic $\text{FO}^2$ and its quantifier alternation hierarchies over both finite and infinite words. Our main results are forbidden patterns for deterministic automata (finite words) and for Carton-Michel…
In a recent paper (M. Barash, A. Okhotin, "Defining contexts in context-free grammars", LATA 2012), the authors introduced an extension of the context-free grammars equipped with an operator for referring to the left context of the…
The purpose of this work is to complete the algebraic foundations of second-order languages from the viewpoint of categorical algebra as developed by Lawvere. To this end, this paper introduces the notion of second-order algebraic theory…
We have proposed that ontologies and programming languages should be more closely aligned. Specifically, we have argued that the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO2) has many features that are consistent with object-oriented analysis, design, and…
Since the early Sixties and Seventies it has been known that the regular and context-free languages are characterized by definability in the monadic second-order theory of certain structures. More recently, these descriptive…
Let $G$ be a quasi-transitive, locally finite, connected graph rooted at a vertex $o$, and let $c_n(o)$ be the number of self-avoiding walks of length $n$ on $G$ starting at $o$. We show that if $G$ has only thin ends, then the generating…
We consider two-variable first-order logic on finite words with a fixed number of quantifier alternations. We show that all languages with a neutral letter definable using the order and finite-degree predicates are also definable with the…
We prove that every proper subclass of the 321-avoiding permutations that is defined either by only finitely many additional restrictions or is well quasi-ordered has a rational generating function. To do so we show that any such class is…
We give another proof of a theorem of Fife - understood broadly as providing a finite automaton that gives a complete description of all infinite binary overlap-free words. Our proof is significantly simpler than those in the literature. As…
A recent study on structural properties of regular and context-free languages has greatly promoted our basic understandings of the complex behaviors of those languages. We continue the study to examine how regular languages behave when they…
We show that many classical decision problems about 1-counter omega-languages, context free omega-languages, or infinitary rational relations, are $\Pi_2^1$-complete, hence located at the second level of the analytical hierarchy, and…
The operator precedence languages (OPLs) represent the largest known subclass of the context-free languages which enjoys all desirable closure and decidability properties. This includes the decidability of language inclusion, which is the…
This paper focuses on the analysis of open-ended questions answered in different languages. Closed-ended questions, called contextual variables, are asked to all respondents in order to understand the relationships between the free and the…
We study the language-theoretic properties of the word problem, in the sense of Duncan & Gilman, of weakly compressible monoids, as defined by Adian & Oganesian. We show that if $\mathcal{C}$ is a reversal-closed super-$\operatorname{AFL}$,…
We analyse the expressiveness of the two-valued semantics of abstract argumentation frameworks, normal logic programs and abstract dialectical frameworks. By expressiveness we mean the ability to encode a desired set of two-valued…
The regular languages with a neutral letter expressible in first-order logic with one alternation are characterized. Specifically, it is shown that if an arbitrary $\Sigma_2$ formula defines a regular language with a neutral letter, then…
We study the positive logic FO+ on finite words, and its fragments, pursuing and refining the work initiated in [Kuperberg 2023]. First, we transpose notorious logic equivalences into positive first-order logic: FO+ is equivalent to LTL+ ,…