Related papers: Model-Checking for Successor-Invariant First-Order…
Proofs are traditionally syntactic, inductively generated objects. This paper reformulates first-order logic (predicate calculus) with proofs which are graph-theoretic rather than syntactic. It defines a combinatorial proof of a formula…
It is shown that when in a higher order variational principle one fixes fields at the boundary leaving the field derivatives unconstrained, then the variational principle (in particular the solution space) is not invariant with respect to…
We study the complexity of the model checking problem, for fixed model A, over certain fragments L of first-order logic. These are sometimes known as the expression complexities of L. We obtain various complexity classification theorems for…
We use model-theoretic tools originating from stability theory to derive a result we call the Finitary Substitute Lemma, which intuitively says the following. Suppose we work in a stable graph class C, and using a first-order formula {\phi}…
A well-known result by Frick and Grohe shows that deciding FO logic on trees involves a parameter dependence that is a tower of exponentials. Though this lower bound is tight for Courcelle's theorem, it has been evaded by a series of recent…
We give sufficient conditions for a first order expansion of the real line to define the standard model of the monadic second order theory of one successor. Such an expansion does not satisfy any of the combinatorial tameness properties…
In this article we formally define and investigate the computational complexity of the Definability Problem for open first-order formulas (i.e., quantifier free first-order formulas) with equality. Given a logic $\mathbf{\mathcal{L}}$, the…
This work deals with defect structures in models described by scalar fields. The investigations focus on generalized models, with the kinetic term modified to allow for a diversity of possibilities. We develop a new framework, in which we…
The definition of stable models for propositional formulas with infinite conjunctions and disjunctions can be used to describe the semantics of answer set programming languages. In this note, we enhance that definition by introducing a…
The integration of first-principles models with learning-based components, i.e., model augmentation, has gained increasing attention, as it offers higher model accuracy and faster convergence properties compared to black-box approaches,…
We explore new interactions between finite model theory and classical streams of universal algebra and semigroup theory. A key result is an example of finite algebras whose variety is not finitely axiomatisable in first order logic, but…
First-order logic (FO) can express many algorithmic problems on graphs, such as the independent set and dominating set problem, parameterized by solution size. On the other hand, FO cannot express the very simple algorithmic question of…
Our "long term and large scale" aim is to characterize the first order theories T (at least the countable ones) such that: for every ordinal alpha there lambda,M_1,M_2 such that M_1,M_2 are non-isomorphic models of T of cardinality lambda…
Statistical relational models provide compact encodings of probabilistic dependencies in relational domains, but result in highly intractable graphical models. The goal of lifted inference is to carry out probabilistic inference without…
The lambda calculus is a widely accepted computational model of higher-order functional pro- grams, yet there is not any direct and universally accepted cost model for it. As a consequence, the computational difficulty of reducing lambda…
We study an extension of first-order logic that allows to express cardinality conditions in a similar way as SQL's COUNT operator. The corresponding logic FOC(P) was introduced by Kuske and Schweikardt (LICS'17), who showed that query…
In the present paper we consider controllability and observability of second order linear time invariant systems in matrix form. Without reducing into first order systems we show how the classical conditions for first order linear systems…
We present in this paper a first-order axiomatization of an extended theory $T$ of finite or infinite trees, built on a signature containing an infinite set of function symbols and a relation $\fini(t)$ which enables to distinguish between…
An important class of decidable first-order logic fragments are those satisfying a guardedness condition, such as the guarded fragment (GF). Usually, decidability for these logics is closely linked to the tree-like model property - the fact…
A finite set can be supplied with a group structure which can then be used to select (classes of) differential calculi on it via the notions of left-, right- and bicovariance. A corresponding framework has been developed by Woronowicz, more…