Related papers: Proving that a Tree Language is not First-Order De…
We study first-order logic (FO) over the structure consisting of finite words over some alphabet $A$, together with the (non-contiguous) subword ordering. In terms of decidability of quantifier alternation fragments, this logic is…
Regular tree grammars and regular path expressions constitute core constructs widely used in programming languages and type systems. Nevertheless, there has been little research so far on reasoning frameworks for path expressions where node…
A logic is presented for reasoning on iterated sequences of formulae over some given base language. The considered sequences, or "schemata", are defined inductively, on some algebraic structure (for instance the natural numbers, the lists,…
We formalize an existing computability-theoretic method of presenting first-order structures whose domains have the cardinality of the continuum. Work using these methods until now has emphasized their topological properties. We shift the…
The theory of finite term algebras provides a natural framework to describe the semantics of functional languages. The ability to efficiently reason about term algebras is essential to automate program analysis and verification for…
We introduce a first-order theory of finite full binary trees and then identify decidable and undecidable fragments of this theory. We show that the analogue of Hilbert`s 10th Problem is undecidable by constructing a many-to-one reduction…
We consider a temporal logic EF+F^-1 for unranked, unordered finite trees. The logic has two operators: EF\phi, which says "in some proper descendant \phi holds", and F^-1\phi, which says "in some proper ancestor \phi holds". We present an…
Logic languages based on the theory of rational, possibly infinite, trees have much appeal in that rational trees allow for faster unification (due to the safe omission of the occurs-check) and increased expressivity (cyclic terms can…
It is an open problem whether definability in Propositional Dynamic Logic (PDL) on forests is decidable. Based on an algebraic characterization by Boja\'nczyk, et. al.,(2012) in terms of forest algebras, Straubing (2013) described an…
In many instances in first order logic or computable algebra, classical theorems show that many problems are undecidable for general structures, but become decidable if some rigidity is imposed on the structure. For example, the set of…
Regular tree grammars and regular path expressions constitute core constructs widely used in programming languages and type systems. Nevertheless, there has been little research so far on frameworks for reasoning about path expressions…
We address questions of logic and expressibility in the context of random rooted trees. Infiniteness of a rooted tree is not expressible as a first order sentence, but is expressible as an existential monadic second order sentence (EMSO).…
We consider finite trees with edges labeled by letters on a finite alphabet $\varSigma$. Each pair of nodes defines a unique labeled path whose trace is a word of the free monoid $\varSigma^*$. The set of all such words defines the language…
We classify essential algebras whose irredundant non-refinable covers consist of primal algebras. The proof is obtained by constructing one to one correspondence between such algebras and partial orders on finite sets. Further, we prove…
We study the portraits of isometries of rooted trees - the labelling of the tree, at each vertex, by the permutation of its descendants - in terms of languages. We characterize regularly branched self-similar groups in terms of…
Quasi-trees generalize trees in that the unique "path" between two nodes may be infinite and have any countable order type. They are used to define the rank-width of a countable graph in such a way that it is equal to the least upper-bound…
We consider the termination/non-termination property of a class of loops. Such loops are commonly used abstractions of real program pieces. Second-order logic is a convenient language to express non-termination. Of course, such property is…
One of the major open problems in automata and logic is the following: is there an algorithm which inputs a regular tree language and decides if the language can be defined in first-order logic? The goal of this paper is to present this…
We examine languages of unranked forests definable using the temporal operators EF and EX. We characterize the languages definable in this logic, and various fragments thereof, using the syntactic forest algebras introduced by Bojanczyk and…
Various feature descriptions are being employed in logic programming languages and constrained-based grammar formalisms. The common notational primitive of these descriptions are functional attributes called features. The descriptions…