Related papers: Extension Preservation in the Finite and Prefix Cl…
We investigate a generalization of the {\L}o\'s-Tarski preservation theorem via the semantic notion of \emph{preservation under substructures modulo $k$-sized cores}. It was shown earlier that over arbitrary structures, this semantic notion…
We prove preservation theorems for $\mathcal{L}_{\omega_1, G}$, the countable fragment of Vaught's closed game logic. These are direct generalizations of the theorems of \L{}o\'s-Tarski (resp. Lyndon) on sentences of $\mathcal{L}_{\omega_1,…
This paper investigates the expressiveness of a fragment of first-order sentences in Gaifman normal form, namely the positive Boolean combinations of basic local sentences. We show that they match exactly the first-order sentences preserved…
We present new preservation theorems that semantically characterize the $\exists^k \forall^*$ and $\forall^k \exists^*$ prefix classes of first order logic, for each natural number $k$. Unlike preservation theorems in the literature that…
Preservation theorems provide a direct correspondence between the syntactic structure of first-order sentences and the closure properties of their respective classes of models. A line of work has explored preservation theorems relativised…
We study FO+, a fragment of first-order logic on finite words, where monadic predicates can only appear positively. We show that there is an FO-definable language that is monotone in monadic predicates but not definable in FO+. This…
We investigate the decidability and computational complexity of (deductive) conservative extensions in fragments of first-order logic (FO), with a focus on the two-variable fragment FO$^2$ and the guarded fragment GF. We prove that…
In this dissertation, we present for each natural number $k$, semantic characterizations of the $\exists^k \forall^*$ and $\forall^k \exists^*$ prefix classes of first order logic sentences, over all structures finite and infinite. This…
We study FO+, a fragment of first-order logic on finite words, where monadic predicates can only appear positively. We show that there is a FO-definable language that is monotone in monadic predicates but not definable in FO+. This provides…
We introduce a notion of weak definability of first order structures, show that various classification-theoretic properties are or are not preserved under it, and that the properties which are preserved can also be characterized in terms of…
This paper is a contribution to graded model theory, in the context of mathematical fuzzy logic. We study characterizations of classes of graded structures in terms of the syntactic form of their first-order axiomatization. We focus on…
We investigate a model-theoretic property that generalizes the classical notion of "preservation under substructures". We call this property \emph{preservation under substructures modulo bounded cores}, and present a syntactic…
This note contains some material promised in our earlier papers on submodel preservation and the guarded fragment, along with some information on the current status of the problems mentioned in these papers. Section 1 contains an early…
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…
Formalisms based on temporal logics interpreted over finite strict linear orders, known in the literature as finite traces, have been used for temporal specification in automated planning, process modelling, (runtime) verification and…
We study first-order logic over unordered structures whose elements carry a finite number of data values from an infinite domain which can be compared wrt. equality. As the satisfiability problem for this logic is undecidable in general, in…
The celebrated Trakhtenbrot's theorem states that the set of finitely valid sentences of first-order logic is not computably enumerable. In this note we will extend this theorem by proving that the finite satisfiability problem of any…
We study extensions of expressive decidable fragments of first-order logic with circumscription, in particular the two-variable fragment FO$^2$, its extension C$^2$ with counting quantifiers, and the guarded fragment GF. We prove that if…
Local-order-invariant (first-order) logic is an extension of first-order logic where formulae have access to a ternary local order relation on the Gaifman graph, provided that the truth value does not depend on the specific order relation…
We study the expressive power of the two-variable fragment of order-invariant first-order logic. This logic departs from first-order logic in two ways: first, formulas are only allowed to quantify over two variables. Second, formulas can…