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Many problems of theoretical and practical interest involve finding an optimum over a family of convex functions. For instance, finding the projection on the convex functions in $H^k(\Omega)$, and optimizing functionals arising from some…
Using a novel rewriting problem, we show that several natural decision problems about finite automata are undecidable (i.e., recursively unsolvable). In contrast, we also prove three related problems are decidable. We apply one result to…
A linear constraint loop is specified by a system of linear inequalities that define the relation between the values of the program variables before and after a single execution of the loop body. In this paper we consider the problem of…
Deciding the positivity of a sequence defined by a linear recurrence with polynomial coefficients and initial condition is difficult in general. Even in the case of recurrences with constant coefficients, it is known to be decidable only…
We show that in a parametric family of linear recurrence sequences $a_1(\alpha) f_1(\alpha)^n + \ldots + a_k(\alpha) f_k(\alpha)^n$ with the coefficients $a_i$ and characteristic roots $f_i$, $i=1, \ldots,k$, given by rational functions…
We show that only a rather small proportion of linear equations are solvable in elements of a fixed finitely generated subgroup of a multiplicative group of a number field. The argument is based on modular techniques combined with a…
Motivated by the quest for a logic for PTIME and recent insights that the descriptive complexity of problems from linear algebra is a crucial aspect of this problem, we study the solvability of linear equation systems over finite groups and…
Maximum likelihood iteration is one of the most commonly used reconstruction algorithms in quantum tomography. The main appeal of the method is that it is easy to implement and that it converges reliably to a physically meaningful density…
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 Delone sets with finite local complexity. We characterize validity of a subadditive ergodic theorem by uniform positivity of certain weights. The latter can be considered to be an averaged version of linear repetitivity. In this…
We study orbit-finite systems of linear equations, in the setting of sets with atoms. Our principal contribution is a decision procedure for solvability of such systems. The procedure works for every field (and even commutative ring) under…
Transductions are binary relations of finite words. For rational transductions, i.e., transductions defined by finite transducers, the inclusion, equivalence and sequential uniformisation problems are known to be undecidable. In this paper,…
Linear-constraint loops are programs whose transition relation is specified by a system of linear inequalities. The termination problem asks, given a loop, whether it admits an infinite computation. Decidability of termination remains open…
This paper discusses limitations of reflexive and diagonal arguments as methods of proof of limitative theorems (e.g. G\"odel's theorem on Entscheidungsproblem, Turing's halting problem or Chaitin-G\"odel's theorem). The fact, that a formal…
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…
In some particular cases we give criteria for morphic sequences to be almost periodic (=uniformly recurrent). Namely, we deal with fixed points of non-erasing morphisms and with automatic sequences. In both cases a polynomial-time algorithm…
We study the model-checking problem for recursion schemes: does the tree generated by a given higher-order recursion scheme satisfy a given logical sentence. The problem is known to be decidable for sentences of the MSO logic. We prove…
We prove several decidability and undecidability results for the satisfiability and validity problems for languages that can express solutions to word equations with length constraints. The atomic formulas over this language are equality…
Nonlinear matrix equations arise in many practical contexts related to control theory, dynamical programming and finite element methods for solving some partial differential equations. In most of these applications, it is needed to compute…
We extend classical methods of computational complexity to the realm of distributed computing, where they sometimes prove more effective than in their original context. Our focus is on decision problems in the LOCAL model, a setting in…