Related papers: Positive First-order Logic on Words and Graphs
We analyse the pseudofinite monadic second order theory of words over a fixed finite alphabet. In particular we present an axiomatisation of this theory, working in a one-sorted first order framework. The analysis hinges on the fact that…
First-order logic is known to have limited expressive power over finite structures. It enjoys in particular the locality property, which states that first-order formulae cannot have a global view of a structure. This limitation ensures on…
Order-invariant formulas access an ordering on a structure's universe, but the model relation is independent of the used ordering. Order invariance is frequently used for logic-based approaches in computer science. Order-invariant formulas…
We introduce the finite-horizon first-order rank profile of a language $L \subseteq \Sigma^*$: the least quantifier rank needed by an $\mathrm{FO}[<]$ sentence to classify membership in $L$ correctly on all words of length at most $n$. The…
For every $q\in \mathbb N$ let $\textrm{FO}_q$ denote the class of sentences of first-order logic FO of quantifier rank at most $q$. If a graph property can be defined in $\textrm{FO}_q$, then it can be decided in time $O(n^q)$. Thus,…
We consider the two-variable fragment FO^2[<] of first-order logic over finite words. Numerous characterizations of this class are known. Th\'erien and Wilke have shown that it is decidable whether a given regular language is definable in…
For fragments L of first-order logic (FO) with counting quantifiers, we consider the definability problem, which asks whether a given L-formula can be equivalently expressed by a formula in some fragment of L without counting, and the more…
We study Monadic Second-Order Logic (MSO) over finite words, extended with (non-uniform arbitrary) monadic predicates. We show that it defines a class of languages that has algebraic, automata-theoretic and machine-independent…
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…
An important characteristic of many logics for Artificial Intelligence is their nonmonotonicity. This means that adding a formula to the premises can invalidate some of the consequences. There may, however, exist formulae that can always be…
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…
We study the algorithmic properties of first-order monomodal logics of frames $\langle \mathbb{N}, \leq \rangle$, $\langle \mathbb{N}, < \rangle$, $\langle \mathbb{Q}, \leq \rangle$, $\langle \mathbb{Q}, < \rangle$, $\langle \mathbb{R},…
The paper considers algorithmic properties of classical and non-classical first-order logics and theories in bounded languages. The main idea is to prove the undecidability of various fragments of classical and non-classical first-order…
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…
Hilbert's Entscheidungsproblem has given rise to a broad and productive line of research in mathematical logic, where the classification process of decidable classes of first-order sentences represent only one of the remarkable results.…
The use of monoids in the study of word languages recognized by finite-state automata has been quite fruitful. In this work, we look at the same idea of "recognizability by finite monoids" for other monoids. In particular, we attempt to…
Tractability results for the model checking problem of logics yield powerful algorithmic meta theorems of the form: Every computational problem expressible in a logic $L$ can be solved efficiently on every class $\mathscr{C}$ of structures…
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 compare the expressiveness of two extensions of monadic second-order logic (MSO) over the class of finite structures. The first, counting monadic second-order logic (CMSO), extends MSO with first-order modulo-counting quantifiers,…
We show that the decidability of the first-order theory of the language that combines Boolean algebras of sets of uninterpreted elements with Presburger arithmetic operations. We thereby disprove a recent conjecture that this theory is…