Related papers: Existential Definability over the Subword Ordering

We study the positive logic FO+ on finite words, and its fragments, pursuing and refining the work initiated in [Kuperberg 2023]. First, we transpose notorious logic equivalences into positive first-order logic: FO+ is equivalent to LTL+ ,…

Let $K$ be a large field such that $K[\sqrt{-1}]$ is not algebraically closed and $F/K$ a function field in one variable. Extending techniques and results from earlier work with Becher and Dittmann, we show that every valuation ring on $F$…

We study an extension of FO^2[<], first-order logic interpreted in finite words, in which formulas are restricted to use only two variables. We adjoin to this language two-variable atomic formulas that say, `the letter a appears between…

We prove that, similarly to known PSpace-completeness of recognising FO(<)-definability of the language L(A) of a DFA A, deciding both FO(<,C)- and FO(<,MOD)-definability are PSpace-complete. (Here, FO(<,C) extends the first-order logic…

We show that the finite satisfiability problem for the unary negation fragment with arbitrary number of transitive relations is decidable and 2-ExpTime-complete. Our result actually holds for a more general setting in which one can require…

We can measure the complexity of a logical formula by counting the number of alternations between existential and universal quantifiers. Suppose that an elementary first-order formula $\varphi$ (in $\mathcal{L}_{\omega,\omega}$) is…

Interval temporal logics provide a general framework for temporal reasoning about interval structures over linearly ordered domains, where intervals are taken as the primitive ontological entities. In this paper, we identify all fragments…

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…

For a fixed countably infinite structure \Gamma\ with finite relational signature \tau, we study the following computational problem: input are quantifier-free \tau-formulas \phi_0,\phi_1,...,\phi_n that define relations R_0,R_1,...,R_n…

Query answering under existential rules -- implications with existential quantifiers in the head -- is known to be decidable when imposing restrictions on the rule bodies such as frontier-guardedness [BLM10, BLMS11]. Query answering is also…

Recently, symbolic structures were proposed as finite representations of potentially infinite first-order structures, where Linear Integer Arithmetic terms and formulas define the domain and interpretations of a structure. We generalize…

We provide a decidable characterization of regular forest languages definable in FO2(<h,<v). By FO2(<h,<v) we refer to the two variable fragment of first order logic built from the descendant relation and the following sibling relation. In…

We show that if we enrich first order logic by allowing quantification over isomorphisms between definable ordered fields the resulting logic, L(Q_{Of}), is fully compact. In this logic, we can give standard compactness proofs of various…

We show that the first-order theory of structural subtyping of non-recursive types is decidable. Let $\Sigma$ be a language consisting of function symbols (representing type constructors) and $C$ a decidable structure in the relational…

A variety V has definable factor congruences if and only if factor congruences can be defined by a first-order formula Phi having central elements as parameters. We prove that if Phi can be chosen to be existential, factor congruences in…

Over finite words, languages of dot-depth one are expressively complete for alternation-free first-order logic. This fragment is also known as the Boolean closure of existential first-order logic. Here, the atomic formulas comprise order,…

We define a fragment of monadic infinitary second-order logic corresponding to an abstract separation property. We use this to define the concept of a separation subclass. We use model theoretic techniques and games to show that separation…

In this paper, we show that a partitioned formula \phi is dependent if and only if \phi has uniform definability of types over finite partial order indiscernibles. This generalizes our result from a previous paper [1]. We show this by…

The one-variable fragment of a first-order logic may be viewed as an "S5-like" modal logic, where the universal and existential quantifiers are replaced by box and diamond modalities, respectively. Axiomatizations of these modal logics have…

We identify a number of decidable and undecidable fragments of first-order concatenation theory. We also give a purely universal axiomatization which is complete for the fragments we identify. Furthermore, we prove some normal-form results.