Related papers: Hereditary First-Order Logic: the tractable quanti…

The search for a logic capturing PTIME is a long standing open problem in finite model theory. One of the most promising candidate logics for this is Choiceless Polynomial Time with counting (CPT). Abstractly speaking, CPT is an…

Let \phi be a first order formula and M be a countable model. \phi^M denotes the set of all assignments that satisfy \phi in M. Let M, N be countable models. A formula \phi distinguishes these models if |\phi^M|\neq |\phi^N|. We show that…

We consider the problems of deciding whether an input graph can be modified by removing/adding at most k vertices/edges such that the result of the modification satisfies some property definable in first-order logic. We establish a number…

We introduce tree-width for first order formulae \phi, fotw(\phi). We show that computing fotw is fixed-parameter tractable with parameter fotw. Moreover, we show that on classes of formulae of bounded fotw, model checking is fixed…

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,…

Let $R$ be a characteristic $p$ discrete valuation ring with field of fractions $K$. Let $H$ be a commutative, cocommutative $K$-Hopf algebra of $p$-power rank which is generated as a $K$-algebra by primitive elements. We construct all of…

We investigate the following problem: given a sample of classified strings, find a first-order sentence of minimal quantifier rank that is consistent with the sample. We represent strings as successor string structures, that is, finite…

Continuous first-order logic is used to apply model-theoretic analysis to analytic structures (e.g. Hilbert spaces, Banach spaces, probability spaces, etc.). Classical computable model theory is used to examine the algorithmic structure of…

We study property testing of properties that are definable in first-order logic (FO) in the bounded-degree graph and relational structure models. We show that any FO property that is defined by a formula with quantifier prefix…

It is well-known that every first-order property on words is expressible using at most three variables. The subclass of properties expressible with only two variables is also quite interesting and well-studied. We prove precise structure…

Increasingly, inheritance hierarchies are being used to reduce redundancy in natural language processing lexicons. Systems that utilize inheritance hierarchies need to be able to insert words under the optimal set of classes in these…

Proofs are traditionally syntactic, inductively generated objects. This paper reformulates first-order logic (predicate calculus) with proofs which are graph-theoretic rather than syntactic. It defines a combinatorial proof of a formula…

We first show that infinite satisfiability can be reduced to finite satisfiability for all prenex formulas of Separation Logic with $k\geq1$ selector fields ($\seplogk{k}$). Second, we show that this entails the decidability of the finite…

We use model-theoretic tools originating from stability theory to derive a result we call the Finitary Substitute Lemma, which intuitively says the following. Suppose we work in a stable graph class C, and using a first-order formula {\phi}…

We show that for any $i > 0$, it is decidable, given a regular language, whether it is expressible in the $\Sigma_i[<]$ fragment of first-order logic FO[<]. This settles a question open since 1971. Our main technical result relies on the…

It is known that first-order logic with some counting extensions can be efficiently evaluated on graph classes with bounded expansion, where depth-$r$ minors have constant density. More precisely, the formulas are $\exists x_1 ... x_k \#y…

We present in this paper a first-order axiomatization of an extended theory $T$ of finite or infinite trees, built on a signature containing an infinite set of function symbols and a relation $\fini(t)$ which enables to distinguish between…

The authors and Fischer recently proved that any hereditary property of two-dimensional matrices (where the row and column order is not ignored) over a finite alphabet is testable with a constant number of queries, by establishing the…

Seeking the largest solution to an expression of the form A x <= B is a common task in several domains of engineering and computer science. This largest solution is commonly called quotient. Across domains, the meanings of the binary…

We show that including degrees of a particular kind of provability in the search target for any theorem-prover in sufficiently powerful formal systems over finite-sized statements preserves well-definition and a sufficient consistency while…