Related papers: A Sharper Upper Bound for the Separating Words Pro…

Let $r \ge 2$ and $s \ge 2$ be multiplicatively dependent integers. We establish a lower bound for the sum of the block complexities of the $r$-ary expansion and of the $s$-ary expansion of an irrational real number, viewed as infinite…

We introduce layered automata, a subclass of alternating parity automata that generalises deterministic automata. Assuming a consistency property, these automata are history deterministic and 0-1 probabilistic. We show that every…

Let $NFA_b(q)$ denote the set of languages accepted by nondeterministic finite automata with $q$ states over an alphabet with $b$ letters. Let $B_n$ denote the set of words of length $n$. We give a quadratic lower bound on the VC dimension…

We consider the value 1 problem for probabilistic automata over finite words: it asks whether a given probabilistic automaton accepts words with probability arbitrarily close to 1. This problem is known to be undecidable. However, different…

In this paper, we present a proof of the NP-completeness of computing the smallest Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) that distinguishes two given regular languages as DFAs. A distinguishing DFA is an automaton that recognizes a language…

Minimizing the size of finite automata is a fundamental problem in theoretical computer science. Beyond standard minimization, further reductions can be achieved by decomposing an automaton into smaller components whose languages combine…

Given a regular language $L$, we study the language of words $\mathsf{D}(L)$, that distinguish between pairs of different left-quotients of $L$. We characterize this distinguishability operation, show that its iteration has always a fixed…

Let $N_n(X)$ denote the number of degree $n$ number fields with discriminant bounded by $X$. In this note, we improve the best known upper bounds on $N_n(X)$, finding that $N_n(X) = O(X^{ c (\log n)^2})$ for an explicit constant $c$.

Let $s(n)$ be the number of different remainders $n \bmod k$, where $1 \leq k \leq \lfloor n/2 \rfloor$. This rather natural sequence is sequence A283190 in the OEIS and while some basic facts are known, it seems that surprisingly it has…

We present an infinite series of $n$-state Eulerian automata whose reset words have length at least $(n^2-3)/2$. This improves the current lower bound on the length of shortest reset words in Eulerian automata. We conjecture that…

While the complexity of translating future linear temporal logic (LTL) into automata on infinite words is well-understood, the size increase involved in turning automata back to LTL is not. In particular, there is no known elementary bound…

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 explore a natural class of semigroups that have word problem decidable by finite state automata. Among the main results are invariance of this property under change of generators, invariance under basic algebraic constructions and…

We show that the word problem for an amalgam $[S_1,S_2;U,\omega_1,\omega_2]$ of inverse semigroups may be undecidable even if we assume $S_1$ and $S_2$ (and therefore $U$) to have finite $\mathcal{R}$-classes and $\omega_1,\omega_2$ to be…

We consider the length of the longest word definable in FO and MSO via a formula of size n. For both logics we obtain as an upper bound for this number an exponential tower of height linear in n. We prove this by counting types with respect…

We prove that, paying a polynomial increase in size only, every unrestricted two-way nondeterministic finite automaton (2NFA) can be complemented by a 1-limited automaton (1-LA), a nondeterministic extension of 2NFAs still characterizing…

The notion of an automaton over a changing alphabet $X=(X_i)_{i\geq 1}$ is used to define and study automorphism groups of the tree $X^*$ of finite words over $X$. The concept of bi-reversibility for Mealy-type automata is extended to…

Separation is a classical problem asking whether, given two sets belonging to some class, it is possible to separate them by a set from a smaller class. We discuss the separation problem for regular languages. We give a Ptime algorithm to…

We show the diagonal problem for higher-order pushdown automata (HOPDA), and hence the simultaneous unboundedness problem, is decidable. From recent work by Zetzsche this means that we can construct the downward closure of the set of words…

Alternating timed automata on infinite words are considered. The main result is a characterization of acceptance conditions for which the emptiness problem for these automata is decidable. This result implies new decidability results for…