Related papers: Fixed-parameter tractability, definability, and mo…
To answer database queries over incomplete data the gold standard is finding certain answers: those that are true regardless of how incomplete data is interpreted. Such answers can be found efficiently for conjunctive queries and their…
We study the classical problem of computing geometric thickness, i.e., finding a straight-line drawing of an input graph and a partition of its edges into as few parts as possible so that each part is crossing-free. Since the problem is…
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…
We consider the hardness of approximation of optimization problems from the point of view of definability. For many NP-hard optimization problems it is known that, unless P = NP, no polynomial-time algorithm can give an approximate solution…
Partially ordered automata are automata where the transition relation induces a partial order on states. The expressive power of partially ordered automata is closely related to the expressivity of fragments of first-order logic on finite…
Within the model-theoretic framework for supervised learning introduced by Grohe and Tur\'an (TOCS 2004), we study the parameterized complexity of learning concepts definable in monadic second-order logic (MSO). We show that the problem of…
We address the problem of characterizing $H$-coloring problems that are first-order definable on a fixed class of relational structures. In this context, we give several characterizations of a homomorphism dualities arising in a class of…
The paper is a first of two and aims to show that (assuming large cardinals) set theory is a tractable (and we dare to say tame) first order theory when formalized in a first order signature with natural predicate symbols for the basic…
Models of a generalized nondeterminism are defined by limitations on nonde- terministic behavior of a computing device. A regular realizability problem is a problem of verifying existence of a special sort word in a regular language. These…
The model checking problem for various fragments of first-order logic has attracted much attention over the last two decades: in particular, for the primitive positive and the positive Horn fragments, which are better known as the…
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…
Incorporating constraints is a major concern in probabilistic machine learning. A wide variety of problems require predictions to be integrated with reasoning about constraints, from modelling routes on maps to approving loan predictions.…
We indicate a way of distinguishing between structures, for which, two structures are said to be separable.Being separable implies being non-isomorphic. We show that for any first order theory $T$ in a countable language, if it has an…
We investigate the parameterized computational complexity of the satisfiability problem for modal logic and attempt to pinpoint relevant structural parameters which cause the problem's combinatorial explosion, beyond the number of…
Inspired by a width invariant defined on permutations by Guillemot and Marx [SODA '14], we introduce the notion of twin-width on graphs and on matrices. Proper minor-closed classes, bounded rank-width graphs, map graphs, $K_t$-free unit…
We describe simple algebraic and combinatorial characterisations of finite relational core structures admitting finitely many obstructions. As a consequence, we show that it is decidable to determine whether a constraint satisfaction…
The complexity of the problem of deciding properties expressible in FO logic on graphs -- the FO model checking problem (parameterized by the respective FO formula), is well-understood on so-called sparse graph classes, but much less…
Superposition is an established decision procedure for a variety of first-order logic theories represented by sets of clauses. A satisfiable theory, saturated by superposition, implicitly defines a minimal term-generated model for the…
We study first-order logic over unordered structures whose elements carry a finite number of data values from an infinite domain which can be compared wrt. equality. As the satisfiability problem for this logic is undecidable in general, in…
The unification problem in a propositional logic is to determine, given a formula F, whether there exists a substitution s such that s(F) is in that logic. In that case, s is a unifier of F. When a unifiable formula has minimal complete…