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Selected Papers of the 24th International Conference on Foundations of Software Science and Computation Structures (FoSSaCS 2021)
Editors: Stefan Kiefer, Christine Tasson
1. Convexity via Weak Distributive Laws
We study the canonical weak distributive law $\delta$ of the powerset monad over the semimodule monad for a certain class of semirings containing, in particular, positive semifields. For this subclass we characterise $\delta$ as a convex closure in the free semimodule of a set. Using the abstract theory of weak distributive laws, we compose the powerset and the semimodule monads via $\delta$, obtaining the monad of convex subsets of the free semimodule.
2. A Finite Axiomatisation of Finite-State Automata Using String Diagrams
We develop a fully diagrammatic approach to finite-state automata, based on reinterpreting their usual state-transition graphical representation as a two-dimensional syntax of string diagrams. In this setting, we are able to provide a complete equational theory for language equivalence, with two notable features. First, the proposed axiomatisation is finite. Second, the Kleene star is a derived concept, as it can be decomposed into more primitive algebraic blocks.
3. Fixpoint Theory -- Upside Down
Knaster-Tarski's theorem, characterising the greatest fixpoint of a monotone function over a complete lattice as the largest post-fixpoint, naturally leads to the so-called coinduction proof principle for showing that some element is below the greatest fixpoint (e.g., for providing bisimilarity witnesses). The dual principle, used for showing that an element is above the least fixpoint, is related to inductive invariants. In this paper we provide proof rules which are similar in spirit but for showing that an element is above the greatest fixpoint or, dually, below the least fixpoint. The theory is developed for non-expansive monotone functions on suitable lattices of the form $\mathbb{M}^Y$, where $Y$ is a finite set and $\mathbb{M}$ an MV-algebra, and it is based on the construction of (finitary) approximations of the original functions. We show that our theory applies to a wide range of examples, including termination probabilities, metric transition systems, behavioural distances for probabilistic automata and bisimilarity. Moreover it allows us to determine original algorithms for solving simple stochastic games.
4. Finding Cut-Offs in Leaderless Rendez-Vous Protocols is Easy
In rendez-vous protocols an arbitrarily large number of indistinguishable finite-state agents interact in pairs. The cut-off problem asks if there exists a number $B$ such that all initial configurations of the protocol with at least $B$ agents in a given initial state can reach a final configuration with all agents in a given final state. In a recent paper (Horn and Sangnier, CONCUR 2020), Horn and Sangnier proved that the cut-off problem is decidable (and at least as hard as the Petri net reachability problem) for protocols with a leader, and in EXPSPACE for leaderless protocols. Further, for the special class of symmetric protocols they reduce these bounds to PSPACE and NP, respectively. The problem of lowering these upper bounds or finding matching lower bounds was left open. We show that the cut-off problem is P-complete for leaderless protocols and in NC for leaderless symmetric protocols. Further, we also consider a variant of the cut-off problem suggested in (Horn and Sangnier, CONCUR 2020), which we call the bounded-loss cut-off problem and prove that this problem is P-complete for leaderless protocols and NL-complete for leaderless symmetric protocols. Finally, by reusing some of the techniques applied for the analysis of leaderless protocols, we show that the cut-off problem for symmetric protocols with a leader is NP-complete, thereby improving upon all the elementary upper bounds of (Horn and Sangnier, CONCUR 2020).