Complexity-Theoretic Hierarchies Induced by Fragments of Gödel’s T

We introduce two hierarchies of unknown ordinal height. The hierarchies are induced by natural fragments of a calculus based on finite types and Gödel’s T, and all the classes in the hierarchies are uniformly defined without referring to explicit bounds. Deterministic complexity classes like logspace, p, pspace, linspace and exp are captured by the hierarchies. Typical subrecursive classes are also captured, e.g. the small relational Grzegorczyk classes ? _* ⁰ , ? _* ¹ and ? _* ² .     

Caesar: an intelligent domestic service robot

In this paper we present Caesar, an intelligent domestic service robot. In domestic settings for service robots complex tasks have to be accomplished. Those tasks benefit from deliberation, from robust action execution and from flexible methods for human?Crobot interaction that account for qualitative notions used in natural language as well as human fallibility. Our robot Caesar deploys AI techniques on several levels of its system architecture. On the low-level side, system modules for localization or navigation make, for instance, use of path-planning methods, heuristic search, and Bayesian filters. For face recognition and human?Cmachine interaction, random trees and well-known methods from natural language processing are deployed. For deliberation, we use the robot programming and plan language Readylog, which was developed for the high-level control of agents and robots; it allows combining programming the behaviour using planning to find a course of action. Readylog is a variant of the robot programming language Golog. We extended Readylog to be able to cope with qualitative notions of space frequently used by humans, such as ??near?? and ??far??. This facilitates human?Crobot interaction by bridging the gap between human natural language and the numerical values needed by the robot. Further, we use Readylog to increase the flexible interpretation of human commands with decision-theoretic planning. We give an overview of the different methods deployed in Caesar and show the applicability of a system equipped with these AI techniques in domestic service robotics.     

On the relation among answer set solvers

In this paper, we study the relation among Answer Set Programming (ASP) systems from a computational point of view. We consider smodels, dlv, and cmodels ASP systems based on stable model semantics, the first two being native ASP systems and the last being a SAT-based system. We first show that smodels, dlv, and cmodels explore search trees with the same branching nodes (assuming, of course, a same branching heuristic) on the class of tight logic programs. Leveraging on the fact that SAT-based systems rely on the deeply studied Davis–Logemann–Loveland (dll) algorithm, we derive new complexity results for the ASP procedures. We also show that on nontight programs the SAT-based systems are computationally different from native procedures, and the latter have computational advantages. Moreover, we show that native procedures can guarantee the “correctness” of a reported solution when reaching the leaves of the search trees (i.e., no stability check is needed), while this is not the case for SAT-based procedures on nontight programs. A similar advantage holds for dlv in comparison with smodels if the “well-founded” operator is disabled and only Fitting’s operator is used for negative inferences. We finally study the “cost” of achieving such advantages and comment on to what extent the results presented extend to other systems.     

Counterexample-guided abstraction refinement for symmetric concurrent programs

Predicate abstraction and counterexample-guided abstraction refinement (CEGAR) have enabled finite-state model checking of software written in mainstream programming languages. This combination of techniques has been successful in analysing system-level sequential C code. In contrast, there is little evidence of fruitful applications of CEGAR to shared-variable concurrent software. We attribute this gap to the lack of abstraction strategies that permit a scalable analysis of the resulting multi-threaded Boolean programs. The goal of this paper is to close this gap. We have developed a symmetry-aware CEGAR technique: it takes into account the replicated structure of programs that consist of many threads executing the same procedure, and generates a Boolean program template whose multi-threaded execution soundly overapproximates the original concurrent program. State explosion during model checking parallel instantiations of this template can now be absorbed by exploiting symmetry. We have implemented our method in a tool, SymmPa, and demonstrate its superior performance over alternative approaches on a range of synchronisation programs.     

Proving operational termination of membership equational programs

Reasoning about the termination of equational programs in sophisticated equational languages such as Elan, Maude, OBJ, CafeOBJ, Haskell, and so on, requires support for advanced features such as evaluation strategies, rewriting modulo, use of extra variables in conditions, partiality, and expressive type systems (possibly including polymorphism and higher-order). However, many of those features are, at best, only partially supported by current term rewriting termination tools (for instance mu-term, C i ME, AProVE, TTT, Termptation, etc.) while they may be essential to ensure termination. We present a sequence of theory transformations that can be used to bridge the gap between expressive membership equational programs and such termination tools, and prove the correctness of such transformations. We also discuss a prototype tool performing the transformations on Maude equational programs and sending the resulting transformed theories to some of the aforementioned standard termination tools.     

Mining temporal specifications from object usage

A caller must satisfy the callee??s precondition??that is, reach a state in which the callee may be called. Preconditions describe the state that needs to be reached, but not how to reach it. We combine static analysis with model checking to mine Fair Computation Tree Logic (CTL ^F ) formulas that describe the operations a parameter goes through: ??In parseProperties(String xml), the parameter xml normally stems from getProperties().?? Such operational preconditions can be learned from program code, and the code can be checked for their violations. Applied to AspectJ, our Tikanga prototype found 169 violations of operational preconditions, uncovering 7 unique defects and 27 unique code smells??with 52% true positives in the 25% top-ranked violations.     

A Polynomial Kernel for Feedback Arc Set on Bipartite Tournaments

In the k-Feedback Arc/Vertex Set problem we are given a directed graph D and a positive integer k and the objective is to check whether it is possible to delete at most k arcs/vertices from D to make it acyclic. Dom et al. (J. Discrete Algorithm 8(1):76–86, 2010) initiated a study of the Feedback Arc Set problem on bipartite tournaments (k-FASBT) in the realm of parameterized complexity. They showed that k-FASBT can be solved in time O(3.373 ^k n ⁶) on bipartite tournaments having n vertices. However, until now there was no known polynomial sized problem kernel for k-FASBT. In this paper we obtain a cubic vertex kernel for k-FASBT. This completes the kernelization picture for the Feedback Arc/Vertex Set problem on tournaments and bipartite tournaments, as for all other problems polynomial kernels were known before. We obtain our kernel using a non-trivial application of “independent modules” which could be of independent interest.     

Improved Algorithms and Complexity Results for Power Domination in Graphs

The NP-complete Power Dominating Set problem is an “electric power networks variant” of the classical domination problem in graphs: Given an undirected graph G=(V,E), find a minimum-size set P?V such that all vertices in V are “observed” by the vertices in P. Herein, a vertex observes itself and all its neighbors, and if an observed vertex has all but one of its neighbors observed, then the remaining neighbor becomes observed as well. We show that Power Dominating Set can be solved by “bounded-treewidth dynamic programs.” For treewidth being upper-bounded by a constant, we achieve a linear-time algorithm. In particular, we present a simplified linear-time algorithm for Power Dominating Set in trees. Moreover, we simplify and extend several NP-completeness results, particularly showing that Power Dominating Set remains NP-complete for planar graphs, for circle graphs, and for split graphs. Specifically, our improved reductions imply that Power Dominating Set parameterized by |P| is W[2]-hard and it cannot be better approximated than Dominating Set.     

Para Miner: a generic pattern mining algorithm for multi-core architectures

In this paper, we present Para Miner which is a generic and parallel algorithm for closed pattern mining. Para Miner is built on the principles of pattern enumeration in strongly accessible set systems. Its efficiency is due to a novel dataset reduction technique (that we call EL-reduction), combined with novel technique for performing dataset reduction in a parallel execution on a multi-core architecture. We illustrate Para Miner’s genericity by using this algorithm to solve three different pattern mining problems: the frequent itemset mining problem, the mining frequent connected relational graphs problem and the mining gradual itemsets problem. In this paper, we prove the soundness and the completeness of Para Miner. Furthermore, our experiments show that despite being a generic algorithm, Para Miner can compete with specialized state of the art algorithms designed for the pattern mining problems mentioned above. Besides, for the particular problem of gradual itemset mining, Para Miner outperforms the state of the art algorithm by two orders of magnitude.     

Parameterized Domination in Circle Graphs

A circle graph is the intersection graph of a set of chords in a circle. Keil [Discrete Appl. Math., 42(1):51–63, 1993] proved that Dominating Set, Connected Dominating Set, and Total Dominating Set are NP-complete in circle graphs. To the best of our knowledge, nothing was known about the parameterized complexity of these problems in circle graphs. In this paper we prove the following results, which contribute in this direction:

• Dominating Set, Independent Dominating Set, Connected Dominating Set, Total Dominating Set, and Acyclic Dominating Set are W[1]-hard in circle graphs, parameterized by the size of the solution.
• Whereas both Connected Dominating Set and Acyclic Dominating Set are W[1]-hard in circle graphs, it turns out that Connected Acyclic Dominating Set is polynomial-time solvable in circle graphs.
• If T is a given tree, deciding whether a circle graph G has a dominating set inducing a graph isomorphic to T is NP-complete when T is in the input, and FPT when parameterized by t=|V(T)|. We prove that the FPT algorithm runs in subexponential time, namely $2^{\mathcal{O}(t \cdot\frac{\log\log t}{\log t})} \cdot n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$ , where n=|V(G)|.

     

Contracting Graphs to Paths and Trees

Vertex deletion and edge deletion problems play a central role in parameterized complexity. Examples include classical problems like Feedback Vertex Set, Odd Cycle Transversal, and Chordal Deletion. The study of analogous edge contraction problems has so far been left largely unexplored from a parameterized perspective. We consider two basic problems of this type: Tree Contraction and Path Contraction. These two problems take as input an undirected graph G on n vertices and an integer k, and the task is to determine whether we can obtain a tree or a path, respectively, by a sequence of at most k edge contractions in G. For Tree Contraction, we present a randomized 4 ^k ? n ^O(1) time polynomial-space algorithm, as well as a deterministic 4.98 ^k ? n ^O(1) time algorithm, based on a variant of the color coding technique of Alon, Yuster and Zwick. We also present a deterministic 2 ^k+o(k)+n ^O(1) time algorithm for Path Contraction. Furthermore, we show that Path Contraction has a kernel with at most 5k+3 vertices, while Tree Contraction does not have a polynomial kernel unless NP ? coNP/poly. We find the latter result surprising because of the connection between Tree Contraction and Feedback Vertex Set, which is known to have a kernel with 4k ² vertices.     

Thoughtful brute-force attack of the RERS 2012 and 2013 Challenges

The Rigorous Examination of Reactive Systems’ (rers) Challenges provide a forum for experimental evaluation based on specifically synthesized benchmark suites. In this paper, we report on our ‘brute-force attack’ of the rers 2012 and 2013 Challenges. We connected the rers problems to two state-of-the-art explicit state model checkers: LTSmin and Spin. Apart from an effective compression of the state vector, we did not analyze the source code of the problems. Our brute-force approach was successful: it won both editions of the rers Challenge.     

A compositional modelling and analysis framework for stochastic hybrid systems

The theory of hybrid systems is well-established as a model for real-world systems consisting of continuous behaviour and discrete control. In practice, the behaviour of such systems is also subject to uncertainties, such as measurement errors, or is controlled by randomised algorithms. These aspects can be modelled and analysed using stochastic hybrid systems. In this paper, we present HModest, an extension to the Modest modelling language—which is originally designed for stochastic timed systems without complex continuous aspects—that adds differential equations and inclusions as an expressive way to describe the continuous system evolution. Modest is a high-level language inspired by classical process algebras, thus compositional modelling is an integral feature. We define the syntax and semantics of HModest and show that it is a conservative extension of Modest that retains the compositional modelling approach. To allow the analysis of HModest models, we report on the implementation of a connection to recently developed tools for the safety verification of stochastic hybrid systems, and illustrate the language and the tool support with a set of small, but instructive case studies.     

On Cutwidth Parameterized by Vertex Cover

We study the Cutwidth problem, where the input is a graph G, and the objective is find a linear layout of the vertices that minimizes the maximum number of edges intersected by any vertical line inserted between two consecutive vertices. We give an algorithm for Cutwidth with running time O(2 ^k n ^O(1)). Here k is the size of a minimum vertex cover of the input graph G, and n is the number of vertices in G. Our algorithm gives an O(2 ^n/2 n ^O(1)) time algorithm for Cutwidth on bipartite graphs as a corollary. This is the first non-trivial exact exponential time algorithm for Cutwidth on a graph class where the problem remains NP-complete. Additionally, we show that Cutwidth parameterized by the size of the minimum vertex cover of the input graph does not admit a polynomial kernel unless NP?coNP/poly. Our kernelization lower bound contrasts with the recent results of Bodlaender et al. (ICALP, Springer, Berlin, 2011; SWAT, Springer, Berlin, 2012) that both Treewidth and Pathwidth parameterized by vertex cover do admit polynomial kernels.     

Verification and validation meet planning and scheduling

A planning and scheduling (P&S) system takes as input a domain model and a goal, and produces a plan of actions to be executed, which will achieve the goal. A P&S system typically also offers plan execution and monitoring engines. Due to the non-deterministic nature of planning problems, it is a challenge to construct correct and reliable P&S systems, including, for example, declarative domain models. Verification and validation (V&V) techniques have been applied to address these issues. Furthermore, V&V systems have been applied to actually perform planning, and conversely, P&S systems have been applied to perform V&V of more traditional software. This article overviews some of the literature on the fruitful interaction between V&V and P&S.     

ANDES: efficient evaluation of NOT-twig queries in relational databases

Despite a large body of work on XPath query processing in relational environment, systematic study of queries containing not-predicates have received little attention in the literature. Particularly, several xml supports of industrial-strength commercial rdbms fail to efficiently evaluate such queries. In this paper, we present an efficient and novel strategy to evaluate not -twig queries in a tree-unaware relational environment. not -twig queries are XPath queries with ancestor–descendant and parent–child axis and contain one or more not-predicates. We propose a novel Dewey-based encoding scheme called Andes (ANcestor Dewey-based Encoding Scheme), which enables us to efficiently filter out elements satisfying a not-predicate by comparing their ancestor group identifiers. In this approach, a set of elements under the same common ancestor at a specific level in the xml tree is assigned same ancestor group identifier. Based on this scheme, we propose a novel sql translation algorithm for not-twig query evaluation. Experiments carried out confirm that our proposed approach built on top of an off-the-shelf commercial rdbms significantly outperforms state-of-the-art relational and native approaches. We also explore the query plans selected by a commercial relational optimizer to evaluate our translated queries in different input cardinality. Such exploration further validates the performance benefits of Andes.     

Reasoning with Qualitative Positional Information for Domestic Domains in the Situation Calculus

In this paper, we present a thorough integration of qualitative representations and reasoning for positional information for domestic service robotics domains into our high-level robot control. In domestic settings for service robots like in the RoboCup@Home competitions, complex tasks such as “get the cup from the kitchen and bring it to the living room” or “find me this and that object in the apartment” have to be accomplished. At these competitions the robots may only be instructed by natural language. As humans use qualitative concepts such as “near” or “far”, the robot needs to cope with them, too. For our domestic robot, we use the robot programming and plan language Readylog, our variant of Golog. In previous work we extended the action language Golog, which was developed for the high-level control of agents and robots, with fuzzy set-based qualitative concepts. We now extend our framework to positional fuzzy fluents with an associated positional context called frames. With that and our underlying reasoning mechanism we can transform qualitative positional information from one context to another to account for changes in context such as the point of view or the scale. We demonstrate how qualitative positional fluents based on a fuzzy set semantics can be deployed in domestic domains and showcase how reasoning with these qualitative notions can seamlessly be applied to a fetch-and-carry task in a RoboCup@Home scenario.     

Zone analysis: a visualization framework for classification problems

There have been large attempts to adopt the bias-variance framework from the regression problems to the classification problems. However, recently, it has been shown that only non-straightforward extensions exist for classification problems. In this paper, we present an alternative visualization framework for classification problems called zone analysis. Our zone analysis framework partly extends the bias-variance idea; instead of decomposing an error into two parts, i.e. the biased and unbiased components, our framework decomposes the error into K components. While bias-variance information is still contained in our framework, our framework provides interesting observations which are not obviously seen in the previous bias-variance framework, e.g. a prejudice behavior of the bagging algorithm to various unbiased instances. Our framework is suitable for visualizing an effect of context changes on learning performance. The type of context changes which we primarily investigate in the paper is “a change from a base learner to an ensemble learner such as bagging, adaboost, arc-x4 and multi-boosting”.