Theories of orders on the set of words

Dietrich Kuske

RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications (2010)

  • Volume: 40, Issue: 1, page 53-74
  • ISSN: 0988-3754

Abstract

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It is shown that small fragments of the first-order theory of the subword order, the (partial) lexicographic path ordering on words, the homomorphism preorder, and the infix order are undecidable. This is in contrast to the decidability of the monadic second-order theory of the prefix order [M.O. Rabin, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 1969] and of the theory of the total lexicographic path ordering [P. Narendran and M. Rusinowitch, Lect. Notes Artificial Intelligence, 2000] and, in case of the subword and the lexicographic path order, improves upon a result by Comon & Treinen [H. Comon and R. Treinen, Lect. Notes Comp. Sci., 1994]. Our proofs rely on the undecidability of the positive ∑1-theory of [Y. Matiyasevich, Hilbert's Tenth Problem, 1993] and on Treinen's technique [R. Treinen, J. Symbolic Comput., 1992] that allows to reduce Post's correspondence problem to logical theories.

How to cite

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Kuske, Dietrich. "Theories of orders on the set of words." RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications 40.1 (2010): 53-74. <http://eudml.org/doc/92789>.

@article{Kuske2010,
abstract = { It is shown that small fragments of the first-order theory of the subword order, the (partial) lexicographic path ordering on words, the homomorphism preorder, and the infix order are undecidable. This is in contrast to the decidability of the monadic second-order theory of the prefix order [M.O. Rabin, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 1969] and of the theory of the total lexicographic path ordering [P. Narendran and M. Rusinowitch, Lect. Notes Artificial Intelligence, 2000] and, in case of the subword and the lexicographic path order, improves upon a result by Comon & Treinen [H. Comon and R. Treinen, Lect. Notes Comp. Sci., 1994]. Our proofs rely on the undecidability of the positive ∑1-theory of $(\mathbb N,+,\cdot)$ [Y. Matiyasevich, Hilbert's Tenth Problem, 1993] and on Treinen's technique [R. Treinen, J. Symbolic Comput., 1992] that allows to reduce Post's correspondence problem to logical theories. },
author = {Kuske, Dietrich},
journal = {RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications},
keywords = {decidability; undecidability; first-order theory; words; subword order; lexicographic path; homomorphism preorder; infix order},
language = {eng},
month = {3},
number = {1},
pages = {53-74},
publisher = {EDP Sciences},
title = {Theories of orders on the set of words},
url = {http://eudml.org/doc/92789},
volume = {40},
year = {2010},
}

TY - JOUR
AU - Kuske, Dietrich
TI - Theories of orders on the set of words
JO - RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications
DA - 2010/3//
PB - EDP Sciences
VL - 40
IS - 1
SP - 53
EP - 74
AB - It is shown that small fragments of the first-order theory of the subword order, the (partial) lexicographic path ordering on words, the homomorphism preorder, and the infix order are undecidable. This is in contrast to the decidability of the monadic second-order theory of the prefix order [M.O. Rabin, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 1969] and of the theory of the total lexicographic path ordering [P. Narendran and M. Rusinowitch, Lect. Notes Artificial Intelligence, 2000] and, in case of the subword and the lexicographic path order, improves upon a result by Comon & Treinen [H. Comon and R. Treinen, Lect. Notes Comp. Sci., 1994]. Our proofs rely on the undecidability of the positive ∑1-theory of $(\mathbb N,+,\cdot)$ [Y. Matiyasevich, Hilbert's Tenth Problem, 1993] and on Treinen's technique [R. Treinen, J. Symbolic Comput., 1992] that allows to reduce Post's correspondence problem to logical theories.
LA - eng
KW - decidability; undecidability; first-order theory; words; subword order; lexicographic path; homomorphism preorder; infix order
UR - http://eudml.org/doc/92789
ER -

References

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