15 Search Results for "Piribauer, Jakob"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2026.26
ε-Distance via Lévy-Prokhorov Lifting

Authors: Josée Desharnais and Ana Sokolova

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 363, 34th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2026)

Abstract
The most studied and accepted pseudometric for probabilistic processes is one based on the Kantorovich distance between distributions. It comes with many theoretical and motivating results, in particular it is the fixpoint of a given functional and defines a functor on (complete) pseudometric spaces. It is also the foundation for a categorical lifting of pseudometrics. Other notions of behavioural pseudometrics have also been proposed, one of them (ε-distance) based on ε-bisimulation. ε-Distance has the advantages that it is intuitively easy to understand, it relates systems that are conceptually close (for example, an imperfect implementation is close to its specification), and it comes equipped with a natural notion of ε-coupling. Finally, this distance is easy to compute. We show that ε-distance is also the greatest fixpoint of a functional and provides a functor. The latter is obtained by replacing the Kantorovich distance in the lifting functor with the Lévy-Prokhorov distance. In addition, we show that ε-couplings and ε-bisimulations have an appealing coalgebraic characterization.
Cite as

Josée Desharnais and Ana Sokolova. ε-Distance via Lévy-Prokhorov Lifting. In 34th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 363, pp. 26:1-26:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{desharnais_et_al:LIPIcs.CSL.2026.26,
  author =	{Desharnais, Jos\'{e}e and Sokolova, Ana},
  title =	{{\epsilon-Distance via L\'{e}vy-Prokhorov Lifting}},
  booktitle =	{34th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2026)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-411-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{363},
  editor =	{Guerrini, Stefano and K\"{o}nig, Barbara},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2026.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-254506},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2026.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: L\'{e}vy-Prokhorov metric, behavioural distance, epsilon-bisimulation, reactive probabilistic transition systems, discrete labelled Markov processes, coalgebraic epsilon-(bi)simulation}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.30
Finding Equilibria: Simpler for Pessimists, Simplest for Optimists

Authors: Léonard Brice, Thomas A. Henzinger, and K. S. Thejaswini

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract
We consider equilibria in multiplayer stochastic graph games with terminal-node rewards. In such games, Nash equilibria are defined assuming that each player seeks to maximise their expected payoff, ignoring their aversion or tolerance to risk. We therefore study risk-sensitive equilibria (RSEs), where the expected payoff is replaced by a risk measure. A classical risk measure in the literature is the entropic risk measure, where each player has a real valued parameter capturing their risk-averseness. We introduce the extreme risk measure, which corresponds to extreme cases of entropic risk measure, where players are either extreme optimists or extreme pessimists. Under extreme risk measure, every player is an extremist: an extreme optimist perceives their reward as the maximum payoff that can be achieved with positive probability, while an extreme pessimist expects the minimum payoff achievable with positive probability. We argue that the extreme risk measure, especially in multi-player graph based settings, is particularly relevant as they can model several real life instances such as interactions between secure systems and potential security threats, or distributed controls for safety critical systems. We prove that RSEs defined with the extreme risk measure are guaranteed to exist when all rewards are non-negative. Furthermore, we prove that the problem of deciding whether a given game contains an RSE that generates risk measures within specified intervals is decidable and NP-complete for our extreme risk measure, and even PTIME-complete when all players are extreme optimists, while that same problem is undecidable using the entropic risk measure or even the classical expected payoff. This establishes, to our knowledge, the first decidable fragment for equilibria in simple stochastic games without restrictions on strategy types or number of players.
Cite as

Léonard Brice, Thomas A. Henzinger, and K. S. Thejaswini. Finding Equilibria: Simpler for Pessimists, Simplest for Optimists. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 30:1-30:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{brice_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.30,
  author =	{Brice, L\'{e}onard and Henzinger, Thomas A. and Thejaswini, K. S.},
  title =	{{Finding Equilibria: Simpler for Pessimists, Simplest for Optimists}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{30:1--30:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.30},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241371},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.30},
  annote =	{Keywords: Nash equilibria, stochastic games, graph games, risk-sensitive equilibria}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.80
On Expansions of Monadic Second-Order Logic with Dynamical Predicates

Authors: Joris Nieuwveld and Joël Ouaknine

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract
Expansions of the monadic second-order (MSO) theory of the structure ⟨ℕ;<⟩ have been a fertile and active area of research ever since the publication of the seminal papers of Büchi and Elgot & Rabin on the subject in the 1960s. In the present paper, we establish decidability of the MSO theory of ⟨ℕ;<,P⟩, where P ranges over a large class of unary "dynamical" predicates, i.e., sets of non-negative values assumed by certain integer linear recurrence sequences. One of our key technical tools is the novel concept of (effective) prodisjunctivity, which we expect may also find independent applications further afield.
Cite as

Joris Nieuwveld and Joël Ouaknine. On Expansions of Monadic Second-Order Logic with Dynamical Predicates. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 80:1-80:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{nieuwveld_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.80,
  author =	{Nieuwveld, Joris and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l},
  title =	{{On Expansions of Monadic Second-Order Logic with Dynamical Predicates}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{80:1--80:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.80},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241879},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.80},
  annote =	{Keywords: Monadic second-order logic, linear recurrence sequences, decidability, Baker’s theorem}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.32
Resolving Nondeterminism by Chance

Authors: Soumyajit Paul, David Purser, Sven Schewe, Qiyi Tang, Patrick Totzke, and Di-De Yen

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 348, 36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025)

Abstract
History-deterministic automata are those in which nondeterministic choices can be correctly resolved stepwise: there is a strategy to select a continuation of a run given the next input letter so that if the overall input word admits some accepting run, then the constructed run is also accepting. Motivated by checking qualitative properties in probabilistic verification, we consider the setting where the resolver strategy can randomise and only needs to succeed with lower-bounded probability. We study the expressiveness of such stochastically-resolvable automata as well as consider the decision questions of whether a given automaton has this property. In particular, we show that it is undecidable to check if a given NFA is λ-stochastically resolvable. This problem is decidable for finitely-ambiguous automata. We also present complexity upper and lower bounds for several well-studied classes of automata for which this problem remains decidable.
Cite as

Soumyajit Paul, David Purser, Sven Schewe, Qiyi Tang, Patrick Totzke, and Di-De Yen. Resolving Nondeterminism by Chance. In 36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 348, pp. 32:1-32:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{paul_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.32,
  author =	{Paul, Soumyajit and Purser, David and Schewe, Sven and Tang, Qiyi and Totzke, Patrick and Yen, Di-De},
  title =	{{Resolving Nondeterminism by Chance}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025)},
  pages =	{32:1--32:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-389-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{348},
  editor =	{Bouyer, Patricia and van de Pol, Jaco},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.32},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-239822},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.32},
  annote =	{Keywords: History-determinism, finite automata, probabilistic automata}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.138
Taming Infinity One Chunk at a Time: Concisely Represented Strategies in One-Counter MDPs

Authors: Michal Ajdarów, James C. A. Main, Petr Novotný, and Mickael Randour

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
Markov decision processes (MDPs) are a canonical model to reason about decision making within a stochastic environment. We study a fundamental class of infinite MDPs: one-counter MDPs (OC-MDPs). They extend finite MDPs via an associated counter taking natural values, thus inducing an infinite MDP over the set of configurations (current state and counter value). We consider two characteristic objectives: reaching a target state (state-reachability), and reaching a target state with counter value zero (selective termination). The synthesis problem for the latter is not known to be decidable and connected to major open problems in number theory. Furthermore, even seemingly simple strategies (e.g., memoryless ones) in OC-MDPs might be impossible to build in practice (due to the underlying infinite configuration space): we need finite, and preferably small, representations. To overcome these obstacles, we introduce two natural classes of concisely represented strategies based on a (possibly infinite) partition of counter values in intervals. For both classes, and both objectives, we study the verification problem (does a given strategy ensure a high enough probability for the objective?), and two synthesis problems (does there exist such a strategy?): one where the interval partition is fixed as input, and one where it is only parameterized. We develop a generic approach based on a compression of the induced infinite MDP that yields decidability in all cases, with all complexities within PSPACE.
Cite as

Michal Ajdarów, James C. A. Main, Petr Novotný, and Mickael Randour. Taming Infinity One Chunk at a Time: Concisely Represented Strategies in One-Counter MDPs. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 138:1-138:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ajdarow_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.138,
  author =	{Ajdar\'{o}w, Michal and Main, James C. A. and Novotn\'{y}, Petr and Randour, Mickael},
  title =	{{Taming Infinity One Chunk at a Time: Concisely Represented Strategies in One-Counter MDPs}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{138:1--138:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.138},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-235157},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.138},
  annote =	{Keywords: one-counter Markov decision processes, randomised strategies, termination, reachability}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.163
Verification of Linear Dynamical Systems via O-Minimality of the Real Numbers

Authors: Toghrul Karimov

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
A discrete-time linear dynamical system (LDS) is given by an update matrix M ∈ ℝ^{d× d}, and has the trajectories ⟨s, Ms, M²s, …⟩ for s ∈ ℝ^d. Reachability-type decision problems of linear dynamical systems, most notably the Skolem Problem, lie at the forefront of decidability: typically, sound and complete algorithms are known only in low dimensions, and these rely on sophisticated tools from number theory and Diophantine approximation. Recently, however, o-minimality has emerged as a counterpoint to these number-theoretic tools that allows us to decide certain modifications of the classical problems of LDS without any dimension restrictions. In this paper, we first introduce the Decomposition Method, a framework that captures all applications of o-minimality to decision problems of LDS that are currently known to us. We then use the Decomposition Method to show decidability of the Robust Safety Problem (restricted to bounded initial sets) in arbitrary dimension: given a matrix M, a bounded semialgebraic set S of initial points, and a semialgebraic set T of unsafe points, it is decidable whether there exists ε > 0 such that all orbits that begin in the ε-ball around S avoid T.
Cite as

Toghrul Karimov. Verification of Linear Dynamical Systems via O-Minimality of the Real Numbers. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 163:1-163:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{karimov:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.163,
  author =	{Karimov, Toghrul},
  title =	{{Verification of Linear Dynamical Systems via O-Minimality of the Real Numbers}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{163:1--163:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.163},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-235401},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.163},
  annote =	{Keywords: Linear dynamical systems, reachability problems, o-minimality}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.37
On the Existential Theory of the Reals Enriched with Integer Powers of a Computable Number

Authors: Jorge Gallego-Hernández and Alessio Mansutti

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 327, 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)

Abstract
This paper investigates ∃ℝ(ξ^ℤ), that is the extension of the existential theory of the reals by an additional unary predicate ξ^ℤ for the integer powers of a fixed computable real number ξ > 0. If all we have access to is a Turing machine computing ξ, it is not possible to decide whether an input formula from this theory is satisfiable. However, we show an algorithm to decide this problem when - ξ is known to be transcendental, or - ξ is a root of some given integer polynomial (that is, ξ is algebraic). In other words, knowing the algebraicity of ξ suffices to circumvent undecidability. Furthermore, we establish complexity results under the proviso that ξ enjoys what we call a polynomial root barrier. Using this notion, we show that the satisfiability problem of ∃ℝ(ξ^ℤ) is - in ExpSpace if ξ is an algebraic number, and - in 3Exp if ξ is a logarithm of an algebraic number, Euler’s e, or the number π, among others. To establish our results, we first observe that the satisfiability problem of ∃ℝ(ξ^ℤ) reduces in exponential time to the problem of solving quantifier-free instances of the theory of the reals where variables range over ξ^ℤ. We then prove that these instances have a small witness property: only finitely many integer powers of ξ must be considered to find whether a formula is satisfiable. Our complexity results are shown by relying on well-established machinery from Diophantine approximation and transcendental number theory, such as bounds for the transcendence measure of numbers. As a by-product of our results, we are able to remove the appeal to Schanuel’s conjecture from the proof of decidability of the entropic risk threshold problem for stochastic games with rational probabilities, rewards and threshold [Baier et al., MFCS, 2023]: when the base of the entropic risk is e and the aversion factor is a fixed algebraic number, the problem is (unconditionally) in Exp.
Cite as

Jorge Gallego-Hernández and Alessio Mansutti. On the Existential Theory of the Reals Enriched with Integer Powers of a Computable Number. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 37:1-37:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{gallegohernandez_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.37,
  author =	{Gallego-Hern\'{a}ndez, Jorge and Mansutti, Alessio},
  title =	{{On the Existential Theory of the Reals Enriched with Integer Powers of a Computable Number}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{37:1--37:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-365-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{327},
  editor =	{Beyersdorff, Olaf and Pilipczuk, Micha{\l} and Pimentel, Elaine and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.37},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228635},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.37},
  annote =	{Keywords: Theory of the reals with exponentiation, decision procedures, computability}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.9
Risk-Averse Optimization of Total Rewards in Markovian Models Using Deviation Measures

Authors: Christel Baier, Jakob Piribauer, and Maximilian Starke

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 311, 35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024)

Abstract
This paper addresses objectives tailored to the risk-averse optimization of accumulated rewards in Markov decision processes (MDPs). The studied objectives require maximizing the expected value of the accumulated rewards minus a penalty factor times a deviation measure of the resulting distribution of rewards. Using the variance in this penalty mechanism leads to the variance-penalized expectation (VPE) for which it is known that optimal schedulers have to minimize future expected rewards when a high amount of rewards has been accumulated. This behavior is undesirable as risk-averse behavior should keep the probability of particularly low outcomes low, but not discourage the accumulation of additional rewards on already good executions. The paper investigates the semi-variance, which only takes outcomes below the expected value into account, the mean absolute deviation (MAD), and the semi-MAD as alternative deviation measures. Furthermore, a penalty mechanism that penalizes outcomes below a fixed threshold is studied. For all of these objectives, the properties of optimal schedulers are specified and in particular the question whether these objectives overcome the problem observed for the VPE is answered. Further, the resulting algorithmic problems on MDPs and Markov chains are investigated.
Cite as

Christel Baier, Jakob Piribauer, and Maximilian Starke. Risk-Averse Optimization of Total Rewards in Markovian Models Using Deviation Measures. In 35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 311, pp. 9:1-9:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{baier_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.9,
  author =	{Baier, Christel and Piribauer, Jakob and Starke, Maximilian},
  title =	{{Risk-Averse Optimization of Total Rewards in Markovian Models Using Deviation Measures}},
  booktitle =	{35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-339-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{311},
  editor =	{Majumdar, Rupak and Silva, Alexandra},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-207816},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov decision processes, risk-aversion, deviation measures, total reward}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.37
A Spectrum of Approximate Probabilistic Bisimulations

Authors: Timm Spork, Christel Baier, Joost-Pieter Katoen, Jakob Piribauer, and Tim Quatmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 311, 35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024)

Abstract
This paper studies various notions of approximate probabilistic bisimulation on labeled Markov chains (LMCs). We introduce approximate versions of weak and branching bisimulation, as well as a notion of ε-perturbed bisimulation that relates LMCs that can be made (exactly) probabilistically bisimilar by small perturbations of their transition probabilities. We explore how the notions interrelate and establish their connections to other well-known notions like ε-bisimulation.
Cite as

Timm Spork, Christel Baier, Joost-Pieter Katoen, Jakob Piribauer, and Tim Quatmann. A Spectrum of Approximate Probabilistic Bisimulations. In 35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 311, pp. 37:1-37:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{spork_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.37,
  author =	{Spork, Timm and Baier, Christel and Katoen, Joost-Pieter and Piribauer, Jakob and Quatmann, Tim},
  title =	{{A Spectrum of Approximate Probabilistic Bisimulations}},
  booktitle =	{35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024)},
  pages =	{37:1--37:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-339-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{311},
  editor =	{Majumdar, Rupak and Silva, Alexandra},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.37},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-208099},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.37},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov chains, Approximate bisimulation, Abstraction, Model checking}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2024.79
Demonic Variance and a Non-Determinism Score for Markov Decision Processes

Authors: Jakob Piribauer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 306, 49th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2024)

Abstract
This paper studies the influence of probabilism and non-determinism on some quantitative aspect X of the execution of a system modeled as a Markov decision process (MDP). To this end, the novel notion of demonic variance is introduced: For a random variable X in an MDP ℳ, it is defined as 1/2 times the maximal expected squared distance of the values of X in two independent execution of ℳ in which also the non-deterministic choices are resolved independently by two distinct schedulers. It is shown that the demonic variance is between 1 and 2 times as large as the maximal variance of X in ℳ that can be achieved by a single scheduler. This allows defining a non-determinism score for ℳ and X measuring how strongly the difference of X in two executions of ℳ can be influenced by the non-deterministic choices. Properties of MDPs ℳ with extremal values of the non-determinism score are established. Further, the algorithmic problems of computing the maximal variance and the demonic variance are investigated for two random variables, namely weighted reachability and accumulated rewards. In the process, also the structure of schedulers maximizing the variance and of scheduler pairs realizing the demonic variance is analyzed.
Cite as

Jakob Piribauer. Demonic Variance and a Non-Determinism Score for Markov Decision Processes. In 49th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 306, pp. 79:1-79:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{piribauer:LIPIcs.MFCS.2024.79,
  author =	{Piribauer, Jakob},
  title =	{{Demonic Variance and a Non-Determinism Score for Markov Decision Processes}},
  booktitle =	{49th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2024)},
  pages =	{79:1--79:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-335-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{306},
  editor =	{Kr\'{a}lovi\v{c}, Rastislav and Ku\v{c}era, Anton{\'\i}n},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2024.79},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-206358},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2024.79},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov decision processes, variance, non-determinism, probabilism}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.15
Entropic Risk for Turn-Based Stochastic Games

Authors: Christel Baier, Krishnendu Chatterjee, Tobias Meggendorfer, and Jakob Piribauer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 272, 48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2023)

Abstract
Entropic risk (ERisk) is an established risk measure in finance, quantifying risk by an exponential re-weighting of rewards. We study ERisk for the first time in the context of turn-based stochastic games with the total reward objective. This gives rise to an objective function that demands the control of systems in a risk-averse manner. We show that the resulting games are determined and, in particular, admit optimal memoryless deterministic strategies. This contrasts risk measures that previously have been considered in the special case of Markov decision processes and that require randomization and/or memory. We provide several results on the decidability and the computational complexity of the threshold problem, i.e. whether the optimal value of ERisk exceeds a given threshold. In the most general case, the problem is decidable subject to Shanuel’s conjecture. If all inputs are rational, the resulting threshold problem can be solved using algebraic numbers, leading to decidability via a polynomial-time reduction to the existential theory of the reals. Further restrictions on the encoding of the input allow the solution of the threshold problem in NP∩coNP. Finally, an approximation algorithm for the optimal value of ERisk is provided.
Cite as

Christel Baier, Krishnendu Chatterjee, Tobias Meggendorfer, and Jakob Piribauer. Entropic Risk for Turn-Based Stochastic Games. In 48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 272, pp. 15:1-15:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{baier_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.15,
  author =	{Baier, Christel and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Meggendorfer, Tobias and Piribauer, Jakob},
  title =	{{Entropic Risk for Turn-Based Stochastic Games}},
  booktitle =	{48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2023)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-292-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{272},
  editor =	{Leroux, J\'{e}r\^{o}me and Lombardy, Sylvain and Peleg, David},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-185491},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: Stochastic games, risk-aware verification}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2022.129
The Variance-Penalized Stochastic Shortest Path Problem

Authors: Jakob Piribauer, Ocan Sankur, and Christel Baier

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 229, 49th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2022)

Abstract
The stochastic shortest path problem (SSPP) asks to resolve the non-deterministic choices in a Markov decision process (MDP) such that the expected accumulated weight before reaching a target state is maximized. This paper addresses the optimization of the variance-penalized expectation (VPE) of the accumulated weight, which is a variant of the SSPP in which a multiple of the variance of accumulated weights is incurred as a penalty. It is shown that the optimal VPE in MDPs with non-negative weights as well as an optimal deterministic finite-memory scheduler can be computed in exponential space. The threshold problem whether the maximal VPE exceeds a given rational is shown to be EXPTIME-hard and to lie in NEXPTIME. Furthermore, a result of interest in its own right obtained on the way is that a variance-minimal scheduler among all expectation-optimal schedulers can be computed in polynomial time.
Cite as

Jakob Piribauer, Ocan Sankur, and Christel Baier. The Variance-Penalized Stochastic Shortest Path Problem. In 49th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 229, pp. 129:1-129:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{piribauer_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2022.129,
  author =	{Piribauer, Jakob and Sankur, Ocan and Baier, Christel},
  title =	{{The Variance-Penalized Stochastic Shortest Path Problem}},
  booktitle =	{49th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2022)},
  pages =	{129:1--129:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-235-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{229},
  editor =	{Boja\'{n}czyk, Miko{\l}aj and Merelli, Emanuela and Woodruff, David P.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2022.129},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-164705},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2022.129},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov decision process, variance, stochastic shortest path problem}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.7
Quantified Linear Temporal Logic over Probabilistic Systems with an Application to Vacuity Checking

Authors: Jakob Piribauer, Christel Baier, Nathalie Bertrand, and Ocan Sankur

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 203, 32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021)

Abstract
Quantified linear temporal logic (QLTL) is an ω-regular extension of LTL allowing quantification over propositional variables. We study the model checking problem of QLTL-formulas over Markov chains and Markov decision processes (MDPs) with respect to the number of quantifier alternations of formulas in prenex normal form. For formulas with k{-}1 quantifier alternations, we prove that all qualitative and quantitative model checking problems are k-EXPSPACE-complete over Markov chains and k{+}1-EXPTIME-complete over MDPs. As an application of these results, we generalize vacuity checking for LTL specifications from the non-probabilistic to the probabilistic setting. We show how to check whether an LTL-formula is affected by a subformula, and also study inherent vacuity for probabilistic systems.
Cite as

Jakob Piribauer, Christel Baier, Nathalie Bertrand, and Ocan Sankur. Quantified Linear Temporal Logic over Probabilistic Systems with an Application to Vacuity Checking. In 32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 203, pp. 7:1-7:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{piribauer_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.7,
  author =	{Piribauer, Jakob and Baier, Christel and Bertrand, Nathalie and Sankur, Ocan},
  title =	{{Quantified Linear Temporal Logic over Probabilistic Systems with an Application to Vacuity Checking}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-203-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{203},
  editor =	{Haddad, Serge and Varacca, Daniele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-143842},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantified linear temporal logic, Markov chain, Markov decision process, vacuity}
}
Document
Invited Talk
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.1
From Verification to Causality-Based Explications (Invited Talk)

Authors: Christel Baier, Clemens Dubslaff, Florian Funke, Simon Jantsch, Rupak Majumdar, Jakob Piribauer, and Robin Ziemek

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 198, 48th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2021)

Abstract
In view of the growing complexity of modern software architectures, formal models are increasingly used to understand why a system works the way it does, opposed to simply verifying that it behaves as intended. This paper surveys approaches to formally explicate the observable behavior of reactive systems. We describe how Halpern and Pearl’s notion of actual causation inspired verification-oriented studies of cause-effect relationships in the evolution of a system. A second focus lies on applications of the Shapley value to responsibility ascriptions, aimed to measure the influence of an event on an observable effect. Finally, formal approaches to probabilistic causation are collected and connected, and their relevance to the understanding of probabilistic systems is discussed.
Cite as

Christel Baier, Clemens Dubslaff, Florian Funke, Simon Jantsch, Rupak Majumdar, Jakob Piribauer, and Robin Ziemek. From Verification to Causality-Based Explications (Invited Talk). In 48th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 198, pp. 1:1-1:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{baier_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.1,
  author =	{Baier, Christel and Dubslaff, Clemens and Funke, Florian and Jantsch, Simon and Majumdar, Rupak and Piribauer, Jakob and Ziemek, Robin},
  title =	{{From Verification to Causality-Based Explications}},
  booktitle =	{48th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2021)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-195-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{198},
  editor =	{Bansal, Nikhil and Merelli, Emanuela and Worrell, James},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-140709},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Model Checking, Causality, Responsibility, Counterfactuals, Shapley value}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2020.138
On Skolem-Hardness and Saturation Points in Markov Decision Processes

Authors: Jakob Piribauer and Christel Baier

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 168, 47th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2020)

Abstract
The Skolem problem and the related Positivity problem for linear recurrence sequences are outstanding number-theoretic problems whose decidability has been open for many decades. In this paper, the inherent mathematical difficulty of a series of optimization problems on Markov decision processes (MDPs) is shown by a reduction from the Positivity problem to the associated decision problems which establishes that the problems are also at least as hard as the Skolem problem as an immediate consequence. The optimization problems under consideration are two non-classical variants of the stochastic shortest path problem (SSPP) in terms of expected partial or conditional accumulated weights, the optimization of the conditional value-at-risk for accumulated weights, and two problems addressing the long-run satisfaction of path properties, namely the optimization of long-run probabilities of regular co-safety properties and the model-checking problem of the logic frequency-LTL. To prove the Positivity- and hence Skolem-hardness for the latter two problems, a new auxiliary path measure, called weighted long-run frequency, is introduced and the Positivity-hardness of the corresponding decision problem is shown as an intermediate step. For the partial and conditional SSPP on MDPs with non-negative weights and for the optimization of long-run probabilities of constrained reachability properties (aU b), solutions are known that rely on the identification of a bound on the accumulated weight or the number of consecutive visits to certain sates, called a saturation point, from which on optimal schedulers behave memorylessly. In this paper, it is shown that also the optimization of the conditional value-at-risk for the classical SSPP and of weighted long-run frequencies on MDPs with non-negative weights can be solved in pseudo-polynomial time exploiting the existence of a saturation point. As a consequence, one obtains the decidability of the qualitative model-checking problem of a frequency-LTL formula that is not included in the fragments with known solutions.
Cite as

Jakob Piribauer and Christel Baier. On Skolem-Hardness and Saturation Points in Markov Decision Processes. In 47th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 168, pp. 138:1-138:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{piribauer_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2020.138,
  author =	{Piribauer, Jakob and Baier, Christel},
  title =	{{On Skolem-Hardness and Saturation Points in Markov Decision Processes}},
  booktitle =	{47th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2020)},
  pages =	{138:1--138:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-138-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{168},
  editor =	{Czumaj, Artur and Dawar, Anuj and Merelli, Emanuela},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2020.138},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-125455},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2020.138},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov decision process, Skolem problem, stochastic shortest path, conditional expectation, conditional value-at-risk, model checking, frequency-LTL}
}
  • Refine by Type
  • 15 Document/PDF
  • 7 Document/HTML

  • Refine by Publication Year
  • 1 2026
  • 6 2025
  • 3 2024
  • 1 2023
  • 1 2022
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Author
  • 8 Piribauer, Jakob
  • 7 Baier, Christel
  • 2 Sankur, Ocan
  • 1 Ajdarów, Michal
  • 1 Bertrand, Nathalie
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Series/Journal
  • 15 LIPIcs

  • Refine by Classification
  • 9 Theory of computation → Logic and verification
  • 3 Theory of computation → Probabilistic computation
  • 2 Theory of computation → Formal languages and automata theory
  • 2 Theory of computation → Verification by model checking
  • 1 Computing methodologies → Symbolic and algebraic algorithms
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Keyword
  • 3 Markov decision process
  • 2 Markov decision processes
  • 2 variance
  • 1 Abstraction
  • 1 Approximate bisimulation
  • Show More...

Any Issues?
X

Feedback on the Current Page

CAPTCHA

Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted to Dagstuhl Publishing

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail
© 2023-2026 Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH About DROPS Imprint Privacy Contact