13 Search Results for "Serre, Olivier"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31
Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules

Authors: Yann Disser, Georg Loho, Matthew Maat, and Nils Mosis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract
The existence of a polynomial pivot rule for the simplex method for linear programming, policy iteration for Markov decision processes, and strategy improvement for parity games each are prominent open problems in their respective fields. While numerous natural candidates for efficient rules have been eliminated, all existing lower bound constructions are tailored to individual or small sets of pivot rules. We introduce a unified framework for formalizing classes of rules according to the information about the input that they rely on. Within this framework, we show lower bounds for ranking-based classes of rules that base their decisions on orderings of the improving pivot steps induced by the underlying data. Our first result is a superpolynomial lower bound for strategy improvement, obtained via a family of sink parity games, which applies to memory-based generalizations of Bland’s rule that only access the input by comparing the ranks of improving edges in some global order. Our second result is a subexponential lower bound for policy iteration, obtained via a family of Markov decision processes, which applies to memoryless rules that only access the input by comparing improving actions according to their ranks in a global order, their reduced costs, and the associated improvements in objective value. Both results carry over to the simplex method for linear programming.
Cite as

Yann Disser, Georg Loho, Matthew Maat, and Nils Mosis. Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 31:1-31:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{disser_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31,
  author =	{Disser, Yann and Loho, Georg and Maat, Matthew and Mosis, Nils},
  title =	{{Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{31:1--31:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle 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.2026.31},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255207},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31},
  annote =	{Keywords: lower bounds, Markov decision processes, parity games, pivot rules, policy iteration, simplex method}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.9
Small Space Encoding and Recognition of k-Palindromic Prefixes

Authors: Gabriel Bathie, Jonas Ellert, and Tatiana Starikovskaya

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 359, 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)

Abstract
Palindromes are non-empty strings that read the same forward and backward. We study the problem of recognizing so-called k-palindromic strings, which can be represented as the concatenation of exactly k palindromes. [Rubinchik and Shur, MFCS 2020] showed that the problem is solvable in linear space and time. We present a read-only algorithm that recognizes all k-palindromic prefixes of a string T of length n in O(n ⋅ 6^{k²} ⋅ log^k n) time and O(6^{k²} ⋅ log^k n) space. As a corollary, we also obtain a read-only algorithm for computing the palindromic length of T, i.e., the smallest k such that T is k-palindromic, in O(n ⋅ 6^{k²} ⋅ log^⌈k/2⌉ n) time and O(6^{k²} ⋅ log^⌈k/2⌉ n) space.
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Gabriel Bathie, Jonas Ellert, and Tatiana Starikovskaya. Small Space Encoding and Recognition of k-Palindromic Prefixes. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 9:1-9:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bathie_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.9,
  author =	{Bathie, Gabriel and Ellert, Jonas and Starikovskaya, Tatiana},
  title =	{{Small Space Encoding and Recognition of k-Palindromic Prefixes}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-408-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{359},
  editor =	{Chen, Ho-Lin and Hon, Wing-Kai and Tsai, Meng-Tsung},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249178},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: palindromic length, read-only algorithms, palindromes}
}
Document
RANDOM
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.56
Efficient Polynomial Identity Testing over Nonassociative Algebras

Authors: Partha Mukhopadhyay, C. Ramya, and Pratik Shastri

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 353, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)

Abstract
We design the first efficient polynomial identity testing algorithms over the nonassociative polynomial algebra. In particular, multiplication among the formal variables is commutative but it is not associative. This complements the strong lower bound results obtained over this algebra by Hrubeš, Yehudayoff, and Wigderson [Pavel Hrubes et al., 2010] and Fijalkow, Lagarde, Ohlmann, and Serre [Fijalkow et al., 2021] from the identity testing perspective. Our main results are the following: - We construct nonassociative algebras (both commutative and noncommutative) which have no low degree identities. As a result, we obtain the first Amitsur-Levitzki type theorems [A. S. Amitsur and J. Levitzki, 1950] over nonassociative polynomial algebras. As a direct consequence, we obtain randomized polynomial-time black-box PIT algorithms for nonassociative polynomials which allow evaluation over such algebras. - On the derandomization side, we give a deterministic polynomial-time identity testing algorithm for nonassociative polynomials given by arithmetic circuits in the white-box setting. Previously, such an algorithm was known with the additional restriction of noncommutativity [Vikraman Arvind et al., 2017]. - In the black-box setting, we construct a hitting set of quasipolynomial-size for nonassociative polynomials computed by arithmetic circuits of small depth. Understanding the black-box complexity of identity testing, even in the randomized setting, was open prior to our work.
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Partha Mukhopadhyay, C. Ramya, and Pratik Shastri. Efficient Polynomial Identity Testing over Nonassociative Algebras. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 56:1-56:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{mukhopadhyay_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.56,
  author =	{Mukhopadhyay, Partha and C. Ramya and Shastri, Pratik},
  title =	{{Efficient Polynomial Identity Testing over Nonassociative Algebras}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{56:1--56:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.56},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244224},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.56},
  annote =	{Keywords: Polynomial identity testing, nonassociative algebra, arithmetic circuits, black-box algorithms, white-box algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.31
Games with ω-Automatic Preference Relations

Authors: Véronique Bruyère, Christophe Grandmont, and Jean-François Raskin

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

Abstract
This paper investigates Nash equilibria (NEs) in multi-player turn-based games on graphs, where player preferences are modeled as ω-automatic relations via deterministic parity automata. Unlike much of the existing literature, which focuses on specific reward functions, our results apply to any preference relation definable by an ω-automatic relation. We analyze the computational complexity of determining the existence of an NE (possibly under some constraints), verifying whether a given strategy profile forms an NE, and checking whether a specific outcome can be realized by an NE. When a (constrained) NE exists, we show that there always exists one with finite-memory strategies. Finally, we explore fundamental properties of ω-automatic relations and their implications in the existence of equilibria.
Cite as

Véronique Bruyère, Christophe Grandmont, and Jean-François Raskin. Games with ω-Automatic Preference Relations. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 31:1-31:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bruyere_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.31,
  author =	{Bruy\`{e}re, V\'{e}ronique and Grandmont, Christophe and Raskin, Jean-Fran\c{c}ois},
  title =	{{Games with \omega-Automatic Preference Relations}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{31:1--31:19},
  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.2025.31},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241381},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.31},
  annote =	{Keywords: Games played on graphs, Nash equilibrium, \omega-automatic relations, \omega-recognizable relations, constrained Nash equilibria existence problem}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.66
Deciding Regular Games: a Playground for Exponential Time Algorithms

Authors: Zihui Liang, Bakh Khoussainov, and Mingyu Xiao

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

Abstract
Regular games form a well-established class of games for analysis and synthesis of reactive systems. They include colored Muller games, McNaughton games, Muller games, Rabin games, and Streett games. These games are played on directed graphs G where Player 0 and Player 1 play by generating an infinite path ρ through the graph. The winner is determined by specifications put on the set X of vertices in ρ that occur infinitely often. These games are determined, enabling the partitioning of G into two sets Win₀ and Win₁ of winning positions for Player 0 and Player 1, respectively. Numerous algorithms exist that decide instances of regular games, e.g., Muller games, by computing Win₀ and Win₁. In this paper we aim to find general principles for designing uniform algorithms that decide all regular games. For this we utilize various recursive and dynamic programming algorithms that leverage standard notions such as subgames and traps. Importantly, we show that our techniques improve or match the performances of existing algorithms for many instances of regular games.
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Zihui Liang, Bakh Khoussainov, and Mingyu Xiao. Deciding Regular Games: a Playground for Exponential Time Algorithms. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 66:1-66:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{liang_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.66,
  author =	{Liang, Zihui and Khoussainov, Bakh and Xiao, Mingyu},
  title =	{{Deciding Regular Games: a Playground for Exponential Time Algorithms}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{66:1--66:18},
  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.2025.66},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241732},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.66},
  annote =	{Keywords: Regular games, colored Muller games, Rabin games, McNaughton games, Muller games, deciding games}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.7
Temporal Explorability Games

Authors: Pete Austin, Sougata Bose, Nicolas Mazzocchi, and Patrick Totzke

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

Abstract
Temporal graphs extend ordinary graphs with discrete time that affects the availability of edges. We consider solving games played on temporal graphs where one player aims to explore the graph, i.e., visit all vertices. The complexity depends majorly on two factors: the presence of an adversary and how edge availability is specified. We demonstrate that on static graphs, where edges are always available, solving explorability games is just as hard as solving reachability games. In contrast, on temporal graphs, the complexity of explorability coincides with generalized reachability (NP-complete for one-player and PSPACE-complete for two player games). We show that if temporal graphs are given symbolically, even one-player reachability (and thus explorability and generalized reachability) games are PSPACE-hard. For one player, all these are also solvable in PSPACE and for two players, they are in PSPACE, EXP and EXP, respectively.
Cite as

Pete Austin, Sougata Bose, Nicolas Mazzocchi, and Patrick Totzke. Temporal Explorability Games. In 36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 348, pp. 7:1-7:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{austin_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.7,
  author =	{Austin, Pete and Bose, Sougata and Mazzocchi, Nicolas and Totzke, Patrick},
  title =	{{Temporal Explorability Games}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:17},
  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.2025.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-239575},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Temporal Graphs, Explorability, Reachability, Games}
}
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)

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@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.2025.141
The Trichotomy of Regular Property Testing

Authors: Gabriel Bathie, Nathanaël Fijalkow, and Corto Mascle

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

Abstract
Property testing is concerned with the design of algorithms making a sublinear number of queries to distinguish whether the input satisfies a given property or is far from having this property. A seminal paper of Alon, Krivelevich, Newman, and Szegedy in 2001 introduced property testing of formal languages: the goal is to determine whether an input word belongs to a given language, or is far from any word in that language. They constructed the first property testing algorithm for the class of all regular languages. This opened a line of work with improved complexity results and applications to streaming algorithms. In this work, we show a trichotomy result: the class of regular languages can be divided into three classes, each associated with an optimal query complexity. Our analysis yields effective characterizations for all three classes using so-called minimal blocking sequences, reasoning directly and combinatorially on automata.
Cite as

Gabriel Bathie, Nathanaël Fijalkow, and Corto Mascle. The Trichotomy of Regular Property Testing. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 141:1-141:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bathie_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.141,
  author =	{Bathie, Gabriel and Fijalkow, Nathana\"{e}l and Mascle, Corto},
  title =	{{The Trichotomy of Regular Property Testing}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{141:1--141:21},
  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.2025.141},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-235186},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.141},
  annote =	{Keywords: property testing, regular languages}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.69
A Dichotomy Theorem for Ordinal Ranks in MSO

Authors: Damian Niwiński, Paweł Parys, and Michał Skrzypczak

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

Abstract
We focus on formulae ∃X.φ(Y, X) of monadic second-order logic over the full binary tree, such that the witness X is a well-founded set. The ordinal rank rank(X) < ω₁ of such a set X measures its depth and branching structure. We search for the least upper bound for these ranks, and discover the following dichotomy depending on the formula φ. Let η_φ be the minimal ordinal such that, whenever an instance Y satisfies the formula, there is a witness X with rank(X) ≤ η_φ. Then η_φ is either strictly smaller than ω² or it reaches the maximal possible value ω₁. Moreover, it is decidable which of the cases holds. The result has potential for applications in a variety of ordinal-related problems, in particular it entails a result about the closure ordinal of a fixed-point formula.
Cite as

Damian Niwiński, Paweł Parys, and Michał Skrzypczak. A Dichotomy Theorem for Ordinal Ranks in MSO. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 69:1-69:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{niwinski_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.69,
  author =	{Niwi\'{n}ski, Damian and Parys, Pawe{\l} and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  title =	{{A Dichotomy Theorem for Ordinal Ranks in MSO}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{69:1--69:18},
  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.2025.69},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228942},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.69},
  annote =	{Keywords: dichotomy result, limit ordinal, countable ordinals, nondeterministic tree automata}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.44
A Technique to Speed up Symmetric Attractor-Based Algorithms for Parity Games

Authors: K. S. Thejaswini, Pierre Ohlmann, and Marcin Jurdziński

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 250, 42nd IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2022)

Abstract
The classic McNaughton-Zielonka algorithm for solving parity games has excellent performance in practice, but its worst-case asymptotic complexity is worse than that of the state-of-the-art algorithms. This work pinpoints the mechanism that is responsible for this relative underperformance and proposes a new technique that eliminates it. The culprit is the wasteful manner in which the results obtained from recursive calls are indiscriminately discarded by the algorithm whenever subgames on which the algorithm is run change. Our new technique is based on firstly enhancing the algorithm to compute attractor decompositions of subgames instead of just winning strategies on them, and then on making it carefully use attractor decompositions computed in prior recursive calls to reduce the size of subgames on which further recursive calls are made. We illustrate the new technique on the classic example of the recursive McNaughton-Zielonka algorithm, but it can be applied to other symmetric attractor-based algorithms that were inspired by it, such as the quasi-polynomial versions of the McNaughton-Zielonka algorithm based on universal trees.
Cite as

K. S. Thejaswini, Pierre Ohlmann, and Marcin Jurdziński. A Technique to Speed up Symmetric Attractor-Based Algorithms for Parity Games. In 42nd IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 250, pp. 44:1-44:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{thejaswini_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.44,
  author =	{Thejaswini, K. S. and Ohlmann, Pierre and Jurdzi\'{n}ski, Marcin},
  title =	{{A Technique to Speed up Symmetric Attractor-Based Algorithms for Parity Games}},
  booktitle =	{42nd IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2022)},
  pages =	{44:1--44:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-261-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{250},
  editor =	{Dawar, Anuj and Guruswami, Venkatesan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.44},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-174365},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.44},
  annote =	{Keywords: Parity games, Attractor decomposition, Quasipolynomial Algorithms, Universal trees}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2020.24
Lower Bounds for Arithmetic Circuits via the Hankel Matrix

Authors: Nathanaël Fijalkow, Guillaume Lagarde, Pierre Ohlmann, and Olivier Serre

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 154, 37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020)

Abstract
We study the complexity of representing polynomials by arithmetic circuits in both the commutative and the non-commutative settings. To analyse circuits we count their number of parse trees, which describe the non-associative computations realised by the circuit. In the non-commutative setting a circuit computing a polynomial of degree d has at most 2^{O(d)} parse trees. Previous superpolynomial lower bounds were known for circuits with up to 2^{d^{1/3-ε}} parse trees, for any ε > 0. Our main result is to reduce the gap by showing a superpolynomial lower bound for circuits with just a small defect in the exponent for the total number of parse trees, that is 2^{d^{1 - ε}}, for any ε > 0. In the commutative setting a circuit computing a polynomial of degree d has at most 2^{O(d log d)} parse trees. We show a superpolynomial lower bound for circuits with up to 2^{d^{1/3 - ε}} parse trees, for any ε > 0. When d is polylogarithmic in n, we push this further to up to 2^{d^{1 - ε}} parse trees. While these two main results hold in the associative setting, our approach goes through a precise understanding of the more restricted setting where multiplication is not associative, meaning that we distinguish the polynomials (xy)z and x(yz). Our first and main conceptual result is a characterization result: we show that the size of the smallest circuit computing a given non-associative polynomial is exactly the rank of a matrix constructed from the polynomial and called the Hankel matrix. This result applies to the class of all circuits in both commutative and non-commutative settings, and can be seen as an extension of the seminal result of Nisan giving a similar characterization for non-commutative algebraic branching programs. Our key technical contribution is to provide generic lower bound theorems based on analyzing and decomposing the Hankel matrix, from which we derive the results mentioned above. The study of the Hankel matrix also provides a unifying approach for proving lower bounds for polynomials in the (classical) associative setting. We demonstrate this by giving alternative proofs of recent lower bounds as corollaries of our generic lower bound results.
Cite as

Nathanaël Fijalkow, Guillaume Lagarde, Pierre Ohlmann, and Olivier Serre. Lower Bounds for Arithmetic Circuits via the Hankel Matrix. In 37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 154, pp. 24:1-24:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{fijalkow_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2020.24,
  author =	{Fijalkow, Nathana\"{e}l and Lagarde, Guillaume and Ohlmann, Pierre and Serre, Olivier},
  title =	{{Lower Bounds for Arithmetic Circuits via the Hankel Matrix}},
  booktitle =	{37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-140-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{154},
  editor =	{Paul, Christophe and Bl\"{a}ser, Markus},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2020.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-118859},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2020.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: Arithmetic Circuit Complexity, Lower Bounds, Parse Trees, Hankel Matrix}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.43
Streaming Property Testing of Visibly Pushdown Languages

Authors: Nathanaël François, Frédéric Magniez, Michel de Rougemont, and Olivier Serre

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 57, 24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016)

Abstract
In the context of formal language recognition, we demonstrate the superiority of streaming property testers against streaming algorithms and property testers, when they are not combined. Initiated by Feigenbaum et al., a streaming property tester is a streaming algorithm recognizing a language under the property testing approximation: it must distinguish inputs of the language from those that are eps-far from it, while using the smallest possible memory (rather than limiting its number of input queries). Our main result is a streaming eps-property tester for visibly pushdown languages (V_{PL}) with memory space poly(log n /epsilon). Our construction is done in three steps. First, we simulate a visibly pushdown automaton in one pass using a stack of small height but whose items can be of linear size. In a second step, those items are replaced by small sketches. Those sketches rely on a notion of suffix-sampling we introduce. This sampling is the key idea for taking benefit of both streaming algorithms and property testers in the third step. Indeed, the last step relies on a (non-streaming) property tester for weighted regular languages based on a previous tester by Alon et al. This tester can directly be used for streaming testing special cases of instances of V_{PL} that are already hard for both streaming algorithms and property testers. We then use it to decide the correctness of completed items, given their sketches, before removing them from the stack.
Cite as

Nathanaël François, Frédéric Magniez, Michel de Rougemont, and Olivier Serre. Streaming Property Testing of Visibly Pushdown Languages. In 24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 57, pp. 43:1-43:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2016)

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@InProceedings{francois_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2016.43,
  author =	{Fran\c{c}ois, Nathana\"{e}l and Magniez, Fr\'{e}d\'{e}ric and de Rougemont, Michel and Serre, Olivier},
  title =	{{Streaming Property Testing of Visibly Pushdown Languages}},
  booktitle =	{24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016)},
  pages =	{43:1--43:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-015-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2016},
  volume =	{57},
  editor =	{Sankowski, Piotr and Zaroliagis, Christos},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.43},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-63559},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.43},
  annote =	{Keywords: Streaming Algorithm, Property Testing, Visibly Pushdown Languages}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2013.299
Emptiness Of Alternating Tree Automata Using Games With Imperfect Information

Authors: Nathanaël Fijalkow, Sophie Pinchinat, and Olivier Serre

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 24, IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2013)

Abstract
We consider the emptiness problem for alternating tree automata, with two acceptance semantics: classical (all branches are accepted) and qualitative (almost all branches are accepted). For the classical semantics, the usual technique to tackle this problem relies on a Simulation Theorem which constructs an equivalent non-deterministic automaton from the original alternating one, and then checks emptiness by a reduction to a two-player perfect information game. However, for the qualitative semantics, no simulation of alternation by means of non-determinism is known. We give an alternative technique to decide the emptiness problem of alternating tree automata, that does not rely on a Simulation Theorem. Indeed, we directly reduce the emptiness problem to solving an imperfect information two-player parity game. Our new approach can successfully be applied to both semantics, and yields decidability results with optimal complexity; for the qualitative semantics, the key ingredient in the proof is a positionality result for stochastic games played over infinite graphs.
Cite as

Nathanaël Fijalkow, Sophie Pinchinat, and Olivier Serre. Emptiness Of Alternating Tree Automata Using Games With Imperfect Information. In IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2013). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 24, pp. 299-311, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2013)

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@InProceedings{fijalkow_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2013.299,
  author =	{Fijalkow, Nathana\"{e}l and Pinchinat, Sophie and Serre, Olivier},
  title =	{{Emptiness Of Alternating Tree Automata Using Games With Imperfect Information}},
  booktitle =	{IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2013)},
  pages =	{299--311},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-939897-64-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2013},
  volume =	{24},
  editor =	{Seth, Anil and Vishnoi, Nisheeth K.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2013.299},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-43812},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2013.299},
  annote =	{Keywords: Alternating Automata, Emptiness checking, Two-player games, Imperfect Information Games}
}
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