12 Search Results for "Vandenhove, Pierre"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.9
A Direct Reduction from Stochastic Parity Games to Simple Stochastic Games

Authors: Raphaël Berthon, Joost-Pieter Katoen, and Zihan Zhou

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

Abstract
Significant progress has been recently achieved in developing efficient solutions for simple stochastic games (SSGs), focusing on reachability objectives. While reductions from stochastic parity games (SPGs) to SSGs have been presented in the literature through the use of multiple intermediate game models, a direct and simple reduction has been notably absent. This paper introduces a novel and direct polynomial-time reduction from quantitative SPGs to quantitative SSGs. By leveraging a gadget-based transformation that effectively removes the priority function, we construct an SSG that simulates the behavior of a given SPG. We formally establish the correctness of our direct reduction. Furthermore, we demonstrate that under binary encoding this reduction is polynomial, thereby directly corroborating the known NP ∩ coNP complexity of SPGs and providing new understanding in the relationship between parity and reachability objectives in turn-based stochastic games.
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Raphaël Berthon, Joost-Pieter Katoen, and Zihan Zhou. A Direct Reduction from Stochastic Parity Games to Simple Stochastic Games. In 36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 348, pp. 9:1-9:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{berthon_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.9,
  author =	{Berthon, Rapha\"{e}l and Katoen, Joost-Pieter and Zhou, Zihan},
  title =	{{A Direct Reduction from Stochastic Parity Games to Simple Stochastic Games}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:21},
  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.2025.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-239595},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: stochastic games, parity, reduction}
}
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.
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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.2025.149
The Memory of ω-Regular and BC(Σ⁰₂) Objectives

Authors: Antonio Casares and Pierre Ohlmann

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

Abstract
In the context of 2-player zero-sum infinite duration games played on (potentially infinite) graphs, the memory of an objective is the smallest integer k such that in any game won by Eve, she has a strategy with ≤ k states of memory. For ω-regular objectives, checking whether the memory equals a given number k was not known to be decidable. In this work, we focus on objectives in BC(Σ⁰₂), i.e. recognised by a potentially infinite deterministic parity automaton. We provide a class of automata that recognise objectives with memory ≤ k, leading to the following results: - for ω-regular objectives, the memory can be computed in NP; - given two objectives W₁ and W₂ in BC(Σ⁰₂) and assuming W₁ is prefix-independent, the memory of W₁ ∪ W₂ is at most the product of the memories of W₁ and W₂. Our results also apply to chromatic memory, the variant where strategies can update their memory state only depending on which colour is seen.
Cite as

Antonio Casares and Pierre Ohlmann. The Memory of ω-Regular and BC(Σ⁰₂) Objectives. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 149:1-149:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{casares_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.149,
  author =	{Casares, Antonio and Ohlmann, Pierre},
  title =	{{The Memory of \omega-Regular and BC(\Sigma⁰₂) Objectives}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{149:1--149:18},
  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.2025.149},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-235267},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.149},
  annote =	{Keywords: Infinite duration games, Strategy complexity, Omega-regular}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2025.22
On the Minimisation of Deterministic and History-Deterministic Generalised (Co)Büchi Automata

Authors: Antonio Casares, Olivier Idir, Denis Kuperberg, Corto Mascle, and Aditya Prakash

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 326, 33rd EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2025)

Abstract
We present a polynomial-time algorithm minimising the number of states of history-deterministic generalised coBüchi automata, building on the work of Abu Radi and Kupferman on coBüchi automata. On the other hand, we establish that the minimisation problem for both deterministic and history-deterministic generalised Büchi automata is NP-complete, as well as the problem of minimising at the same time the number of states and colours of history-deterministic generalised coBüchi automata.
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Antonio Casares, Olivier Idir, Denis Kuperberg, Corto Mascle, and Aditya Prakash. On the Minimisation of Deterministic and History-Deterministic Generalised (Co)Büchi Automata. In 33rd EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 326, pp. 22:1-22:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{casares_et_al:LIPIcs.CSL.2025.22,
  author =	{Casares, Antonio and Idir, Olivier and Kuperberg, Denis and Mascle, Corto and Prakash, Aditya},
  title =	{{On the Minimisation of Deterministic and History-Deterministic Generalised (Co)B\"{u}chi Automata}},
  booktitle =	{33rd EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2025)},
  pages =	{22:1--22:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-362-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{326},
  editor =	{Endrullis, J\"{o}rg and Schmitz, Sylvain},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2025.22},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-227798},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2025.22},
  annote =	{Keywords: Automata minimisation, omega-regular languages, good-for-games automata}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.13
The Power of Counting Steps in Quantitative Games

Authors: Sougata Bose, Rasmus Ibsen-Jensen, David Purser, Patrick Totzke, and Pierre Vandenhove

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

Abstract
We study deterministic games of infinite duration played on graphs and focus on the strategy complexity of quantitative objectives. Such games are known to admit optimal memoryless strategies over finite graphs, but require infinite-memory strategies in general over infinite graphs. We provide new lower and upper bounds for the strategy complexity of mean-payoff and total-payoff objectives over infinite graphs, focusing on whether step-counter strategies (sometimes called Markov strategies) suffice to implement winning strategies. In particular, we show that over finitely branching arenas, three variants of limsup mean-payoff and total-payoff objectives admit winning strategies that are based either on a step counter or on a step counter and an additional bit of memory. Conversely, we show that for certain liminf total-payoff objectives, strategies resorting to a step counter and finite memory are not sufficient. For step-counter strategies, this settles the case of all classical quantitative objectives up to the second level of the Borel hierarchy.
Cite as

Sougata Bose, Rasmus Ibsen-Jensen, David Purser, Patrick Totzke, and Pierre Vandenhove. The Power of Counting Steps in Quantitative Games. In 35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 311, pp. 13:1-13:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{bose_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.13,
  author =	{Bose, Sougata and Ibsen-Jensen, Rasmus and Purser, David and Totzke, Patrick and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{The Power of Counting Steps in Quantitative Games}},
  booktitle =	{35th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2024)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:18},
  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.2024.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-207852},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2024.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: Games on graphs, Markov strategies, quantitative objectives, infinite-state systems}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.118
How to Play Optimally for Regular Objectives?

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Nathanaël Fijalkow, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 261, 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023)

Abstract
This paper studies two-player zero-sum games played on graphs and makes contributions toward the following question: given an objective, how much memory is required to play optimally for that objective? We study regular objectives, where the goal of one of the two players is that eventually the sequence of colors along the play belongs to some regular language of finite words. We obtain different characterizations of the chromatic memory requirements for such objectives for both players, from which we derive complexity-theoretic statements: deciding whether there exist small memory structures sufficient to play optimally is NP-complete for both players. Some of our characterization results apply to a more general class of objectives: topologically closed and topologically open sets.
Cite as

Patricia Bouyer, Nathanaël Fijalkow, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. How to Play Optimally for Regular Objectives?. In 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 261, pp. 118:1-118:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.118,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Fijalkow, Nathana\"{e}l and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{How to Play Optimally for Regular Objectives?}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023)},
  pages =	{118:1--118:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-278-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{261},
  editor =	{Etessami, Kousha and Feige, Uriel 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.2023.118},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-181700},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.118},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, strategy complexity, regular languages, finite-memory strategies, NP-completeness}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.122
Characterising Memory in Infinite Games

Authors: Antonio Casares and Pierre Ohlmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 261, 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023)

Abstract
This paper is concerned with games of infinite duration played over potentially infinite graphs. Recently, Ohlmann (TheoretiCS 2023) presented a characterisation of objectives admitting optimal positional strategies, by means of universal graphs: an objective is positional if and only if it admits well-ordered monotone universal graphs. We extend Ohlmann’s characterisation to encompass (finite or infinite) memory upper bounds. We prove that objectives admitting optimal strategies with ε-memory less than m (a memory that cannot be updated when reading an ε-edge) are exactly those which admit well-founded monotone universal graphs whose antichains have size bounded by m. We also give a characterisation of chromatic memory by means of appropriate universal structures. Our results apply to finite as well as infinite memory bounds (for instance, to objectives with finite but unbounded memory, or with countable memory strategies). We illustrate the applicability of our framework by carrying out a few case studies, we provide examples witnessing limitations of our approach, and we discuss general closure properties which follow from our results.
Cite as

Antonio Casares and Pierre Ohlmann. Characterising Memory in Infinite Games. In 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 261, pp. 122:1-122:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{casares_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.122,
  author =	{Casares, Antonio and Ohlmann, Pierre},
  title =	{{Characterising Memory in Infinite Games}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023)},
  pages =	{122:1--122:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-278-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{261},
  editor =	{Etessami, Kousha and Feige, Uriel 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.2023.122},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-181740},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.122},
  annote =	{Keywords: Infinite duration games, Memory, Universal graphs}
}
Document
Invited Talk
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.3
The True Colors of Memory: A Tour of Chromatic-Memory Strategies in Zero-Sum Games on Graphs (Invited Talk)

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

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

Abstract
Two-player turn-based zero-sum games on (finite or infinite) graphs are a central framework in theoretical computer science - notably as a tool for controller synthesis, but also due to their connection with logic and automata theory. A crucial challenge in the field is to understand how complex strategies need to be to play optimally, given a type of game and a winning objective. In this invited contribution, we give a tour of recent advances aiming to characterize games where finite-memory strategies suffice (i.e., using a limited amount of information about the past). We mostly focus on so-called chromatic memory, which is limited to using colors - the basic building blocks of objectives - seen along a play to update itself. Chromatic memory has the advantage of being usable in different game graphs, and the corresponding class of strategies turns out to be of great interest to both the practical and the theoretical sides.
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Patricia Bouyer, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. The True Colors of Memory: A Tour of Chromatic-Memory Strategies in Zero-Sum Games on Graphs (Invited Talk). 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. 3:1-3:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.3,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{The True Colors of Memory: A Tour of Chromatic-Memory Strategies in Zero-Sum Games on Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{42nd IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2022)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:18},
  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.2022.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-173957},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2022.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, finite-memory strategies, chromatic memory, parity automata, \omega-regularity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2022.20
Half-Positional Objectives Recognized by Deterministic Büchi Automata

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Antonio Casares, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 243, 33rd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2022)

Abstract
A central question in the theory of two-player games over graphs is to understand which objectives are half-positional, that is, which are the objectives for which the protagonist does not need memory to implement winning strategies. Objectives for which both players do not need memory have already been characterized (both in finite and infinite graphs); however, less is known about half-positional objectives. In particular, no characterization of half-positionality is known for the central class of ω-regular objectives. In this paper, we characterize objectives recognizable by deterministic Büchi automata (a class of ω-regular objectives) that are half-positional, in both finite and infinite graphs. Our characterization consists of three natural conditions linked to the language-theoretic notion of right congruence. Furthermore, this characterization yields a polynomial-time algorithm to decide half-positionality of an objective recognized by a given deterministic Büchi automaton.
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Patricia Bouyer, Antonio Casares, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. Half-Positional Objectives Recognized by Deterministic Büchi Automata. In 33rd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 243, pp. 20:1-20:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2022.20,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Casares, Antonio and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{Half-Positional Objectives Recognized by Deterministic B\"{u}chi Automata}},
  booktitle =	{33rd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2022)},
  pages =	{20:1--20:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-246-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{243},
  editor =	{Klin, Bartek and Lasota, S{\l}awomir and Muscholl, Anca},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2022.20},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-170833},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2022.20},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, half-positionality, memoryless optimal strategies, B\"{u}chi automata, \omega-regularity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2022.16
Characterizing Omega-Regularity Through Finite-Memory Determinacy of Games on Infinite Graphs

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 219, 39th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2022)

Abstract
We consider zero-sum games on infinite graphs, with objectives specified as sets of infinite words over some alphabet of colors. A well-studied class of objectives is the one of ω-regular objectives, due to its relation to many natural problems in theoretical computer science. We focus on the strategy complexity question: given an objective, how much memory does each player require to play as well as possible? A classical result is that finite-memory strategies suffice for both players when the objective is ω-regular. We show a reciprocal of that statement: when both players can play optimally with a chromatic finite-memory structure (i.e., whose updates can only observe colors) in all infinite game graphs, then the objective must be ω-regular. This provides a game-theoretic characterization of ω-regular objectives, and this characterization can help in obtaining memory bounds. Moreover, a by-product of our characterization is a new one-to-two-player lift: to show that chromatic finite-memory structures suffice to play optimally in two-player games on infinite graphs, it suffices to show it in the simpler case of one-player games on infinite graphs. We illustrate our results with the family of discounted-sum objectives, for which ω-regularity depends on the value of some parameters.
Cite as

Patricia Bouyer, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. Characterizing Omega-Regularity Through Finite-Memory Determinacy of Games on Infinite Graphs. In 39th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 219, pp. 16:1-16:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2022.16,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{Characterizing Omega-Regularity Through Finite-Memory Determinacy of Games on Infinite Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{39th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2022)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-222-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{219},
  editor =	{Berenbrink, Petra and Monmege, Benjamin},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2022.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-158262},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2022.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, infinite arenas, finite-memory determinacy, optimal strategies, \omega-regular languages}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.26
Arena-Independent Finite-Memory Determinacy in Stochastic Games

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

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

Abstract
We study stochastic zero-sum games on graphs, which are prevalent tools to model decision-making in presence of an antagonistic opponent in a random environment. In this setting, an important question is the one of strategy complexity: what kinds of strategies are sufficient or required to play optimally (e.g., randomization or memory requirements)? Our contributions further the understanding of arena-independent finite-memory (AIFM) determinacy, i.e., the study of objectives for which memory is needed, but in a way that only depends on limited parameters of the game graphs. First, we show that objectives for which pure AIFM strategies suffice to play optimally also admit pure AIFM subgame perfect strategies. Second, we show that we can reduce the study of objectives for which pure AIFM strategies suffice in two-player stochastic games to the easier study of one-player stochastic games (i.e., Markov decision processes). Third, we characterize the sufficiency of AIFM strategies through two intuitive properties of objectives. This work extends a line of research started on deterministic games in [Bouyer et al., 2020] to stochastic ones.
Cite as

Patricia Bouyer, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. Arena-Independent Finite-Memory Determinacy in Stochastic Games. In 32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 203, pp. 26:1-26:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.26,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Oualhadj, Youssouf and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{Arena-Independent Finite-Memory Determinacy in Stochastic Games}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:18},
  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.2021.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-144037},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, stochastic games, Markov decision processes, finite-memory determinacy, optimal strategies}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24
Games Where You Can Play Optimally with Arena-Independent Finite Memory

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Stéphane Le Roux, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 171, 31st International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2020)

Abstract
For decades, two-player (antagonistic) games on graphs have been a framework of choice for many important problems in theoretical computer science. A notorious one is controller synthesis, which can be rephrased through the game-theoretic metaphor as the quest for a winning strategy of the system in a game against its antagonistic environment. Depending on the specification, optimal strategies might be simple or quite complex, for example having to use (possibly infinite) memory. Hence, research strives to understand which settings allow for simple strategies. In 2005, Gimbert and Zielonka [Hugo Gimbert and Wieslaw Zielonka, 2005] provided a complete characterization of preference relations (a formal framework to model specifications and game objectives) that admit memoryless optimal strategies for both players. In the last fifteen years however, practical applications have driven the community toward games with complex or multiple objectives, where memory - finite or infinite - is almost always required. Despite much effort, the exact frontiers of the class of preference relations that admit finite-memory optimal strategies still elude us. In this work, we establish a complete characterization of preference relations that admit optimal strategies using arena-independent finite memory, generalizing the work of Gimbert and Zielonka to the finite-memory case. We also prove an equivalent to their celebrated corollary of great practical interest: if both players have optimal (arena-independent-)finite-memory strategies in all one-player games, then it is also the case in all two-player games. Finally, we pinpoint the boundaries of our results with regard to the literature: our work completely covers the case of arena-independent memory (e.g., multiple parity objectives, lower- and upper-bounded energy objectives), and paves the way to the arena-dependent case (e.g., multiple lower-bounded energy objectives).
Cite as

Patricia Bouyer, Stéphane Le Roux, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. Games Where You Can Play Optimally with Arena-Independent Finite Memory. In 31st International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 171, pp. 24:1-24:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Le Roux, St\'{e}phane and Oualhadj, Youssouf and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{Games Where You Can Play Optimally with Arena-Independent Finite Memory}},
  booktitle =	{31st International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2020)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-160-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{171},
  editor =	{Konnov, Igor and Kov\'{a}cs, Laura},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-128360},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, finite-memory determinacy, optimal strategies}
}
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