Andrzej S. Murawski

Applying Game Semantics to Compositional Software Modeling and Verification

We describe a software model checking tool founded on game semantics, highlight the underpinning theoretical results and discuss several case studies. The tool is based on an interpretation algorithm defined compositionally on syntax and thus can also handle open programs. Moreover, the models it produces are equationally fully abstract. These features are essential in the modeling and verification of software components such as modules and turn out to lead to very compact models of programs.

Angelic Semantics of Fine-Grained Concurrency

We introduce a game model for a procedural programming language extended with primitives for parallel composition and synchronization on binary semaphores. The model uses an interleaved version of Hyland-Ong-style games, where most of the original combinatorial constraints on positions are replaced with a simple principle naturally related to static process creation. The model is fully abstract for may-equivalence.

Third-order Idealized Algol with iteration is decidable

The problems of contextual equivalence and approximation are studied for the third-order fragment of Idealized Algol with iteration (IA

Syntactic control of concurrency

^*_{3}

On program equivalence in languages with ground-type references

). They are approached via a combination of game semantics and language theory. It is shown that for each (IA

Language equivalence for probabilistic automata

^{*}_{3}

Game Semantics for Good General References

)-term one can construct a pushdown automaton recognizing a representation of the strategy induced by the term. The automata have some additional properties ensuring that the associated equivalence and inclusion problems are solvable in Ptime. This gives an Exptime decision procedure for contextual equivalence and approximation for β-normal terms. Exptime-hardness is also shown in this case, even in the absence of iteration.

On automated verification of probabilistic programs

We consider a finitary procedural programming language (finite data-types, no recursion) extended with parallel composition and binary semaphores. Having first shown that may-equivalence of second-order open terms is undecidable we set out to find a framework in which decidability can be regained with minimum loss of expressivity. To that end we define an annotated type system that controls the number of concurrent threads created by terms and give a fully abstract game semantics for the notion of equivalence induced by typable terms and contexts. Finally, we show that the semantics of all typable terms, at any order and in the presence of iteration, has a regular-language representation and thus the restricted observational equivalence is decidable.

Discreet Games, Light Affine Logic and PTIME Computation

Using game semantics we prove that program equivalence is undecidable in finitary Idealized Algol with active expressions as well as in its call-by-value counterpart. It is also shown that strategies corresponding to Idealized Algol terms of respectively second, third and higher orders define exactly regular, context-free and recursively enumerable languages.

Idealized algol with ground recursion, and DPDA equivalence

In this paper, we propose a new randomised algorithm for deciding language equivalence for probabilistic automata. This algorithm is based on polynomial identity testing and thus returns an answer with an error probability that can be made arbitrarily small. We implemented our algorithm, as well as deterministic algorithms of Tzeng and Doyen et al., optimised for running time whilst adequately handling issues of numerical stability. We conducted extensive benchmarking experiments, including the verification of randomised anonymity protocols, the outcome of which establishes that the randomised algorithm significantly outperforms the deterministic ones in a majority of our test cases. Finally, we also provide fine-grained analytical bounds on the complexity of these algorithms, accounting for the differences in performance.