arXiv · cs/0701154
Logic Meets Algebra: the Case of Regular Languages
Abstract
The study of finite automata and regular languages is a privileged meeting point of algebra and logic. Since the work of Buchi, regular languages have been classified according to their descriptive complexity, i.e. the type of logical formalism required to define them. The algebraic point of view on automata is an essential complement of this classification: by providing alternative, algebraic characterizations for the classes, it often yields the only opportunity for the design of algorithms that decide expressibility in some logical fragment. We survey the existing results relating the expressibility of regular languages in logical fragments of MSO[S] with algebraic properties of their minimal automata. In particular, we show that many of the best known results in this area share the same underlying mechanics and rely on a very strong relation between logical substitutions and block-products of pseudovarieties of monoid. We also explain the impact of these connections on circuit complexity theory.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Pascal Tesson, Denis Therien. 2007-01-25. Logic Meets Algebra: the Case of Regular Languages. https://doi.org/10.2168/lmcs-3(1:4)2007
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.