arXiv subjects

Katherine Cordwell

Publications and source records attributed to Katherine Cordwell.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Verified Quadratic Virtual Substitution for Real Arithmetic

This paper presents a formally verified quantifier elimination (QE) algorithm for first-order real arithmetic by linear and quadratic virtual substitution (VS) in Isabelle/HOL. The Tarski-Seidenberg theorem established that the first-order logic of real arithmetic is decidable by QE. However, in practice, QE algorithms are highly complicated and often combine multiple methods for performance. VS is a practically successful method for QE that targets formulas with low-degree polynomials. To our knowledge, this is the first work to formalize VS for quadratic real arithmetic including inequalities. The proofs necessitate various contributions to the existing multivariate polynomial libraries in Isabelle/HOL. Our framework is modularized and easily expandable (to facilitate integrating future optimizations), and could serve as a basis for developing practical general-purpose QE algorithms. Further, as our formalization is designed with practicality in mind, we export our development to SML and test the resulting code on 378 benchmarks from the literature, comparing to Redlog, Z3, Wolfram Engine, and SMT-RAT. This identified inconsistencies in some tools, underscoring the significance of a verified approach for the intricacies of real arithmetic.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2021

A Verified Decision Procedure for Univariate Real Arithmetic with the BKR Algorithm

We formalize the univariate fragment of Ben-Or, Kozen, and Reif's (BKR) decision procedure for first-order real arithmetic in Isabelle/HOL. BKR's algorithm has good potential for parallelism and was designed to be used in practice. Its key insight is a clever recursive procedure that computes the set of all consistent sign assignments for an input set of univariate polynomials while carefully managing intermediate steps to avoid exponential blowup from naively enumerating all possible sign assignments (this insight is fundamental for both the univariate case and the general case). Our proof combines ideas from BKR and a follow-up work by Renegar that are well-suited for formalization. The resulting proof outline allows us to build substantially on Isabelle/HOL's libraries for algebra, analysis, and matrices. Our main extensions to existing libraries are also detailed.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2020

Pegasus: Sound Continuous Invariant Generation

Continuous invariants are an important component in deductive verification of hybrid and continuous systems. Just like discrete invariants are used to reason about correctness in discrete systems without having to unroll their loops, continuous invariants are used to reason about differential equations without having to solve them. Automatic generation of continuous invariants remains one of the biggest practical challenges to the automation of formal proofs of safety for hybrid systems. There are at present many disparate methods available for generating continuous invariants; however, this wealth of diverse techniques presents a number of challenges, with different methods having different strengths and weaknesses. To address some of these challenges, we develop Pegasus: an automatic continuous invariant generator which allows for combinations of various methods, and integrate it with the KeYmaera X theorem prover for hybrid systems. We describe some of the architectural aspects of this integration, comment on its methods and challenges, and present an experimental evaluation on a suite of benchmarks.

cs.SC↗

arXiv2019

On Near Perfect Numbers

The study of perfect numbers (numbers which equal the sum of their proper divisors) goes back to antiquity, and is responsible for some of the oldest and most popular conjectures in number theory. We investigate a generalization introduced by Pollack and Shevelev: $k$-near-perfect numbers. These are examples to the well-known pseudoperfect numbers first defined by Sierpiński, and are numbers such that the sum of all but at most $k$ of its proper divisors equals the number. We establish their asymptotic order for all integers $k\ge 4$, as well as some properties of related quantities.

math.NT↗

arXiv2019

Towards Physical Hybrid Systems

Some hybrid systems models are unsafe for mathematically correct but physically unrealistic reasons. For example, mathematical models can classify a system as being unsafe on a set that is too small to have physical importance. In particular, differences in measure zero sets in models of cyber-physical systems (CPS) have significant mathematical impact on the mathematical safety of these models even though differences on measure zero sets have no tangible physical effect in a real system. We develop the concept of "physical hybrid systems" (PHS) to help reunite mathematical models with physical reality. We modify a hybrid systems logic (differential temporal dynamic logic) by adding a first-class operator to elide distinctions on measure zero sets of time within CPS models. This approach facilitates modeling since it admits the verification of a wider class of models, including some physically realistic models that would otherwise be classified as mathematically unsafe. We also develop a proof calculus to help with the verification of PHS.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2018

On algorithms to calculate integer complexity

We consider a problem first proposed by Mahler and Popken in 1953 and later developed by Coppersmith, Erdős, Guy, Isbell, Selfridge, and others. Let $f(n)$ be the complexity of $n \in \mathbb{Z^{+}}$, where $f(n)$ is defined as the least number of $1$'s needed to represent $n$ in conjunction with an arbitrary number of $+$'s, $*$'s, and parentheses. Several algorithms have been developed to calculate the complexity of all integers up to $n$. Currently, the fastest known algorithm runs in time $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.230175})$ and was given by J. Arias de Reyna and J. van de Lune in 2014. This algorithm makes use of a recursive definition given by Guy and iterates through products, $f(d) + f\left(\frac{n}{d}\right)$, for $d \ |\ n$, and sums, $f(a) + f(n - a)$, for $a$ up to some function of $n$. The rate-limiting factor is iterating through the sums. We discuss potential improvements to this algorithm via a method that provides a strong uniform bound on the number of summands that must be calculated for almost all $n$. We also develop code to run J. Arias de Reyna and J. van de Lune's analysis in higher bases and thus reduce their runtime of $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.230175})$ to $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.222911236})$. All of our code can be found online at: https://github.com/kcordwel/Integer-Complexity.

math.NT↗

arXiv2018

Summand minimality and asymptotic convergence of generalized Zeckendorf decompositions

Given a recurrence sequence $H$, with $H_n = c_1 H_{n-1} + \dots + c_t H_{n-t}$ where $c_i \in \mathbb{N}_0$ for all $i$ and $c_1, c_t \geq 1$, the generalized Zeckendorf decomposition (gzd) of $m \in \mathbb{N}_0$ is the unique representation of $m$ using $H$ composed of blocks lexicographically less than $σ= (c_1, \dots, c_t)$. We prove that the gzd of $m$ uses the fewest number of summands among all representations of $m$ using $H$, for all $m$, if and only if $σ$ is weakly decreasing. We develop an algorithm for moving from any representation of $m$ to the gzd, the analysis of which proves that $σ$ weakly decreasing implies summand minimality. We prove that the gzds of numbers of the form $v_0 H_n + \dots + v_\ell H_{n-\ell}$ converge in a suitable sense as $n \to \infty$, furthermore we classify three distinct behaviors for this convergence. We use this result, together with the irreducibility of certain families of polynomials, to exhibit a representation with fewer summands than the gzd if $σ$ is not weakly decreasing.

math.NT↗

arXiv2014

On Lower Central Series Quotients of Finitely Generated Algebras over $\mathbb{Z}$

Let $A$ be an associative unital algebra, $B_k$ its successive quotients of lower central series and $N_k$ the successive quotients of ideals generated by lower central series. The geometric and algebraic aspects of $B_k$ and $N_k$ have been of great interest since the pioneering work of \cite{feigin2007}. In this paper, we will concentrate on the case where $A$ is a noncommutative polynomial algebra over $\mathbb{Z}$ modulo a single homogeneous relation. Both the torsion part and the free part of $B_k$ and $N_k$ are explored. Many examples are demonstrated in detail, and several general theorems are proved. Finally we end up with an appendix about the torsion subgroups of $N_k(A_n(\mathbb{Z}))$ and some open problems.

math.RA↗