arXiv subjects

Mai Gehrke

Publications and source records attributed to Mai Gehrke.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Reflecting compact $T_1$-spaces into bounded distributive lattices

We present a contravariant reflection of the compact $T_1$-spaces with arrows given by closed continuous functions into the category of bounded distributive lattices with arrows given by closed subfit morphisms. This reflection extends both Stone duality and Isbell's duality between frames and sober spaces for those compact $T_1$-spaces that fall within each of these dualities, that is, respectively, zero-dimensional compact Hausdorff spaces, and compact sober $T_1$-spaces. On the topological side, we allow all compact $T_1$-spaces rather than just sober ones and we identify points in these with minimal prime filters on some base. On the lattice side, the shift goes from the notion of frame homomorphism to that of closed subfit morphism between bounded distributive lattices (closed subfit morphisms are defined by a natural and first order expressible constraint). The reflection becomes a duality when one restricts on the algebraic side to the complete and compact subfit lattices (i.e. compact subfit frames). Furthermore, restricting our duality on the topological side to the subcategory of compact $T_2$-spaces with all continuous maps, we obtain a duality for these with the category of complete, compact and normal lattices, thus recovering a classical result of Cornish. We also relate our adjunction to the duality introduced by Maruyama between $T_1$-spaces with continuous maps and a category having as objects a particular type of subfit frames and as arrows a certain type of morphism, of which we give an alternative and explicit algebraic characterization.

math.GN↗

arXiv2023

Priestley duality for MV-algebras and beyond

We provide a new perspective on extended Priestley duality for a large class of distributive lattices equipped with binary double quasioperators. Under this approach, non-lattice binary operations are each presented as a pair of partial binary operations on dual spaces. In this enriched environment, equational conditions on the algebraic side of the duality may more often be rendered as first-order conditions on dual spaces. In particular, we specialize our general results to the variety of MV-algebras, obtaining a duality for these in which the equations axiomatizing MV-algebras are dualized as first-order conditions.

math.LO↗

arXiv2023

Topological Duality for Distributive Lattices: Theory and Applications

This book is a course in Stone-Priestley duality theory, with applications to logic and theoretical computer science. Our target audience are graduate students and researchers in mathematics and computer science. Our aim is to get in a fairly full palette of duality tools as directly and quickly as possible, then to illustrate and further elaborate these tools within the setting of three emblematic applications: semantics of propositional logics, domain theory in logical form, and the theory of profinite monoids for the study of regular languages and automata.

math.LO↗

arXiv2023

Stone duality for spectral sheaves and the patch monad

We establish a duality between global sheaves on spectral spaces and right distributive bands. This is a sheaf-theoretical extension of classical Stone duality between spectral spaces and bounded distributive lattices. The topology of a spectral space admits a refinement, the so-called patch topology, giving rise to a patch monad on sheaves over a fixed spectral space. Under the duality just mentioned the algebras of this patch monad are shown to correspond to distributive skew lattices.

math.CT↗

arXiv2023

Substitution Principle and semidirect products

In the classical theory of regular languages the concept of recognition by profinite monoids is an important tool. Beyond regularity, Boolean spaces with internal monoids (BiMs) were recently proposed as a generalization. On the other hand, fragments of logic defining regular languages can be studied inductively via the so-called "Substitution Principle". In this paper we make the logical underpinnings of this principle explicit and extend it to arbitrary languages using Stone duality. Subsequently we show how it can be used to obtain topo-algebraic recognizers for classes of languages defined by a wide class of first-order logic fragments. This naturally leads to a notion of semidirect product of BiMs extending the classical such construction for profinite monoids. Our main result is a generalization of Almeida and Weil's Decomposition Theorem for semidirect products from the profinite setting to that of BiMs. This is a crucial step in a program to extend the profinite methods of regular language theory to the setting of complexity theory.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2022

A duality theoretic view on limits of finite structures: Extended version

A systematic theory of structural limits for finite models has been developed by Nesetril and Ossona de Mendez. It is based on the insight that the collection of finite structures can be embedded, via a map they call the Stone pairing, in a space of measures, where the desired limits can be computed. We show that a closely related but finer grained space of (finitely additive) measures arises -- via Stone-Priestley duality and the notion of types from model theory -- by enriching the expressive power of first-order logic with certain "probabilistic operators". We provide a sound and complete calculus for this extended logic and expose the functorial nature of this construction. The consequences are two-fold. On the one hand, we identify the logical gist of the theory of structural limits. On the other hand, our construction shows that the duality theoretic variant of the Stone pairing captures the adding of a layer of quantifiers, thus making a strong link to recent work on semiring quantifiers in logic on words. In the process, we identify the model theoretic notion of types as the unifying concept behind this link. These results contribute to bridging the strands of logic in computer science which focus on semantics and on more algorithmic and complexity related areas, respectively.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2020

Uniform Birkhoff

We show that pseudovarieties of finitely generated algebras, i.e., classes $C$ of finitely generated algebras closed under finite products, homomorphic images, and subalgebras, can be described via a uniform structure $U$ on the free algebra for $C$: the members of $C$ then are precisely those finitely generated algebras $A$ for which the natural mapping from the free algebra onto the term clone of $A$ is well-defined and uniformly continuous with respect to the uniformity $U$ and the uniformity of pointwise convergence on the term clone of $A$, respectively. Our result unifies earlier theorems describing pseudovarieties of finite algebras and the pseudovariety generated by a single oligomorphic algebra.

math.LO↗

arXiv2020

A Cook's tour of duality in logic: from quantifiers, through Vietoris, to measures

We identify and highlight certain landmark results in Samson Abramsky's work which we believe are fundamental to current developments and future trends. In particular, we focus on the use of (i) topological duality methods to solve problems in logic and computer science; (ii) category theory and, more particularly, free (and co-free) constructions; (iii) these tools to unify the `power' and `structure' strands in computer science.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2020

Towards active processes for teaching and learning

We discuss parallels between students and teachers in the process of pedagogical reform. Reform aims for students to develop their own process for becoming independent learners, and to gain personal ownership. Likewise teachers can develop their own personally owned reform process if they have the encouragement and freedom to take individual initiative. We argue that tools, such as text materials, technology, etc., are merely objects that should be kept in perspective as secondary within an overarching ever ongoing process. And we discuss how melding teacher freedom with collaboration can foster far-reaching change.

math.HO↗

arXiv2020

A duality theoretic view on limits of finite structures

A systematic theory of structural limits for finite models has been developed by Nesetril and Ossona de Mendez. It is based on the insight that the collection of finite structures can be embedded, via a map they call the Stone pairing, in a space of measures, where the desired limits can be computed. We show that a closely related but finer grained space of measures arises --- via Stone-Priestley duality and the notion of types from model theory --- by enriching the expressive power of first-order logic with certain ``probabilistic operators''. We provide a sound and complete calculus for this extended logic and expose the functorial nature of this construction. The consequences are two-fold. On the one hand, we identify the logical gist of the theory of structural limits. On the other hand, our construction shows that the duality-theoretic variant of the Stone pairing captures the adding of a layer of quantifiers, thus making a strong link to recent work on semiring quantifiers in logic on words. In the process, we identify the model theoretic notion of types as the unifying concept behind this link. These results contribute to bridging the strands of logic in computer science which focus on semantics and on more algorithmic and complexity related areas, respectively.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2019

Quantifiers on languages and codensity monads

This paper contributes to the techniques of topo-algebraic recognition for languages beyond the regular setting as they relate to logic on words. In particular, we provide a general construction on recognisers corresponding to adding one layer of various kinds of quantifiers and prove a corresponding Reutenauer-type theorem. Our main tools are codensity monads and duality theory. Our construction hinges on a measure-theoretic characterisation of the profinite monad of the free S-semimodule monad for finite and commutative semirings S, which generalises our earlier insight that the Vietoris monad on Boolean spaces is the codensity monad of the finite powerset functor.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2019

An interpolant in predicate Gödel logic

A logic satisfies the interpolation property provided that whenever a formula Δ is a consequence of another formula Γ, then this is witnessed by a formula Θ which only refers to the language common to Γ and Δ. That is, the relational (and functional) symbols occurring in Θ occur in both Γ and Δ, Γ has Θ as a consequence, and Θ has Δ as a consequence. Both classical and intuitionistic predicate logic have the interpolation property, but it is a long open problem which intermediate predicate logics enjoy it. In 2013 Mints, Olkhovikov, and Urquhart showed that constant domain intuitionistic logic does not have the interpolation property, while leaving open whether predicate Gödel logic does. In this short note, we show that their counterexample for constant domain intuitionistic logic does admit an interpolant in predicate Gödel logic. While this has no impact on settling the question for predicate Gödel logic, it lends some credence to a common belief that it does satisfy interpolation. Also, our method is based on an analysis of the semantic tools of Olkhovikov and it is our hope that this might eventually be useful in settling this question.

math.LO↗

arXiv2019

A note on powers of Boolean spaces with internal semigroups

Boolean spaces with internal semigroups generalize profinite semigroups and are pertinent for the recognition of not-necessarily regular languages. Via recognition, the study of existential quantification in logic on words amounts to the study of certain spans of Boolean spaces with internal semigroups. In turn, these can be understood as the superposition of a span of Boolean spaces and a span of semigroups. In this note, we first study these separately. More precisely, we identify the conditions under which each of these spans gives rise to a morphism into the respective power or Vietoris construction of the corresponding structure. Combining these characterizations, we obtain such a characterization for spans of Boolean spaces with internal semigroups which we use to describe the topo-algebraic counterpart of monadic second-order existential quantification. This is closely related to a part of the earlier work on existential quantification in first-order logic on words by Gehrke, Petri\c san and Reggio. The observation that certain morphisms lift contravariantly to the appropriate power structures makes our analysis very simple.

math.GN↗

arXiv2018

Difference hierarchies and duality with an application to formal languages

The notion of a difference hierarchy, first introduced by Hausdorff, plays an important role in many areas of mathematics, logic and theoretical computer science such as descriptive set theory, complexity theory, and the theory of regular languages and automata. From a lattice theoretic point of view, the difference hierarchy over a bounded distributive lattice stratifies the Boolean algebra generated by it according to the minimum length of difference chains required to describe the Boolean elements. While each Boolean element is given by a finite difference chain, there is no canonical such writing in general. We show that, relative to the filter completion, or equivalently, the lattice of closed upsets of the dual Priestley space, each Boolean element over the lattice has a canonical minimum length decomposition into a Hausdorff difference. As a corollary each Boolean element over a (co-)Heyting algebra has a canonical difference chain. With a further generalization of this result involving a directed family of adjunctions with meet-semilattices, we give an elementary proof of the fact that a regular language is given by a Boolean combination of purely universal sentences using arbitrary numerical predicates if and only if it is given by a Boolean combination of purely universal sentences using only regular numerical predicates.

math.GN↗

arXiv2016

The Schützenberger product for syntactic spaces

Starting from Boolean algebras of languages closed under quotients and using duality theoretic insights, we derive the notion of Boolean spaces with internal monoids as recognisers for arbitrary formal languages of finite words over finite alphabets. This leads to a setting that is well-suited for applying existing tools from Stone duality as applied in semantics. The main focus of the paper is the development of topo-algebraic constructions pertinent to the treatment of languages given by logic formulas. In particular, using the standard semantic view of quantification as projection, we derive a notion of Schützenberger product for Boolean spaces with internal monoids. This makes heavy use of the Vietoris construction, and its dual functor, which is central to the coalgebraic treatment of classical modal logic. We show that the unary Schützenberger product for spaces, when applied to a recogniser for the language associated to a formula with a free first-order variable, yields a recogniser for the language of all models of the corresponding existentially quantified formula. Further, we generalise global and local versions of the theorems of Schützenberger and Reutenauer characterising the languages recognised by the binary Schützenberger product. Finally, we provide an equational characterisation of Boolean algebras obtained by local Schützenberger product with the one element space based on an Egli-Milner type condition on generalised factorisations of ultrafilters on words.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2014

Sheaf representations of MV-algebras and lattice-ordered abelian groups via duality

We study representations of MV-algebras -- equivalently, unital lattice-ordered abelian groups -- through the lens of Stone-Priestley duality, using canonical extensions as an essential tool. Specifically, the theory of canonical extensions implies that the (Stone-Priestley) dual spaces of MV-algebras carry the structure of topological partial commutative ordered semigroups. We use this structure to obtain two different decompositions of such spaces, one indexed over the prime MV-spectrum, the other over the maximal MV-spectrum. These decompositions yield sheaf representations of MV-algebras, using a new and purely duality-theoretic result that relates certain sheaf representations of distributive lattices to decompositions of their dual spaces. Importantly, the proofs of the MV-algebraic representation theorems that we obtain in this way are distinguished from the existing work on this topic by the following features: (1) we use only basic algebraic facts about MV-algebras; (2) we show that the two aforementioned sheaf representations are special cases of a common result, with potential for generalizations; and (3) we show that these results are strongly related to the structure of the Stone-Priestley duals of MV-algebras. In addition, using our analysis of these decompositions, we prove that MV-algebras with isomorphic underlying lattices have homeomorphic maximal MV-spectra. This result is an MV-algebraic generalization of a classical theorem by Kaplansky stating that two compact Hausdorff spaces are homeomorphic if, and only if, the lattices of continuous [0, 1]-valued functions on the spaces are isomorphic.

math.LO↗

arXiv2013

Distributive envelopes and topological duality for lattices via canonical extensions

We establish a topological duality for bounded lattices. The two main features of our duality are that it generalizes Stone duality for bounded distributive lattices, and that the morphisms on either side are not the standard ones. A positive consequence of the choice of morphisms is that those on the topological side are functional. Towards obtaining the topological duality, we develop a universal construction which associates to an arbitrary lattice two distributive lattice envelopes with a Galois connection between them. This is a modification of a construction of the injective hull of a semilattice by Bruns and Lakser, adjusting their concept of 'admissibility' to the finitary case. Finally, we show that the dual spaces of the distributive envelopes of a lattice coincide with completions of quasi-uniform spaces naturally associated with the lattice, thus giving a precise spatial meaning to the distributive envelopes.

math.LO↗

arXiv2013

Stone duality, topological algebra, and recognition

Our main result is that any topological algebra based on a Boolean space is the extended Stone dual space of a certain associated Boolean algebra with additional operations. A particular case of this result is that the profinite completion of any abstract algebra is the extended Stone dual space of the Boolean algebra of recognizable subsets of the abstract algebra endowed with certain residuation operations. These results identify a connection between topological algebra as applied in algebra and Stone duality as applied in logic, and show that the notion of recognition originating in computer science is intrinsic to profinite completion in mathematics in general. This connection underlies a number of recent results in automata theory including a generalization of Eilenberg-Reiterman theory for regular languages and a new notion of compact recognition applying beyond the setting of regular languages. The purpose of this paper is to give the underlying duality theoretic result in its general form. Further we illustrate the power of the result by providing a few applications in topological algebra and language theory. In particular, we give a simple proof of the fact that any topological algebra quotient of a profinite algebra which is again based on a Boolean space is in fact a profinite algebra and we derive the conditions dual to the ones of the original Eilenberg theorem in a fully modular manner. We cast our results in the setting of extended Priestley duality for distributive lattices with additional operations as some classes of languages of interest in automata fail to be closed under complementation.

math.LO↗