We continue our investigation aimed at spotting small fragments of Set Theory (in this paper, sublanguages of Boolean Set Theory) that might be of use in automated proof-checkers based on the set-theoretic formalism. Here we propose a method that leads to a cubic-time satisfiability decision test for the language involving, besides variables intended to range over the von Neumann set-universe, the Boolean operator $cup$ and the logical relators $=$ and $eq$. It can be seen that the dual language involving the Boolean operator $cap$ and, again, the relators $=$ and $eq$, also admits a decidable cubic-time satisfiability test; noticeably, the same algorithm can be used for both languages. Suitable pre-processing can reduce richer Boolean languages to the said two fragments, so that the same cubic satisfiability test can be used to treat the relators $subseteq,subseteq$ and the predicates `$sqdot= arnothing$' and `$Disj{sqdot}{sqdot}$', meaning `the argument is empty' and `the arguments are disjoint sets', along with their opposites `$sqdot eq arnothing$' and `$egDisj{sqdot}{sqdot}$'. Those richer languages are `polynomial maximal', in the sense that all languages strictly containing them have an NP-hard satisfiability problem.

Two crucial cubic-time components of polynomial-maximal decidable Boolean languages

Domenico Cantone;Pietro Maugeri;
2021-01-01

Abstract

We continue our investigation aimed at spotting small fragments of Set Theory (in this paper, sublanguages of Boolean Set Theory) that might be of use in automated proof-checkers based on the set-theoretic formalism. Here we propose a method that leads to a cubic-time satisfiability decision test for the language involving, besides variables intended to range over the von Neumann set-universe, the Boolean operator $cup$ and the logical relators $=$ and $eq$. It can be seen that the dual language involving the Boolean operator $cap$ and, again, the relators $=$ and $eq$, also admits a decidable cubic-time satisfiability test; noticeably, the same algorithm can be used for both languages. Suitable pre-processing can reduce richer Boolean languages to the said two fragments, so that the same cubic satisfiability test can be used to treat the relators $subseteq,subseteq$ and the predicates `$sqdot= arnothing$' and `$Disj{sqdot}{sqdot}$', meaning `the argument is empty' and `the arguments are disjoint sets', along with their opposites `$sqdot eq arnothing$' and `$egDisj{sqdot}{sqdot}$'. Those richer languages are `polynomial maximal', in the sense that all languages strictly containing them have an NP-hard satisfiability problem.
2021
Satisfiability problem
Computable set theory
Boolean set theory
Expressibility
NP-completeness
Proof verification
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/518959
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