Skip to main content

Modal Logic and the Two-Variable Fragment

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Computer Science Logic (CSL 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2142))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

We introduce a modal language L which is obtained from standard modal logic by adding the difference operator and modal operators interpreted by boolean combinations and the converse of accessibility relations. It is proved that L has the same expressive power as the two-variable fragment FO 2 of first-order logic but speaks less succinctly about relational structures: if the number of relations is bounded, then L- satisfiability is ExpTime-complete but FO 2 satisfiability is NE xp Time-complete. We indicate that the relation between L and FO 2 provides a general framework for comparing modal and temporal languages with first-order languages.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. H. Andréka, I. Németi, and J. van Benthem. Modal languages and bounded fragments of predicate logic. Journal of Philosophical Logic, 27:217–274, 1998.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. P. Blackburn, M. de Rijke, and Y. Venema. Modal logic. In print.

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. Börger, E. Grädel, and Yu. Gurevich. The Classical Decision Problem. Perspectives in Mathematical Logic. Springer, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  4. A. Borgida. On the relative expressivness of description logics and predicate logics. Artificial Intelligence, 82(1-2):353–367, 1996.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. J.P. Burgess. Basic tense logic. In D.M. Gabbay and F. Guenthner, editors, Handbook of Philosophical Logic, volume 2, pages 89–133. Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Maarten de Rijke. The modal logic of inequality. The Journal of Symbolic Logic, 57(2):566–584, June 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  7. K. Etessami, M. Vardi, and T. Wilke. First-order logic with two variables and unary temporal logic. In Proceedings of 12th. IEEE Symp. Logic in Computer Science, pages 228–235, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  8. M. Fürer. The computational complexity of the unconstrained limited domino problem (with implications for logical decision problems). In Logic and Machines: Decision problems and complexity, pages 312–319. Springer, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  9. D. Gabbay, I. Hodkinson, and M. Reynolds. Temporal Logic: Mathematical Foundations and Computational Aspects, Volume 1. Oxford University Press, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  10. D.M. Gabbay. Expressive functional completeness in tense logic. In U. Mönnich, editor, Aspects of Philosophical Logic, pages 91–117. Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  11. G. Gargov and S. Passy. A note on boolean modal logic. In D. Skordev, editor, Mathematical Logic and Applications, pages 253–263, New York, 1987. Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  12. R.I. Goldblatt. Logics of Time and Computation. Number 7 in CSLI Lecture Notes, Stanford. CSLI, 1987.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. E. Grädel. Why are modal logics so robustly decidable? Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science, 68:90–103, 1999.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. E. Grädel, P. Kolaitis, and M. Vardi. On the Decision Problem for Two-Variable First-Order Logic. Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, 3:53–69, 1997.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  15. E. Grädel and M. Otto. On Logics with Two Variables. Theoretical Computer Science, 224:73–113, 1999.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. J. Halpern and Y. Shoham. A propositional modal logic of time intervals. Journal of the ACM, 38:935–962, 1991.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  17. I. L. Humberstone. Inaccessible worlds. Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 24(3):346–352, 1983.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  18. H. Kamp. Tense Logic and the Theory of Linear Order. Ph. D. Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  19. R.E. Ladner. The computational complexity of provability in systems of modal logic. SIAM Journal on Computing, 6:467–480, 1977.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. C. Lutz and U. Sattler. The complexity of reasoning with boolean modal logics. In Frank Wolter, Heinrich Wansing, Maarten de Rijke, and Michael Zakharyaschev, editors, Advances in Modal Logics Volume 3. CSLI Publications, Stanford, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  21. C. Lutz, U. Sattler, and F. Wolter. Modal logic and the two-variable fragment. LTCS-Report 01-04, LuFG Theoretical Computer Science, RWTH Aachen, Germany, 2001. See http://www-lti.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/Forschung/Reports.html.

    Google Scholar 

  22. M. Mortimer. On languages with two variables. Zeitschrift für Mathematische Logik und Grundlagen der Mathematik, 21:135–140, 1975.

    MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  23. Anil Nerode and Richard A. Shore. Logic for Applications. Springer Verlag, New York, 1997.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. D. Scott. A decision method for validity of sentences in two variables. Journal of Symbolic Logic, 27(377), 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  25. A. Sistla and E. Clarke. The complexity of propositional linear temporal logics. Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery, 32:733–749, 1985.

    MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  26. E. Spaan. Complexity of Modal Logics. PhD thesis, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Amsterdam, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  27. J. van Benthem. Modal Logic and Classical Logic. Bibliopolis, Napoli, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  28. J. van Benthem. Correspondence theory. In D.M. Gabbay and F. Guenthner, editors, Handbook of Philosophical Logic, volume 2, pages 167–247. Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  29. M. Vardi. Why is modal logic so robustly decidable? In Descriptive Complexity and Finite Models, pages 149–184. AMS, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  30. F. Wolter. Tense logics without tense operators. Mathematical Logic Quarterly, 42:145–171, 1996.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  31. F. Wolter. Completeness and decidability of tense logics closely related to logics containing K4. Journal of Symbolic Logic, 62:131–158, 1997.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Lutz, C., Sattler, U., Wolter, F. (2001). Modal Logic and the Two-Variable Fragment. In: Fribourg, L. (eds) Computer Science Logic. CSL 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2142. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44802-0_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44802-0_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42554-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44802-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics