Automata, Games, and Verification

People:	Bernd Finkbeiner and Sven Schewe
Lecture Room:	HS 003 Building E 1 3
Lecture Time:	Tuesdays 11:15-12:45
Tutorial Room:	SR 016 Building E 1 3
Tutorial Time:	Thursdays 11:15 – 12:45 (first tutorial: October 26, 2006)
Office Hours:	Wednesdays 14:00-15:00

Vertiefungsvorlesung (6 CP)
Wintersemester 2006

Syllabus

The theory of automata over infinite objects provides a succinct, expressive and formal framework for reasoning about reactive systems, such as communication protocols and control systems. Reactive systems are characterized by their nonterminating behaviour and persistent interaction with their environment.

In this course we will study the main ingredients of this elegant theory, and its application to automatic verification (model checking) and program synthesis.

Topics

Automata over infinite words and trees (omega-automata)
Infinite two-player games
Logical systems for the specification of nonterminating behavior
Transformation of automata according to logical operations

Textbooks

The course will be based on the following two textbooks, supplemented as necessary by various research papers.

Erich Grädel, Wolfgang Thomas, Thomas Wilke (Eds.) Automata, Logics, and Infinite Games: A Guide to Current Research Springer, Berlin; Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2500 2nd Print (1. November 2005) Online Version (Online access is free of charge if you connect from a department IP. If you encounter problems, let us know.) ISBN-10: 0387292373
Bakhadyr Khoussainov, Anil Nerode Automata Theory and its Applications Birkhauser Boston; 1st edition (February 15, 2001), ISBN: 0817642072