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The Satisfiability and Validity Problems for Probabilistic Computational Tree Logic are Highly Undecidable

Published: April 27, 2025 | arXiv ID: 2504.19207v2

By: Miroslav Chodil, Antonín Kučera

Potential Business Impact:

Proves some computer programs can't be proven correct.

Business Areas:
Quantum Computing Science and Engineering

The Probabilistic Computational Tree Logic (PCTL) is the main specification formalism for discrete probabilistic systems modeled by Markov chains. Despite serious research attempts, the decidability of PCTL satisfiability and validity problems remained unresolved for 30 years. We show that both problems are highly undecidable, i.e., beyond the arithmetical hierarchy. Consequently, there is no sound and complete deductive system for PCTL.

Page Count
33 pages

Category
Computer Science:
Logic in Computer Science