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On module checking and strategies

Published: 05 May 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Two decision problems are very close in spirit: module checking of CTL/CTL* and model checking of ATL/ATL*. The latter appears to be a natural multi-agent extension of the former, and it is commonly believed that model checking of ATL(*) subsumes module checking of CTL(*) in a straightforward way. Perhaps because of that, the exact relationship between the two has never been formally established.
A more careful look at the known complexity results, however, makes one realize that the relationship is somewhat suspicious. In particular, module checking of CTL is Exptime-complete, while model checking of ATL is only time-complete. Thus, the (seemingly) less expressive framework yields significantly higher computational complexity than the (seemingly) more expressive one. This suggests that the relationship may not be as simple as believed. In this paper, we show that the difference is indeed fundamental. The way in which behavior of the environment is understood in module checking cannot be equivalently characterized in ATL(*). Conversely, if one wants to embed module checking in ATL(*) then its semantics must be extended with two essential features, namely nondeterministic strategies and long-term commitment to strategies.

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  • (2019)Enforcing Equilibria in Multi-Agent SystemsProceedings of the 18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3306127.3331692(188-196)Online publication date: 8-May-2019
  • (2018)Dynamic Escape GameProceedings of the 17th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3237383.3237984(1806-1808)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2018
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cover image ACM Other conferences
AAMAS '14: Proceedings of the 2014 international conference on Autonomous agents and multi-agent systems
May 2014
1774 pages
ISBN:9781450327381

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  • IFAAMAS

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International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems

Richland, SC

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Published: 05 May 2014

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Author Tags

  1. model checking
  2. module checking
  3. reactive systems
  4. temporal logic
  5. verification

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AAMAS '14
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AAMAS '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 169 of 709 submissions, 24%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 1,155 of 5,036 submissions, 23%

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Cited By

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  • (2019)Strategy logic with simple goalsProceedings of the 28th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence10.5555/3367032.3367046(88-94)Online publication date: 10-Aug-2019
  • (2019)Enforcing Equilibria in Multi-Agent SystemsProceedings of the 18th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3306127.3331692(188-196)Online publication date: 8-May-2019
  • (2018)Dynamic Escape GameProceedings of the 17th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3237383.3237984(1806-1808)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2018
  • (2018)Model Checking Multi-Agent Systems against LDLK Specifications on Finite TracesProceedings of the 17th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3237383.3237414(166-174)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2018
  • (2017)Hiding Actions in Multi-Player GamesProceedings of the 16th Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems10.5555/3091125.3091293(1205-1213)Online publication date: 8-May-2017
  • (2016)Reconfigurability in reactive multiagent systemsProceedings of the Twenty-Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence10.5555/3060621.3060666(315-321)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2016
  • (2016)Verifying pushdown multi-agent systems against strategy logicsProceedings of the Twenty-Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence10.5555/3060621.3060647(180-186)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2016
  • (2016)Concurrent Multi-Player Parity GamesProceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Autonomous Agents & Multiagent Systems10.5555/2936924.2937026(689-697)Online publication date: 9-May-2016
  • (2016)Hiding actions in concurrent gamesProceedings of the Twenty-second European Conference on Artificial Intelligence10.3233/978-1-61499-672-9-1686(1686-1687)Online publication date: 29-Aug-2016
  • (2015)Module Checking of Strategic AbilityProceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems10.5555/2772879.2772911(227-235)Online publication date: 4-May-2015
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