On the Complexity of Modal Separation Logics

Stephane Demri (1, 2) , Raul Fervari (3, 4)

1 LSV - Laboratoire Spécification et Vérification [Cachan]
2 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
3 FaMAF - Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física [Cordoba]
4 Universidad Nacional de Córdoba [Argentina]

We introduce a modal separation logic MSL whose models are memory states from separation logic and the logical connectives include modal operators as well as separating conjunction and implication from separation logic. With such a combination of operators, some fragments of MSL can be seen as genuine modal logics whereas some others capture standard separation logics, leading to an original language to speak about memory states. We analyse the decidability status and the computational complexity of several fragments of MSL, leading to surprising results, obtained by designing proof methods that take into account the modal and separation features of MSL. For example, the satisfiability problem for the fragment of MSL with <>, the inequality modality Diff and separating conjunction * is shown Tower-complete whereas the restriction either to <> and * or to Diff and * is only NP-complete.

Mots clés: model-checking; separation logic; expressive power; small model property; satisfiability; relation-changing logic; complexity; TOWER; star-free regular expression; modal logic; NP; separating conjunction; difference operator; magic wand; sabotage operator

Domaines: Informatique [cs]; Logique en informatique [cs.LO]; Théorie et langage formel [cs.FL]; Intelligence artificielle [cs.AI]

Stephane Demri, Raul Fervari. On the Complexity of Modal Separation Logics. Advances in Modal Logic, Bern, 2018, Aug 2018, Bern, Switzerland. ⟨hal-02366671⟩