Least fixpoints as meanings of recursive definitions.

This paper generalizes existing connections between automata and logic to a coalgebraic level. Let F: Set → Set be a standard functor that preserves weak pullbacks. We introduce various notions of F-automata, devices that operate on pointed F-coalgebras. The criterion under which such an automaton accepts or rejects a pointed coalgebra is formulated in terms of an infinite two-player graph game. We also introduce a language of coalgebraic fixed point logic for F-coalgebras, and we provide a game semantics for this language. Finally we show that any formula p of the language can be transformed into an F-automaton Ap which is equivalent to p in the sense that Ap accepts precisely those pointed F-coalgebras in which p holds.

Vol. 4 (4:10) 2008, pp. 1–43 www.lmcs-online.org

For deterministic systems, expressed as coalgebras over polynomial functors, every tree t (an element of the final coalgebra) turns out to represent a new coalgebra A t . The universal property of these coalgebras, resembling freeness, is that for every state s of every system S there exists a unique coalgebra homomorphism from a unique A t which takes the root of t to s. Moreover, the tree coalgebras are finitely presentable and form a strong generator. Thus, these categories of coalgebras are locally finitely presentable; in particular every system is a filtered colimit of finitely presentable systems.

The purpose of this paper is threefold: to present a general abstract, yet practical, notion of equational system; to investigate and develop the finitary and transfinite construction of free algebras for equational systems; and to illustrate the use of equational systems as needed in modern applications.

We show how coalgebras can be presented by operations and equations. We discuss the basic properties of this presentation and compare it with the usual approach.

Abstract. In this paper we discuss a uniform method for constructing free modal and distributive modal algebras. This method draws on works by (Abramsky 2005) and (Ghilardi 1995). We revisit the theory of normal forms for modal logic and derive a normal form representation for positive modal logic. We also show that every finitely generated free modal and distributive modal algebra axiomatised by equations of rank 1 is a reduct of a temporal algebra. 1

The context of this article is the program to develop monoidal bicategories with a feedback operation as an algebra of processes, with applications to concurrency theory. The objective here is to study reachability, minimization and minimal realization in these bicategories. In this setting the automata are 1-cells in contrast with previous studies where they appeared as objects. As a consequence we are able to study the relation of minimization and minimal realization to serial composition of automata using (co)lax (co)monads. We are led to define suitable behaviour categories and prove minimal realization theorems which extend classical results. This work has been supported by NSERC Canada, Italian MURST and the Australian Research Council 1 Introduction Katis, Sabadini, Walters, and Weld have described bicategories equipped with operations of serial and parallel composition, and feedback modelled as, respectively, composition of 1cells, a tensor product and an operation called...

. It has already been noticed by C. Elgot and his collaborators that the algebra of (nite and innite) trees is completely iterative, i.e., every system of ideal recursive equations has a unique solution. We prove that this is a special case of a very general coalgebraic phenomenon: suppose that an endofunctor

In this paper we show that, given a family of interacting systems, many notions which are important for expressing properties of systems can be modeled as sheaves over a suitable topological space.